SEN. FRED AKSHAR, 52nd SENATE DISTRICT: In today’s State of the State, Governor Cuomo finally agreed with what many of my colleagues and I have been saying for months: “We must reopen the economy, but we must do it smartly and safely.”
We’re still short on details, but actions speak louder than words, and I hope the Governor chooses to focus on the health, safety and livelihoods of our struggling New York families and businesses going forward.
If New York does not act responsibly through economic or other public policy going forward, we will continue to see more of the same continuous outmigration of New Yorkers seeking better opportunities and a more affordable way of life elsewhere.
ASSEMBLYMAN CHRISTOPHER S. FRIEND, 124th DISTRICT: Recovery from the pandemic has been frustratingly stalled in the Southern Tier. First, our local small businesses were shut down by the governor’s statewide lockdown when cases were almost nonexistent in this region, then certain types of businesses were discriminated against without sound proof that they contributed to COVID-19 spread. Now we have been fighting against seemingly arbitrary shutdown rules that have put Chemung and Tioga counties at a disadvantage being placed in Micro-Cluster Controlled Zones that has kept businesses in my district shuttered and restricted for months. The governor needs to place priority on helping our local small businesses and, like with much of his pandemic response, I am not hearing much of a strategy.
