ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has vetoed a bill that would have overhauled the state's 175-year-old wrongful death statute, angering some families whose elderly loved ones were killed in a Buffalo supermarket mass shooting.
The Grieving Families Act would have allowed courts to consider grief and loss when determining how much a family can be compensated by insurance companies, regardless of the income-earning potential of the deceased.
"It's a slap in the face," retired Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, whose mother was among the 10 people killed in the attack, told ABC News on Tuesday."Obviously my mom was 86 years old, but what makes her life any less valuable than someone who’s working?" "It is reasonable to think that the legislation as drafted will drive up already-high health insurance premiums, adding significant costs for many sectors of our economy, particularly hospitals that are still recovering from the pandemic and struggling to stay afloat -- including public hospitals that serve disadvantaged communities," Hochul wrote."This is a question that would benefit from careful analysis before, not after, passing sweeping legislation.
Tim Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, praised Hochul's decision, saying, small businesses and the health care workforce are"breathing a collective sigh of relief."
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