Governor extends indoor mask mandate Governor Kathy Hochul announced Friday afternoon that she’s extending the “mask or vaccine” policy for indoor public spaces through February 10, 2022. The mask mandate remains in place for schools, as well. It had been set to expire February 1 and this week was the subject of back-and-forth court rulings on its constitutionality. The most recent court decision upholds the mandate. The governor said Friday that she would evaluate the mandate every two weeks.…
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Farm Wage Board sets overflow meeting, decision soon? Because so many people registered to participate in its three virtual sessions, New York’s Department of Labor this week added an additional public hearing to its Farm Laborer Wage Board schedule for Friday, January 28, at 2 p.m. The three-member board is considering the existing 60-hour-per-week overtime threshold for farm workers in New York State “and the extent to which the overtime work threshold may be lowered.” Some worker advocate groups want…
News from the Noteworthy: Gov’s budget a reason to be cheerful Happy New Year! I had difficulty celebrating the 2022 New Year. I was certainly unable to make any resolutions. After all, I’ve spent the last two years being very resolute. As the third year of the pandemic loomed, I saw the year beginning with a continued onslaught of information, from new or revised protocols, to new plans to protect our health, our community, and our way of life. But…
Don’t underestimate her By Ted Potrikus Her beloved Buffalo Bills lost in a weekend heartbreaker, but aside from that, Governor Kathy Hochul has had a pretty good couple of weeks. She’s able to talk about turning the corner against the winter Omicron surge, with seven-day averages for new hospital admissions, new cases, and cases-per-100,000 declining in every part of the state. She laid out a blueprint for New York’s upcoming fiscal year, a $216 billion bonanza adorned with property tax…
Breaking: Appeals court puts mask mandate back in place Governor Hochul’s mask mandate is back on – the office of New York Attorney General Tish James says an appellate judge granted a stay in the lawsuit late Tuesday afternoon (January 25) and the mandate remains in full effect while the case is in appeal. A State Supreme Court judge on Long Island ruled the mandate unconstitutional on January 24; the ruling now proceeds through the court systems appeals process (Appellate…
Editorial: Omicron’s Paradox A COVID-weary public confronts the conundrum daily: Is this good news? Is it bad news? We have to admit that we’re a little bit confused. The Omicron caseload is frightening on its surface — ridiculously high numbers on a daily basis, top-of-the-fold newspaper coverage, lead-story status. We’re so attuned to scary numbers and frightening graphs that when we hear about record-shattering daily positive tests coming back, the first thing we want to do is retreat to our…
Governor calls for two-term cap for statewide elected officials Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2022 State of the State message calls for a two-term limit for New York’s four top offices – governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and comptroller. Her plan tracks a similar call from the state’s likely Republican candidate for governor in 2022, Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin. Rep. Zeldin’s plan, announced December 1, 2021, would affect only the governor’s office. Any term limit proposal would require an amendment to…
Governor’s State-of-the-State speech a wish list for big election year By Ted Potrikus New York’s governor delivers a state-of-the-state address at the start of each calendar year; the speech a sitting governor gives at the onset of an election year is, however, always something a little different, a little more ambitious in scope. Such is the case today (January 5) with a brief-by-comparison speech from Governor Kathy Hochul – her first since assuming the mantle after disgraced ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo…
Governor “Winter Surge 2.0” briefing includes mask mandate extension, school opening plans Governor Kathy Hochul today announced she will extend her indoor mask mandate by two weeks, keeping it in place across New York through January 29, 2022 rather than its original January 15 expiration.“This is all geared toward keeping the economy open,” she said during her New Year’s Eve “Winter Surge 2.0” press briefing. “The alternative is to shut it all down.”“The reason that we don’t have to do…