Tedisco Urges Assembly Speaker to Stop Stalling and Send Schoharie Limo Crash Task Force Bill to Governor

Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C-Glenville) today is calling on the Assembly Speaker to stop stalling and send to the Governor to review and sign legislation unanimously passed by the legislature to extend the date by six months for the final report of the New York State Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force, which was created in the wake of the horrific 2018 Schoharie limo crash.

The legislation, S.7563/A.8493A, extends the deadline for the Task Force to release its final report and recommendations to October 1, 2022, in order for them to hold a public hearing and gather as much information as possible about the crash and other related issues.  The Task Force was supposed to have issued its report to the Governor and Legislature by November 1, 2021, but the previous Administration never implemented the panel and it did not meet until February 2022. 

Given the urgency for the Task Force to get as much information as possible in a timely fashion, Senator Tedisco is also urging the New York State Inspector General to quickly release findings regarding its investigation of potential state malfeasance and a cover-up of the lack of oversight of the limo company that operated the vehicle involved in the 2018 Schoharie limousine crash which tragically took the lives of 20 people, including several of Tedisco’s constituents.

Senator Tedisco spoke with state Inspector General Lucy Lang last week. Lang informed Tedisco there is an “ongoing investigative matter” related to the Schoharie limousine crash but would not provide any further details or a timetable for the conclusion of her office’s investigation. This phone call by the Inspector General Lang was a response to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request Senator Tedisco filed on March 10^th regarding the state of the investigation into the crash. 

“I don’t understand the lack of urgency on the part of some of my colleagues in government when it comes to getting answers about what caused the horrific 2018 Schoharie limousine crash that took the lives of 20 people, so the experts on the Task Force can evaluate it and give policy recommendations to the governor and legislature to help prevent something like this from happening again.  I guess if this were a task force on spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for a new sports stadium, my colleagues would be jumping up and down to get it done in a matter of hours!” said Senator Jim Tedisco.

“We’re entering prom season and the busy six-month seasonal period from May through October where many New Yorkers rent these type of stretch vehicles for weddings, concerts, graduations or a day out with friends like what happened in Schoharie.  We need to give the families of the 20 wonderful people who lost their lives some answers and we need to know what can be done to give people peace of mind in the future that they will be safe if they use these vehicles,” said Senator Jim Tedisco.