Andrew Cuomo takes veiled shot at Trump’s handling of pandemic as he takes over National Governor’s Association
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a veiled shot at President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday saying, “state governments are now at the forefront” of American governance as he assumed the reins of the National Governor’s Association.
“State governments are now at the forefront and it is a new chapter in the governance of this country,” Cuomo said. “This coming year, states will not only be laboratories of democracy, we will also be the engines of economic renewal and we will also be the innovators of a new public health system institutionalizing what we’ve learned.”
Trump and the New York governor frequently sparred this spring over federal coronavirus aid as the pandemic revealed gaping holes in health care systems that were quickly overwhelmed by patients suffering from the unrelenting virus, and leaving governors to fend for themselves as they tried to stock up on life-saving personal protective equipment.
It led governors such as Cuomo and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to band together in interstate cooperation to create purchasing power — a tactic they are still using today to get a hold of COVID-19 tests and other medical supplies still in short supply as the pandemic enters its sixth month in the U.S.
Massachusetts sent 300,000 N95 masks to front-line workers in New York when the masks were is short supply and the Empire state returned the favor two weeks later, sending 400 ventilators to Massachusetts as the pandemic was escalating and the federal government had failed to deliver.
“I think the most important lesson we’ve learned over the course of the past five months in battling this pandemic is that global supply chains between private companies have trouble surviving when there’s scarcity and nation-states competing for those goods and services,” Baker said in a short video the NGA posted ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
Baker and Cuomo have also worked with other Northeast governors to establish a regional framework for reopening the economy.
“There is tremendous possibility in the nation’s recognition of the full potential of state governments,” Cuomo said, outlining his plans to focus on America’s recovery and revival over the next year.
Baker will play a key role — he was re-elected Wednesday to serve another year on the NGA’s Executive Committee.
Cuomo took over leadership of the bipartisan governor’s association from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who has led the organization for the past year.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/33ySzIu
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