ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul is extending the expiring state of emergency on gun violence at least another month, according to her office.
The extension of the state of emergency, which was enacted in July by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, comes as the program's promised $159 million continues to be allocated as a litany of related programs are being formed. The emergency had been set to expire last week but will now continue through at least Nov. 22.
"Combating gun violence requires an all-hands-on-deck, collaborative approach, and Gov. Hochul will continue to work with partners at all levels on initiatives to end the gun violence epidemic, including job training, community engagement and more intervention programs," the governor's spokeswoman, Hazel Crampton-Hays, said in a statement.
The state has allocated $125 million of the $159 million, according to Hochul's office.
The Times Union recently reported that less than one third of the program's money had been spent. The unspent funds remain around $47 million, but $78 million has been allocated. In some cases, the funds are listed as unallocated because a program awarded funding has not acted on it.
Cuomo had declared the emergency after he declared New York's COVID-19 state of emergency to be over.
"We went from one epidemic to another epidemic. We went from COVID to the epidemic of gun violence," Cuomo said in July when announcing the state of emergency. “This is normally not a state role. This is not what we do as a state government. But these are not normal times."
Good government groups had speculated Cuomo had declared a new state of emergency, which suspended contract review by the state comptroller's office, as both a means to hold power and to district from his ongoing controversies, which would ultimately lead to his resignation on Aug. 10.
Although there was skepticism of the politics around the state of emergency, gun violence intervention groups and Democratic lawmakers both in New York City and the Albany area celebrated Cuomo's first-in-the-nation declaration. It was cast as a sweeping change to the way the state tackles gun violence.
Some of the pledges were reached during the state of emergency, according to information provided by the governor's office, while others, like long-term jobs, have not been met.
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October 25, 2021 at 05:36PM
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Hochul to extend gun violence state of emergency one more month - Times Union
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