As I’ve said for months, the governor’s nursing home COVID-19 response has been a disaster. First a damning AG report showed the scope of nursing home deaths was much greater than initially reported by the state Department of Health. Now a stunning admission from a high-ranking executive staffer in the Governor’s office that fear of the federal government’s response lead to the administration’s decision to cover up the information.

LEGISLATURE MUST TAKE ACTION: The Governor has not been honest with this legislature. He’s withheld information and when we tried to exert our oversight powers, he ignored us. That’s not transparency, its secrecy. If the DOH was providing data to the US Justice Department during that time, the legislature should have been informed as to the delay. Instead, vulnerable populations, including nursing home and long-term care patients, were put at unnecessary risk because the governor was worried about saving face – outrageous and completely unacceptable. It’s clear that the Governor’s emergency powers are no longer appropriate, and I urge the Legislature to take immediate action to repeal them. This is not about emergency powers anymore; it’s about restoring a balance of power.

INDEPENDENT, BI-PARTISAN INVESTIGATION NEEDED: These are our loved ones and their lives are at stake – and we must demand more from our government in these challenging times. It’s now painfully clear that the legislature must take the necessary action to get the truth, we need more transparency and accountability from the governor – not less. I along with colleagues from both sides of the aisle have been calling for a bipartisan and independent investigation into nursing home deaths since August. Sadly, I have a feeling that this is just the beginning and we may see more shocking revelations moving forward.