Cuomo takes over governors group as virus batters states

https://www.sfgate.com/news/amp/Cuomo-takes-over-governors-group-as-virus-batters-15459997.php

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The governor who in large measure has defined states' up-and-down fight against the coronavirus, including occasional combat with the White House, is poised to widen his national spotlight.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took the reins of the National Governors Association on Wednesday during a meeting held virtually because of the disease.

Cuomo, who was tapped for the position in 2018, said governors who've shouldered the brunt of responding to COVID-19 will unite to prepare for the next virus and control a pandemic still taking the lives of thousands.

The new chair said governors will push for a federally funded infrastructure plan, while asking for “unprecedented testing capacity” and stockpiles of protective gear, supplies and medicine. He said governors would help each other safely revitalize economies and schools and fix beleaguered public health systems.

“There has never been a moment when state governments have been more instrumental in the lives of the people of this country,” he said, adding: “We now have shown what states can do.”

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