9 April 2021: Governor Cuomo Forced to Sign Repeal of COVID Legal Immunity

Governor signs Queens assemblyman’s bill repealing nursing home immunity into law

The report covers Ron Kim's victory over Governor Cuomo in forcing the repeal of the legal immunity the governor originally gifted to a powerful hospital and nursing home lobby on 2 April 2020 at the height of his power, which he would go on to sign into law on 6 April 2020.

State Assemblyman Ron Kim’s legislation to repeal an immunity law shielding nursing homes from lawsuits amid the COVID-19 outbreak was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday, April 6.

Kim’s bill, which passed by a vote of 149-1 in the Assembly and 63-0 in the Senate, repeals Article 30-D of the Public Health Law (Emergency of Disaster Treatment Protection Act), that was granted by Cuomo at the height of the pandemic in March 2020. The law instituted severe liability standards that essentially insulated nursing homes and their executive leadership from criminal or civil liability. Specifically, liability would only pertain to cases in which gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or instances where intentional malfeasance has occurred.

“Finally, after a year of grief, setbacks, frustration, and gaslighting by this administration, thousands of families who lost loved ones begin to seek some form of real closure,” Kim said in a statement to QNS. “Although this can never fill the void of losing a family member, it will create a path towards finally holding these for-profit operators accountable for their actions.”

With such strong majorities in favor of the repeal of Governor Cuomo's gift of legal immunity, he had little choice but to sign the measure reversing that gift into law. It's another indication of how politically weakened he has become.

Even so, it is only a partial victory for Assemblyman Kim. His mission to right the wrongs done by Governor Cuomo and his administration by holding them fully accountable for the consequences of their COVID nursing home policies remains unfinished.