Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul says the state has the authority to mandate masks at schools.
Hochul, a Democrat, is set to take office as New York’s first female governor on Aug. 24, when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will resign after an independent investigation found he sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Her assertion about masks in schools is in contrast to guidance from Cuomo, who earlier this month said he lacked the legal authority to impose mask mandates on his own.
“In a matter of days, I’ll be able to say we will have mask mandates,” Hochul said in Queens on Wednesday. “I just don’t have that authority at this time, when I’m not going to overstep.”
Hochul said that nearly all school leaders and superintendents she had spoken with support a mask mandate in schools. And she said the state could end up lifting a statewide school mask mandate in parts of the state with lower positivity rates.
“Mask mandates are something that the Department of Health has the authority to call for,” Hochul said, later adding: “I believe that we’ll need mask mandates for children to go back to schools and that’ll have to be universal, it’ll be statewide.”
Lawmakers this year let Cuomo’s emergency COVID-19 powers expire in light of investigations into allegations that the governor had abused his executive power, including by sexually harassing women.
This summer, Cuomo’s administration decided not to release long-promised back-to-school COVID-19 guidance — which school leaders had expected to include recommendations about mask-wearing.
Many school leaders have argued that the state Department of Health still has the power to protect public health by requiring masks in schools. Supporters of a mask mandate have pointed out that all children under 12 aren’t yet eligible for vaccination, and that wearing a mask can help protect students, staff and families at a time of heightened COVID-19 transmission.
But Cuomo earlier this month argued that any mask mandate would be up to lawmakers.
Cuomo’s office didn’t immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday.
