SC New York News

Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies. Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column.

This week: "What are we waiting for?"

Over the past few months in New York State government, constant reminders have emerged about why this state is headed in the wrong direction under one-party, all-Democrat control, with no turnaround in sight.

Exhibit A: Energy mandates. Serious doubts have been expressed from many quarters on the affordability, feasibility, and reliability of New York's current clean energy strategy. A July report from the Hochul administration admitted that their timeline to achieve 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040 cannot be met under the current plan. Shortly thereafter, a state comptroller's audit concluded that the implementation of the Democrats' climate agenda has been seriously flawed and its true costs remain unknown.

Exhibit B: COVID-19. Earlier this summer, a long-awaited (and long-delayed) report commissioned two years ago by Governor Hochul — a report intended to be a comprehensive reassessment of New York's COVID-19 response — was determined to be worthless.

The Albany-based Empire Center for Public Policy reviewed the report titled "Hochul's Pandemic Study is a $4.3 Million Flop," concluding: "Hochul had commissioned a $4.3 million after-action review of the crisis, saying she wanted it to cover 'the good, the bad and the ugly' and bolster the state's preparedness for future outbreaks. Yet the 262-page report from the Olson Group, a Virginia-based consulting firm, turns out to be thinly researched, poorly argued, ill-informed, sloppily presented and marred by obvious errors. Although many of its findings ring true, it glosses over or ignores some of the state's most questionable actions — such as ordering thousands of Covid-positive patients into nursing homes."

More recently, former Governor Andrew Cuomo publicly testified before a Congressional Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and delivered more of what has long been criticized as stonewalling and misinformation regarding his administration's execution of the COVID response.

This was New York State’s most devastating public health crisis ever faced; yet due to continued stonewalling from both Cuomo and Hochul administrations along with an all-Democrat Legislature unwilling to accept responsibility, there has not been a full accounting of the response — its costs, shortcomings, failures, what worked and what did not work.

Exhibit C: Border crisis. The illegal migrant crisis in New York remains out of control and costly. Ten billion taxpayer dollars have already been spent on what critics call a self-induced crisis by Sanctuary City policies. Now migrants are being paid $4,000 each to move out of shelters using taxpayer money.

In early January Senator O'Mara summarized New York State’s condition stating: "We face an affordability crisis. We face a border crisis. Law and order are in free fall... New York is a state in decline that continues to become less safe... We are at a dangerous crossroads."

Nine months later he asserts that same assessment holds true today. He calls for redirection towards priorities including:

-- Restoring public safety;

-- Making New York more affordable by cutting high tax burdens;

-- Implementing strict caps on State government spending;

-- Rethinking rapid energy mandate implementations;

-- Addressing unfunded State mandates;

-- Fully reassessing New York’s COVID response;

-- Protecting Second Amendment rights;

-- Restoring local decision-making against abuses of executive power at state level.

"What are we waiting for?"

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