Senator O’Mara statement on the lifting of NY’s mask mandate on businesses

Albany, N.Y., February 9— State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) released the following statement on today’s announcement by Governor Kathy Hochul that New York’s mask mandate on businesses is being lifted statewide: 

“New York State governors, first ex-Governor Cuomo, and now Governor Hochul, have been running this state into the ground by executive order and endless mandates.   

“Unfortunately, it continues.  This move to finally remove the mask mandate on businesses has taken far too long and its delay has taken an enormous toll on local communities, economies, and workers across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions. 

“New York State already ranks near the bottom in too many categories of affordability and quality of life. Governor Hochul is leading us toward the bottom again as neighboring states, and many places across the nation and around the world, are taking bold steps into a post-COVID return to common sense.  

“The continuation of an irrational and unscientific mask mandate for school children, without a definitive end in sight, continues to define New York as a state under the control of extreme executive order, without legislative checks and balances, and ignoring the dire need for local decision-making.” 

Sign a Senate GOP petition HERE.