In an interview with Chris Ryan, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu discusses how he plans to reopen the Granite State by easing COVID-19 restrictions, gives his opinion about the COVID Relief Bill which is being discussed in Congress and calls out Senators Shaheen and Hassan, weighs in on whether Andrew Cuomo should resign as governor of New York, and responds to the reports of abuse at the Manchester Youth Detention Center
Governor Sununu believes that each state has different circumstances and variables and that the governors of each state have a better idea of how best to reopen businesses and activities in their states. The Governor will make his decisions to relax restrictions based on the following COVID related variables: the rate of vaccinations; rate of hospitalization; and rate of fatalities. He expects that there will be surges of COVID in the future, but he believes that it still will be possible to open up the state’s economy. Governor Sununu is pleased with the increased vaccinations of our most vulnerable citizens and the lower numbers of COVID hospitalizations and fatalities. However, the Governor could not say with certainty when he will remove the mask mandate, but he believes that if the positive trends continue that it might be by mid-April.
Minor cuts and changes in the $1.9 trillion COVID Relief Bill have been proposed by Senators Manchin of West Virginia and Shaheen of New Hampshire, but Governor Sununu scoffs at these attempted changes as tiny nips around the edges of a huge spending bill which doesn’t do what it is intended to do. The Governor points out that $1 trillion of the bill goes to items which are unrelated to COVID. Most importantly, Governor Sununu is disappointed that $230 million which was slated to go to New Hampshire is now going to states like New York and California because their budgets are in the red. The Governor was very critical of New Hampshire Senators Shaheen and Hassan for going along with this bail out.
Governor Sununu doesn’t see how Andrew Cuomo can continue as governor of New York with the nursing home scandal and numerous allegations of sexual harassment because Cuomo has lost the ability to lead.
In the last segment of the interview, Governor Sununu discusses the recent report about decades of abuse at the Manchester Youth Detention Center. When he came into office, Chris Sununu began an investigation of the allegations of abuse and shifted the system from a large detention center to a community-based program for youthful offenders. The Governor pledges that there will be accountability and justice for any of the victims who were abused at the Manchester Youth Detention Center.