Assemblyman Santabarbara Expresses Outrage over NY Times Report: Governor’s Office Prevented State Health Officials from Releasing the Number of Nursing Homes Deaths During Pandemic

The Governor’s delays in releasing nursing home data, and the excuses he has given make no sense. This week’s New York Times story confirms what we’ve been saying all along – the Governor withheld information from this legislature and vulnerable populations were put at unnecessary risk because of his actions.

“It’s more evident now than ever that the Governor had the complete number of nursing home deaths (as early as the summer of 2020) and pushed state health officials to remove data and underreport nursing home deaths during the pandemic. This data was critical in identifying ways to improve our crisis response and eliminate the policies that contributed to these tragic and preventable deaths.”

“I, along with several of my colleagues, have repeatedly called for the Governor’s resignation. There is clearly a persistent pattern of abuse of power that makes this governor’s service no longer tenable and an on-going distraction from the important business of government. People have heard enough, we should separate ourselves from this governor to move our state forward.”