STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation last week that would have created a state task force focused on combatting the state’s fight against deadly fentanyl.
On Wednesday, the governor struck down the bill that State Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn) and Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island) sponsored in their respective chambers of the legislature, which passed the legislation in June without a vote against it.
The duo, who will leave elected office at the end of the year, issued a joint statement Tuesday expressing optimism that Hochul would support the bill next year.
“We are disappointed with the veto of our fentanyl task force bill but are confident the Governor understands the gravity of this issue and that it will be addressed next session,” the duo wrote in their statement.
Hochul’s move against the fentanyl task force legislation was one of 39 bills the governor struck down last week after spending most of the lead-up to this month’s election without exercising her veto power.
Most pieces of legislation would have created a variety of task forces and commissions costing an estimated $40 million — which Hochul cited as one of her main reasons for being against the bills.
“None of these costs are accounted for in the State Financial Plan,” Hochul wrote in her official explanation of the vetoes. “Without appropriate funding, these unbudgeted costs would create significant staffing and other programmatic burdens on state agencies.”
District Attorney Michael McMahon took to Twitter to say that he was “[f]rustrated [and] confused” by the governor’s decision to veto the fentanyl legislation.
“More NY’ers are dying from overdose than ever [and] this bill would have brought stakeholders together to implement real solutions,” McMahon said. “We will continue our fight to hold drug dealers accountable [and] help those battling addiction.”
McMahon’s office said in September that there had been at least 63 overdoses that resulted in deaths in 2022, and he’s said previously that about 80% of those deaths involve fentanyl.
The district attorney said Tuesday that a local count of 92 overdose deaths so far this year showed a decline from 2021, but that they expected final numbers to be as much as 30% higher.
This file photo shows Assemblyman Michael Cusick announcing the fentanyl task force’s legislation alongside District Attorney Michael McMahon, Borough President Vito Fossella, community partners from the YMCA, Community Health Action of Staten Island and advocates. (Staten Island Advance/Kristin F. Dalton)
A host of local activists and elected officials, including Cusick and Borough President Vito Fossella, gathered at McMahon’s office in February to announce their push for the task force that would’ve been made up of 16 members with a wide range of expertise.
Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-Mid-Island) and bill co-sponsor Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) issued a joint statement decrying the governor’s decision.
“What we are witnessing in New York right now is a public health emergency unlike any other — yet the only emergencies that Kathy Hochul seems focused on are those that are self-proclaimed and politically expedient,” the duo wrote.
“Governor Hochul’s refusal to sign this bill into law — which passed both houses of the state legislature unanimously — is yet another one of her infamous bold-faced dismissals of public opinion when it comes to matters weighed by state lawmakers in Albany.”
If the bill had passed, the task force would have examined abuse and overdose trends; expanded awareness about the dangers of fentanyl; promoted access to and the availability of treatment for substance use disorders; and examined the expansion and distribution of naloxone.
The task force would have been required to meet quarterly and submit reports detailing its findings and put forth recommendations to Hochul and both houses of the state legislature within one year of convening.