Susan Arbetter is reporting for State of Politics New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said this week that when the time is right, “there will be an accounting” by the legislature of the Cuomo administration’s spending during the pandemic. Stewart-Cousins also promised to hold hearings on how the pandemic gained a foothold in the state’s nursing homes. The Buffalo News has reported that the Cuomo administration has not been forthcoming about how money to fight the pandemic is being spent. The same article quotes Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause, saying the legislature is not doing its job. “I know that there are a lot of conversations about how things happen[ed] and whether or not there has been too much power given to the governor,” Stewart-Cousins said.  “We have never abrogated [our] responsibility.” On March 2, lawmakers approved $40 million in emergency pandemic funding; at the same time, they expanded the governor’s powers to handle the pandemic and other emergencies. Stewart-Cousins said there will eventually be an examination of what was done, but only when the time is right. That time is not now. “For now, our responsibility is to be a government that works together for the people,” she said. Read the full story at spectrumlocalnews [dot] com.