ALBANY – New York State is suing the Trump Administration – again.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that New York State will lead efforts to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the federal government for “failing to adequately respond and provide assistance following Hurricane Maria.”
“What happened in Puerto Rico was an international disgrace. One year ago this week, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. One year ago this week. And that was Mother Nature and we can’t question what Mother Nature does. We can question the response of government to what Mother Nature does. And what they did in Puerto Rico was a tragedy,” Cuomo said. “They basically abandoned Puerto Rico. They didn’t provide the federal help, the federal assistance, the federal care that they should’ve provided. We were on the first plane the next morning. We got there, you know what we saw? Destruction everywhere and no federal response anywhere. Now, you had Puerto Rico, you had Florida, you had Texas, they all had storms at about the same time.”
This is only the latest of more than 100 lawsuits and legal filings New York has pinned on the federal government and Trump.
As of Dec. 26, 2017, there were 100 lawsuits filed against President Donald Trump by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and the list continued growing in 2018.
Even a change in who sat at the AG’s desk did not change the direction of the office as more suits were filed this year.
In January, the state announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration for the Department of Human Services cutting $ 1 Billion in funding for the state’s Basic Health Program (BHP).
Also in January, the state filed a suit for an alleged violation of the federal Clean Air Act by “failing to curb ground-level ozone (smog) pollution that blows into New York from up wind states.”
In February, the state, under former AG Eric Schneiderman, threatened legal action about legal challenges to the Clean Power P
lan. The administration had filed an advanced notice on possible rule changes that New York argued would not limit carbon emissions.
In March, Schneiderman announced he would lead a multistate lawsuit to preserve a “fair and accurate Census.” Trump proposed having the census track people’s nationality. Schneiderman said asking one’s nationality wou
ld threaten billions of dollars in New York and could change the state’s representation in Congress and the Electoral College.
The suit was filed in April.
The state filed an intervention in a Texas suit to end tax credits for the Affordable Care Act. Texas argued the ACA is no longer constitutional because the 2017 Tax reform eliminated the penalty payment under the individual mandate. New York argued the ACA remains the law.
Barbara Underwood, who replaced Schniederman when he resigned for a scandal, led a coalition in May to litigate against the federal government after the EPA suspended certain rules regarding pesticide training for agricultural workers.
In June, continuing the month-to-month streak of filing lawsuits, Underwood sued Trump over current law separating illegal immigrant children from their parents at the southern border.
Another June lawsuit seeks to force HUD to comply with efforts against racial segregation in the Fair Housing Act.
A third suit in June alleges the EPA rolled back climate change protections by deregulating Hydrofluorocarbons.
In July, Underwood went after the administration for allowing the distribution on plans and blue prints for 3-D guns. A federal judge granted a stay in the matter, temporarily at least banning the distribution. Supporters argued the ban inhibits freedom of speech and that the guns would still be traceable and detectable.
The lawsuit filed by the Attorney General remains ongoing.
Last month, Underwood filed a suit against Trump for curtailing the State and Local Tax Deduction, saying it will harm state taxpayers by limiting how much credit they can claim for deduction of state and local taxes.
Underwood also is suing the administration for attacking sanctuary cities by putting immigration-related conditions on federal law enforcement grants. Underwood said the action interferes with local law enforcement’s ability to “decide how to meet their local public safety needs – and the Trump administration simply does not have the right to require state and local police to act as federal immigration agents.”