WINDSOR TERRACE — The State Legislature appeared poised to strip Gov. Andrew Cuomo of the emergency powers it granted him last year at the height of the pandemic as calls for the governor to be investigated or resign continued to mount.

Lawmakers could take action as soon as this weekend. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, both Democrats, announced on March 2 that they had reached an agreement to move legislation to the floor.

[Related: Cuomo’s Executive Powers Under Scrutiny, Calls to Resign Intesify]

The governor is facing two separate scandals. He has been hit with sexual harassment allegations by three women — two of whom worked for him — and is facing fallout from the results of an investigation by Attorney General Letitia James, which found that his administration undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to the governor, admitted to Democratic leaders in a private phone call in February that the administration withheld the number of COVID-19 related nursing home deaths. 

The legislature voted on March 3, 2020, to give Cuomo emergency powers to address the pandemic. The emergency powers included the ability to unilaterally order non-essential businesses and institutions across the state to shut down, shift resources from one hospital to another and implement new policies at nursing homes.

In October, Cuomo ordered religious institutions, including churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn, to cap attendance at Masses — in some cases allowing as few as ten people to take part. Days later, the diocese filed a federal lawsuit against the governor. In November, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the diocese’s favor.

The emergency powers granted to Cuomo expire on April 30, but lawmakers said now might be the time to eliminate them.

“I think everyone understands where we were back in March and where we are now,”  Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “We certainly see the need for a quick response but also want to move toward a system of increased oversight and review.”

Stripping Cuomo of the emergency powers would mean that the governor would no longer be allowed to install new regulations without first getting input from the legislature.

As the scandals surrounding him escalated, the governor is facing calls for his resignation. Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Democrat representing Long Island, is the latest lawmaker calling on him to step down. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand both said they support James’s probe into the sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo. 

James announced on March 2 that she would start an investigation.