The US Senate Republicans’ economic stimulus bill has been much criticized by Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo – but appears to include key parts lifted word-for-word from his own legislation.
The Covid-19 stimulus plan includes wording from the New York governor’s corporate immunity state law. Specifically, a provision that would shield health care industry executives from lawsuits related to coronavirus, should their business decisions result in injuries or deaths of health care workers and patients. The echoed phrasing was first reported by journalist David Sirota.
Despite seemingly agreeing with Republicans on corporate immunity, Cuomo harshly criticized the bill for not providing enough financial aid to states. “I think it’s devastating news for the entire country,” the Democratic governor said about the proposed plan, during a press conference.
Cuomo also derided Republican Senators as “federal bag men,” implying that they only want to re-route urban New York’s tax money towards their rural states. “They’ve been taking New Yorkers’ money for years, putting it in a bag in Washington and bringing it home to their state,” he added.
While forming his opinion on the proposed bill, the governor, however, seems to have missed the exact words he signed his own name under in April – namely, the provisions in which any “health care facility administrator, executive, supervisor, board member, trustee” would be shielded from Covid-related lawsuits because their “acts, omissions, or decisions resulting from a resource or staffing shortage shall not be considered” as opening the door to legal liability.
Incidentally, both the author of the federal bill, Republican Senator John Cornyn, and the New York governor are reported to have received large political contributions from various American healthcare organizations.
Cuomo’s apparent ideological crossover on the matter with his political rivals did not go unnoticed. “Governor Cuomo brushes aside criticism for his mishandling of nursing homes as Republican partisan politics but as it turns out he has inspired Republicans to follow his policies,” said New York Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim, who has advocated the repeal of the immunity provision in NYC.
Cuomo has received a lot of national praise for seemingly getting his state’s Covid-19 crisis under control, despite also being perceived by many as avoiding the blame for the initial outbreak and its casualties, while taking credit for the state’s relative success in combating the virus.
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