Mr. Cuomo also delivered the state’s daily fatality report: 74 more people died of the coronavirus, about the same as the previous two days.
Cuomo met with President Trump today to discuss a coronavirus relief bill .Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today called on the U.S. Senate to pass a coronavirus relief bill that helps all Americans and provides unrestricted fiscal support for states. The next bill should focus on funding state and local governments, working families, state testing and tracing efforts and a real economic stimulus with no handouts to corporations who do not protect their workers and only enrich executives or shareholders. The House of Representatives has already passed a bill that includes $500 billion for states and $375 billion for locals; Medicaid funding for the most vulnerable; increased SNAP food assistance; 100 percent FEMA federal assistance; funding for testing; and repeals SALT cap to help states most affected by COVID-19.
Governor Cuomo also reiterated his call for the U.S. Senate to repeal the SALT limitations. The states most impacted by COVID-19 represent more than one-third of the national GDP. They also send tens of billions of tax dollars more to the federal government than they get back, and the dollars they send are then redistributed to other states and big corporations. These very same states that have been most impacted by COVID-19, are also the states that were hit hardest by the cap on state and local taxes, the politically motivated first double tax in U.S. history that was implemented by the federal tax law in 2017.
- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Thursday he would issue an executive order authorizing any business in New York State to deny entry to people who were not wearing face coverings. “We’re giving the store owners the right to say, if you’re not wearing a mask, you can’t come in,” Mr. Cuomo said. “That store owner has a right to protect themselves. That store owner has a right to protect the other patrons in that store.”
- With the weather getting warmer and New Yorkers getting antsier, the New York City Council wants to force Mayor Bill de Blasio’s hand on outdoor dining. The Council introduced legislation Thursday afternoon, backed by the restaurant industry, requiring the mayor to find a way to open streets, sidewalks and public plazas to outdoor dining, NY Times reported.
- At the mayor’s daily briefing on Thursday, he noted that restaurants and bars were not among the businesses included in the state-permitted first phase of reopening, which the city hopes to enter in early June. When they do come online, though, Mr. de Blasio said, “I’m hopeful that the outdoors can be a big part of the solution.”
- Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey said a coalition claiming to represent hundreds of businesses that plan to reopen in defiance of social distancing orders is “playing with fire.”, NY Times reported
- “We won’t stand for our civil liberties and rights to be infringed on to be able to make a living and have a healthy immune system to defend against the virus itself,” the group stated on Facebook
- NJ reported 66 new virus-related deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 11,401. Also, 365 new patients were hospitalized on Wednesday — the most in two weeks
