Masks In Schools, Vaccinations For Staff To Be Mandated: Hochul

LONG ISLAND, NY — Hours after she was sworn into office as the 57th governor of New York Tuesday, Kathy Hochul hit the ground running and announced new vaccination and mask mandates for schools statewide.

"Your priorities are my priorities and that means fighting the delta variant," she said. "None of us wants a rerun of last year's horrors."

The goal is to get children back to school in a safe environment and after months of consulting with school officials, teachers and parents, Hochul took a stand on the vaccination controversy.

"We need to require vaccinations for all school personnel with an option to test out weekly, at least for now," she said. To make that happen, partnerships on all levels of government are necessary, she said.

Hochul said she will direct the state's Department of Health to institute "universal masking for anyone entering our schools."

New York is also launching a back-to-school COVID-19 testing program to make testing for students and staff widely available and convenient, she said.

Later this week, Hochul said she will announce new, consistent school-related policies that are in line with what districts have been asking for.

The second priority, she said, is increasing vaccinations for New Yorkers. "Too many are not yet vaccinated, putting themselves and others at risk," she said.

With the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, granting full approval of the Pfizer vaccination Monday, New York can "expect new vaccination requirements soon," she said.

Also, there is a need to ensure booster shots are available quickly and reliably, eight months after the first round of doses, she said. Hochul said she will do whatever necessary, including reopening mass vaccination sites, to ensure New Yorkers have access to booster shots.

Hochul also outlined her plans for the state's rental assistance program, with funding delivered expeditiously. "If you apply and qualify for this money you will be protected and not evicted for a year," Hochul said.

Similar efforts will be focused on the Excluded Workers Program, to help those impacted by the pandemic who have not received assistance.

Hochul said there will be a push to "get this state working again, without distraction. This begins with a dramatic change in culture," including accountability and no tolerance for those who cross the line. Harassment and ethics training will be done live and not online; an expedited process for Freedom of Information Law requests will be created; and the focus will be on transparency and ethical governing, she said.

The time is now, she said, to build trust between communities and law enforcement, to stamp out the specter of racism, help small businesses hit hard by the pandemic, and time "to unleash the power of New York' women, making sure any barrier to success and opportunity for all is eradicated."

Hochul thanked her Irish immigrant grandparents, her mother, who grew up in an abusive home and later started a home for victims of domestic violence, and her father, who taught her to be a risk-taker. She thanked her husband and children for giving her wings to pursue her dreams of public service.

"You may not know me, but I know you," Hochul said, explaining that she's traveled the state, listening to constituents, seeing "long-neglected downtowns," and hearing about the "heartbreak of opioid abuse." She's worked to raise the minimum wage, enact strong gun laws, and has been in the trenches battling the pandemic, she said.

"I've embraced the internal hopes and dreams shared by 20 million New Yorkers," Hochul said. "You are heard."