Capitol Confidential By Amanda Fries on February 2, 2021 at 9:10 AM
ALBANY A last-minute motion for the Senate investigations committee to vote on issuing a subpoena to compel testimony from Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker regarding nursing home coronavirus deaths was squashed and labeled as political by the committee’s chair Monday.
Sen. Thomas O’Mara, a Southern Tier Republican and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, surprised committee chairman, Hudson Valley Democratic Sen. James Skoufis, when he made the motion to have committee members vote to subpoena Zucker.
Long Island Sen. Anthony Palumbo, the only other Republican committee member, quickly seconded the motion and expressed doubt that state officials under Gov. Andrew Cuomo would release accurate information.
2 Feb 2021
New York State Senate Democrats blocked a subpoena for nursing home fatality data on Monday, mere days after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a damning report indicating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) administration had “undercounted” the number of coronavirus-related fatalities in nursing homes “by as much as 50 percent.”
Sen. Thomas O’Mara, the top Republican serving on the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, made the motion on Monday during a virtual meeting. The Republican lawmaker said he wanted to “make sure we get to the bottom” of the irregularities in reporting the data on coronavirus-related fatalities in nursing homes.