Hochul To Let Emergency COVID Response Powers Expire

By Matis Glenn

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that she would allow her remaining COVID emergency response powers expire at midnight, amid months of stable transmission and hospitalization rates, Spectrum News reports. Most of the Governor’s emergency powers have expired, including mask mandates on public transportation.  Her two remaining powers are the ability to circumvent the bidding process in contracting companies to provide testing kits, and allowing out-of-state health care workers to be employed in New York without obtaining a state license, as well as permitting EMTs to administer COVID vaccines, according to The Gothamist.

Hochul came under fire from Republicans, including her opponent in the upcoming gubernatorial election Rep. Lee Zeldin, who alleged that Hochul abused her authority to circumvent the contracting process in a “pay for play” arrangement. Hochul has denied the allegations, and has said that her administration had a system of protections against such conflicts of interest.

When asked by reporters last month if she would let her emergency powers expire, Hochul said “Let’s just get through the opening of schools, let’s get through more people coming back to work after Labor Day, and then let’s assess it at that time.”