Re-opening N.Y.: Revitalizing our economy
After nearly two months of unprecedented financial hardships and uncertainty, struggling small businesses finally received some encouraging news as Governor Cuomo announced that the Capital Region could begin re-opening under “Phase One” on Wednesday, May 20.
This was an overdue but nonetheless welcome development for countless small businesses desperately trying to survive the economic shut down caused by the Governor’s NY on PAUSE directive. For nearly two months, small businesses have struggled, scraped, and sacrificed as they faced incredible financial challenges not seen since the Great Depression.
Re-Open NY, Revitalize our Economy
As one of the few members of the New York State Legislature that’s started, owned, and operated small businesses, and signed the front of a paycheck, I know firsthand the challenges that small business owners face. That’s why I’ve made re-opening New York – safely, sensibly, regionby-region, sector-by-sector – one of my top priorities and why I’ve been so outspoken in calling for this.
The Governor’s announcement giving the green light to re-open the Capital Region represents a culmination of my weeks of advocacy on behalf of small businesses that are the backbone of our economy. I’ve advocated for the momand-pop shops on Main Street, not the big boys on
Wall Street, because small businesses are responsible for employing more than half of all New Yorkers. So goes small business, so goes our economy.
Advocating for Small Businesses
My efforts included successfully advocating for the re-opening of privatelyowned golf courses; working to re-open Lebanon Valley Speedway for local racers to test and tune their vehicles; calling for a regional re-opening timeline based on CDC data; and pushing for residential and commercial construction to be among the first sectors to re-open. Most recently, I urged the Governor to revise his faulty metrics used to determine if the Capital Region was ready to reopen. My letter to the Governor calling for this was signed by 45 local elected leaders, many of whom serve Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties. Last week, I renewed my public call for the Governor to re-open our Capital Region so businesses could begin to come back and do so with important measures like social distancing that will help ensure health and safety.
I also called on the Governor to ensure that our frontline health care workers, first responders, and emergency service personnel have the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and for Rensselaer and Saratoga County to receive more COVID-19 test kits and for Saratoga to be an antibody test site. This holistic approach focused on addressing the twin economic and health challenges caused by COVID-19 that have required our collective response.
Fixing New York’s Broken Unemployment System
Once we’ve successfully re-opened small businesses to restart our economy, our next pressing challenge is fixing New York’s hopelessly broken unemployment system, which is something I’ve been calling for. The State Department of Labor (DOL) has utterly mismanaged the influx of COVID-19-related unemployment claims, causing a massive backlog of unprocessed claims, resulting in many New Yorkers losing faith in their state government – and justifiably so. As of this column’s writing – two months after the COVID-19 global pandemic was declared and individuals began losing their jobs – too many of our fellow New Yorkers still haven’t been helped by the DOL. The number one issue that my office continues receiving emails and calls about is, in fact, the state’s broken unemployment system.
I’ve received over 400 such inquiries and do everything in my power to assist. Some folks have waited over two weeks for a simple phone call from DOL. Even worse, the state reportedly spent nearly $88 million on high-end firm Deloitte to overhaul DOL’s dysfunctional call system. Despite the state spending all that money, desperate unemployed New Yorkers still cannot get through and continue having their legitimate filings stuck in the system. This is unacceptable!
DOL operates like a 20th-century bureaucracy needing serious reform and wholesale changes. My Senate Republican colleagues and I called for specific reforms at DOL including the State Comptroller conducting an immediate, fast-track audit of its procedures and administration of the unemployment program, and a state Legislative Joint Committee conducting an immediate review and investigation into DOL’s failed handling of unemployment benefits during the pandemic. We’ve also launched a petition to ensure accountability at this broken bureaucracy that’s failed so many folks who are hurting and still need help. You can join our effort by signing my online petition at https://fixdoldisaster.com/. Over six thousand people have already signed, joining my call to fix the broken mess at Governor Cuomo’s DOL.
Protecting the Most Vulnerable
Another important step in re-opening New York is protecting our most vulnerable populations, especially senior citizens in nursing homes. Near the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Governor Cuomo, and his State Department of Health shockingly and inexplicably forced nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients despite knowing that the virus spread like wildfire and was incredibly deadly to senior citizens. Tragically, New York State has seen over 5,000 COVID-19-related nursing home deaths since adoption of the Cuomo administration’s recklessly dangerous policy.
To avoid a recurrence of this terrible situation, my Senate Republican colleagues and I
demanded adoption of measures to protect senior citizens in nursing homes. Our proposed reforms include providing necessary test kits directly to the facilities who have been scrambling to access them, utilizing National Guard to assist in administering tests and cleansing facilities, providing PPE to nursing homes, long-term care, and adult daycare facilities, and creating regional facilities for COVID positive nursing home patients. I’ve also called for state public hearings and an independent federal investigation into this preventable tragedy that claimed the lives of more than 5,000 senior citizens.
Be assured, I’ll continue my outspoken advocacy to re-open New York, help small businesses, restore our economy, fix the broken unemployment system, and protect the most vulnerable to give help – and hope – to all New Yorkers. Remembering the Fallen With Monday being Memorial Day, a special, solemn, and sacred day when we remember and honor America’s fallen, it’s vital that we reflect upon the incredible sacrifices of our armed forces – so many of whom gave all – that have made our way of life possible. Their courage, character, dedication, duty, and devotion continue to light the way forward during this difficult time for so many Americans. God bless the men and women of our military who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may be free. America owes these heroes everything, and we remember them this Memorial Day and every day.
Contact and Connect with Me
If I can help, call me at (518) 371-2751, e-mail me at jordan@nysenate.gov, visit my Senate webpage www. jordan.nysenate.gov, contact my district office at 1580 Columbia Turnpike Building 2, Suite 1, Castleton-On-The-Hudson, NY 12033, or connect with me on Facebook (Senator Daphne Jordan), Instagram (Senator_Jordan), and Twitter (NY Senator Jordan).