October 1st, 2023
Syracuse, NY — On Tuesday, October 26th Congressman Brandon Williams (NY-22), and U.S. Representatives Elise Stefanik (NY-21) and Claudia Tenney (NY-24), sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul calling for New York State to commit to rational and evidence-based policymaking concerning COVID-19 and government healthcare mandates.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Yorkers suffered from overly restrictive lockdowns that resulted in the closure of small businesses and lost learning amongst students. Yet, in nursing homes, the New York State government failed to actively protect vulnerable senior citizens, resulting in thousands of unnecessary deaths.
This letter urges Governor Hochul to not repeat past failures and to embrace reasonable and nuanced COVID-19 policies. It also seeks to clarify how the Hochul administration will govern on this issue by urging the Governor to elaborate on whether or not she plans to issue statewide mask mandates and whether her administration has learned from the failures of pandemic-era education and nursing home protection.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted working families across New York, leaders in Albany failed our local communities. By resorting to broad, draconian lockdowns, and ignoring the needs of New Yorkers, Governor Hochul subjected vulnerable populations to isolation, including our children and senior citizens,” said Congressman Brandon Williams. “While not forgetting the irreparable damage done, moving forward, Governor Hochul must acknowledge the mistakes of the past and commit to evidence-based healthcare policies that do not restrict the rights and livelihoods of New Yorkers.”
Draconian mandates left an irreversible impact on Upstate New York devastating seniors, children, small businesses, schools, hospitals, and communities and cannot be repeated,” said Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “Kathy Hochul and the Far Left Albany Democrats cannot be allowed to use COVID-19 as cover to impose power-grabbing policies and exercise unprecedented government overreach. I will do everything in my power to ensure that mask mandates do not return to the state of New York.”
See the full story from Urban CNY here.
