Governor Hochul is already making strides as New York’s new governor after just one week in office. On August 31, Governor Hochul held a press conference. There, she discussed her upcoming plans for the state and its citizens. Following the short press conference, the governor called for an extraordinary session. Lawmakers will discuss important issues which the previous governor failed to act on.
Speech
Governor Hochul highlighted several issues New York citizens have experienced since the pandemic started in March of 2020. She also noted the failure of former Governor Cuomo. Plus, she states she is going to work tirelessly to fix the wrongs made.
“When I was officially sworn in this room one week ago today, I made a commitment to the people of the state that I would fight for them to make sure we get our kids back to school, get people back to work, and get rental relief to the families in need,” the governor started.
“The pandemic has created unimaginable stress and anxiety for tenants and landlords who are struggling through no fault of their own. Many of them lost jobs, lost the ability to pay their bills, and now the debt has been mounting – and the fact is that we are not out of the pandemic yet as much as we had hoped months ago when the numbers were trending in a different direction,” Governor Hochul continued.
“I also have an agenda item that’s very important to me and that is to jumpstart a long overdue decision pertaining to establishing cannabis in the State of New York. I’ll be appointing my nominations to start process to legally produce and distribute cannabis in the State of New York. There is no reason why simple announcements in terms of who the executive director is and who the chair person is were not done in time, but I’m going to make up for that lost time and I want those decisions made. I’ve made the decision as to who I want but they need confirmation from the Legislature.”
Extraordinary Session
Regarding the extraordinary session she called, Governor Hochul spoke on the topics at hand.
“It is my goal to extend the eviction moratorium to expand rental assistance programs from today to January 15. We also know that landlords are struggling and we need to make sure that small businesses are protected as well, and that’s why I will be starting today, and I’ll be signing the proclamation momentarily,” Governor Hochul explained.
“The focus (of the extraordinary session) will be narrow. As I mentioned it will address the rental and eviction crisis. It will address the Open Meetings Law to allow more access to meetings, and it will also deal with the freeing up of the cannabis program which is long overdue.
“I know it’s a tall and extraordinary session. It is indeed extraordinary but we’ve gone through extraordinary times and we need to take steps now to protect the people of the State of New York, and I want to let them know that we are going to continue fighting for them in partnership with our legislative leaders, and again, I thank them for their willingness to come back during this time and to be willing to roll up their sleeves and get the job done for the people the State of New York. That is something I promised and it’s a promise I intend to keep,” Governor Hochul concluded.
Future
It seems Governor Hochul has started taking action. New York citizens know she is making sure they have the means to survive. Additionally, the state’s cannabis program will get up and running. New York legalized recreational cannabis in March. However, no appointments to the regulatory board became confirmed. This led to the failure of getting sales up and running for the state before now. It appears Governor Hochul is making this a priority
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