Approved August 9, 2022

RESOLUTION OF THE GREATER UTICA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CALLING ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL TO END EXECUTIVE EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS

WHEREAS,  Governor Kathy Hochul declared a “statewide disaster emergency due to health care staffing shortages” in September 2021;  and

WHEREAS,  Governor Kathy Hochul declared another state of emergency in November 2021 in response to the emergence of the Covid Omicron variant virus;  and

WHEREAS,  Governor Kathy Hochul has been extending her emergency powers on a monthly basis without legislative approval in order to give “the state flexibility troubleshoot hospital capacity issues”;  and

WHEREAS,  the Albany Times Union reported that “the order suspended competitive bidding for certain contracts as well as the normal contract review and approval process conducted by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office, which overseas state government spending”; and

WHEREAS,  it has also been reported in the NY Post that the family owners of Digital Gadgets LLC have donated nearly $300,000 to Governor Hochul’s re-election campaign while separately receiving a no-bid contract worth $637 million to supply at-home Covid 19 test kits;

WHEREAS,  while this situation may be completely legal, the awarding of no-bid contracts to political donors gives an appearance of impropriety and raises serious ethical concerns; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce considers the Governor’s extensions of emergency powers to be an abuse of power and calls on the Governor to end the emergency declarations and restore the full and proper oversight of state spending.