Gov. Cuomo kill measure that would have required more scrutiny of state officials’ requests to earn outside income just weeks after he brought out pandemic book as he faces further backlash amid new COVID rules
Six commissioners appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have voted against a proposal for the state's ethics enforcement agency to more closely scrutinize government employees' requests to earn outside income.
The commissioners killed the measure at a meeting on Tuesday - a month after Cuomo released a book boasting about his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
The Governor has publicly refused to disclose just how much he was paid to pen the memoir, titled American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
However, back in 2014 Cuomo received a whopping $783,000 advance for his autobiography, All Things Possible.
That book sold less than 4000 copies, meaning Cuomo made around $195 for each copy sold.
Six commissioners appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have voted against a proposal for the state's ethics enforcement agency to more closely scrutinize government employees' requests to earn outside income. The Governor is pictured at a recent press conference
On Tuesday, New York state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics met to discuss whether there should be more scrutiny of state officials' requests to earn outside income.
Cuomo refuses to publicly reveal how much he was paid for his book deal. He says the amount will be seen on his financial disclosure forms which will be available next year
According to The Times Union, Cuomo's book was not explicitly discussed at the meeting, but appeared to be the impetus for the new proposal.
Under current measures, any state government employee who wishes to make an outside annual income greater than $5,000 requires approval from staffers at the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE).
The new measure sought to make the process stricter, with all 14 JCOPE Commissioners having to personally approve any requests.
Six commissioners appointed by Cuomo voted against the measure, while six other commissioners voted in favor of it. Due to the 6-6 deadlock, the proposal was not passed.
The meeting comes as Cuomo faces growing backlash over his new book.
According to Fox News, some New York state residents are furious about the governor's decision to capitalize off the crisis as his lockdown rules cause them financial heartache.
Meanwhile, new restrictions - including the closure of New York City bars at 10 pm - are putting residents under further financial strain.
In recent days, many prominent commentators have taken to Twitter to criticize Cuomo for his book
In recent days, many prominent commentators have taken to Twitter to criticize Cuomo for the book, as the threat of a severe second wave looms.
'Truly one of the worst publishing decisions in a year of particularly bad decisions was allowing Cuomo to put out a book about how he solved COVID-19 for NY,' author Maris Kreizman wrote.
'Personally, I'd be embarrassed had I written a book about how great U did handling a crisis while the crisis was still happening. Cuomo... not so much, apparently,' activist Parker Molloy tweeted on Wednesday.
Journalist Chris Herring chimed in: 'Cuomo doing a book on his handling of NY's coronavirus recovery (before the virus came back with a vengeance) was really wild as hell'.
Cuomo says he will donate a portion of the book's profits to charity.
However, he has not disclosed what percentage of funds he will be giving away, nor the name of the charity who will be receiving them.
DailyMail.com has contacted his press office for comment.
Coronavirus cases continue to rise across New York, with New York City specifically seeing a troubling spike.
On Wednesday, 5310 new cases of COVID-19 were reported across the state - more than five times the number that were reported exactly a month earlier.
Meanwhile, 2276 New Yorkers are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus, including 437 in intensive care.
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