ALBANY – It’s time to close the curtains.

A good government watchdog wants state lawmakers to reduce the scale of the emergency coronavirus Andrew Cuomo, which allows it to avoid, rewrite, and make new laws throughout the pandemic.

“We are writing to urge you to review and place new limits on the emergency force given to the governor earlier this year,” wrote New York’s top Common Cause NY supervisor, League of Voters for Women, Reinvent Albany and the New York Public Interest Research Group in a joint letter Wednesday to Cuomo and legislative leaders Senator Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins ​​(D-Westchester), Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx, Minority Senator Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) and Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Syracuse) .

“When the country carefully begins the reopening process and with the benefit of experience, we now believe that a review and change in the delegation of authority is needed. The form of American representative democracy depends mainly on the balance of power between equal branches of government, “they wrote.

The legislature passed an emergency law in early March, giving Cuomo a large expansion of authority to suspend “laws, local laws, regulations, regulations, or parts thereof” related to maintaining public health and “needed to assist disaster relief”

This step gives Cuomo the ability to issue several 30-day executive orders – including termination of all non-essential businesses in the entire state and shortening the school year. That power ended in April 2021.

But now that New Yorkers are on the other side of the mountain, with the majority of the region entering a final reopening phase, the reformers want MPs back in Albany.

“When the country comes out of the most severe quarantine restrictions, we believe it is time to review and revise the delegation of power. Therefore, we urge that the Governor’s authority be limited for a certain period of time and only be extended as a result of legislative agreement by the Legislature. That should not be “automatic,” wrote the watchdog, because the Legislature had the power to remove Cuomo’s authority if they passed a joint resolution.

They also asked the pol to finish the rest of the legislative session cut by the pandemic, criticizing them for the meeting only to choose a “limited” agenda through remote technology such as Zoom – for things like COVID-19 emergency bills or police reform laws.

MPs also have the power to approve or reject fiscal cuts for the $ 177 billion state budget approved in April.

Neither Stewart-Cousins ​​nor Heastie responded to the comment, but the two Republican leaders praised the suggestion.

“Both the Senate and the Republican Assembly placed amendments on the floor to end the governor’s uncontrolled and uncontrollable power, and the Democrats who controlled both houses voted no. It’s time for Democrats to stop hiding behind the Governor and follow our lead to end his control,” said Orrt in a statement.

“It is refreshing that the groups of good government finally realized that Cuomo’s unilateral government was completely opposed to how ‘good governance’ should function. The opportunity to control the governor’s power is already there. What is lacking is the willingness of the majority to take the necessary steps – and it is past time, “Barclay added.

One Democratic Association spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity, and agreed that it was a good idea to sterilize Cuomo’s power.

“Once we enter Phase 4, there is no reason why we should not – at least – come back and release its power,” said a policymaker from Cuomo.

“There is no reason for him to run the show himself again.”

Cuomo’s office was not very enthusiastic.

“The legislature passed dozens of bills since the emergency force came into force and the Governor signed many of them into law, but without the executive authority granted by the Legislature, we cannot successfully manage a pandemic and help New Yorkers destroy the curve … this deadly virus , “Cuomo spokesman Jason Conwall said in a statement.

“While New York’s infection rate is now one of the lowest in the country, make no mistake: this pandemic is not over and we must remain vigilant because many other countries are experiencing epidemics.”