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North Country state representatives support some of Cuomo's plans, oppose others

Posted 1/14/16

State representatives and senators have reacted to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Wednesday State of the State and Executive Budget address, saying they support some of his agenda, including a repeal of the …

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North Country state representatives support some of Cuomo's plans, oppose others

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State representatives and senators have reacted to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Wednesday State of the State and Executive Budget address, saying they support some of his agenda, including a repeal of the controversial Gap Elimination.

Some remain skeptical about his proposed ethics reforms and Regional Economic Development Initiatives.

Go here for more about the governor’s proposed agenda.

Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton

“With his emphasis on job creation, boosting our state’s economy, rebuilding our infrastructure, strengthening our public schools and providing relief to hardworking taxpayers, Governor Cuomo touched on a number of issues that are critically important to the region I represent.

Events of recent months prove just how fragile is the progress we’ve made to strengthen our economy, and a reminder of the need to redouble our efforts to create new and better opportunity for people of this region.

As Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I will be especially focused on finding new ways to support family farmers and help them succeed because farming remains an essential part of our local economy, and holds untapped potential for even more growth. We also should not miss the opportunity to leverage the growing interest in clean, renewable energy to reaffirm our commitment to the state’s existing nuclear plants, including the FitzPatrick plant in Oswego.

Ensuring that we support our public schools is also essential to creating a brighter future for our communities. Once again, I will be working not only to provide record aid for public schools, but also to ensure that we receive our fair share of education dollars from the state. I’m encouraged by the Governor's support for finally eliminating the GEA, that budget gimmick that has robbed our children of resources they need in order to receive the best possible education. They have waited for this step for too long, and I urge the Assembly to join with the Senate in ending the GEA now, and for good.

I look forward to digging deeper into the Governor’s proposals and learning more about the details of his plan to revitalize our state. The goals outlined today are just a starting point for the work we will do this year to create jobs, provide top-notch educational opportunities for children and improve life for all New Yorkers.”

Ritchie represents the 48th Senate District. It covers parts of northern and western St. Lawrence County, including Ogdensburg, Canton and Gouverneur.

Sen. Joe Griffo, R-Rome

“Today Governor Cuomo offered a wide variety of far-reaching proposals and initiatives that are certainly worthy of much consideration and debate in the weeks ahead. While the Governor’s proposals aim to address many important issues across the state – from poverty and the plight of small businesses, to infrastructure improvements and community revitalization – we still must remain mindful of how the state is spending taxpayer money.

Too many of the Governor’s latest proposals appear to be created without clearly revealing where all of the money is coming from to support these initiatives. Fostering public and private partnerships to help leverage larger private investments to improve various regions of our state is commendable. But, we still have an obligation to ensure that the state can afford to dedicate these funds to the projects the Governor has proposed.

The Senate this week just passed a permanent spending cap that requires us to watch how we budget the state’s money. We have many priorities that deserve our attention, like economic development, school funding, infrastructure rehabilitation and sustainable employment, but we must ensure that our limited funds are being spent and invested in ways that best serve the interests of our state and its citizens.

I am particularly concerned with the pattern of choosing winners and losers by competitively distributing state money for economic development. While I applaud the Governor’s concept of encouraging regions and communities to work creatively and collaboratively in designing comprehensive plans for economic development, I still believe there is a better way to fairly ensure that more small communities benefit from the state’s valuable resources. I agree that state money shouldn’t be given away indiscriminately just because a community wants and needs it, but it is just as wrong for these funds to be distributed discriminately by some all-or-nothing process through which the Executive plays judge and jury.

A community – or an airport, according to another of the Governor’s initiatives – may not have the best or most creative plan for economic development, but that doesn’t mean it’s still lacking a good plan that can surely benefit from some state investment. That’s why I believe a better method should be constructed to evaluate each community based on its needs, its economic circumstances and its proposed solutions, and then award some funding proportionately based on a rating that includes all those factors. That way, there is an opportunity for many more communities to improve their prospects for a better future.

I look forward to examining and debating all these proposals with an open mind as we prepare the state’s budget, and I am hopeful that some common ground can be reached on the initiatives that will keep New York State moving in the right direction.”

Griffo’s 47th Senate District covers a north-south swath through the middle of St. Lawrence County from Massena to Wanakena, including Potsdam.

Assemblywoman Addie Russell, D-Theresa

“I am encouraged by Governor Cuomo’s recognition of the need to invest in upstate New York and his commitment to ethics reform in Albany. In the last several years I have voted to end unlimited campaign contributions by closing the LLC loophole and strip corrupt politicians of their pensions. I will continue to fight for transparency in the Legislature - I represent my constituents full time and I believe we need to limit outside income for lawmakers state-wide.

The governor’s pledge to boost state aid for education by $2.1 billion over two years is a step in the right direction and I will work with my colleagues in the Assembly to ensure struggling school districts are not left behind.

Governor Cuomo is pushing for more funding for infrastructure initiatives in upstate New York. I applaud the governor’s stance; I believe a multi-year funding plan that allows local governments to do long-term, strategic planning on large projects is crucial to our state’s economy. A failure to invest in our local roads and bridges, our water and sewer systems, and our electrical grid and high speed internet connections, is a failure to invest in our communities.

In addition, I remain committed to our agricultural community and agree that we need to provide tax relief to small businesses, including our farmers. Further, as chair of the Assembly Task Force on Food, Farm, and Nutrition Policy, I believe we can stimulate the agricultural industry while providing healthy, local food for our students by increasing state funding for school lunches from about $.06 currently to $.31 per lunch to purchase New York products.

I look forward to working on these important issues and ensuring they’re done in a way that benefits North Country residents and businesses.”

Russell’s 116th Assembly District covers all St. Lawrence County communities along the St. Lawrence River, plus Canton and Potsdam.

Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, R-Black River

“I’m optimistic but cautious about the plans for ethics reform and pension forfeiture. Last year, the governor introduced very similar proposals, but no meaningful reforms were made, and corrupt politicians continue to collect taxpayer-funded pensions to this day. In fact, just yesterday, my colleagues and I reintroduced important ethics reforms proposals just to have them blocked for the second year in a row by Assembly Democrats. If the governor is serious about cleaning up Albany, he needs to talk to members of his own political party because they’ve blocked reform for years.

It’s disappointing that the governor only proposed a mere 30 percent elimination of the GEA for this year. Our schools deserve to be fully funded so they are able to provide students with important programs and after-school activities. In spite of this roadblock, I’m committed to pushing forward and fighting to fully eliminate the GEA in this year’s budget.

I’m encouraged, however, by the governor’s plan to lower the tax burden on our small businesses this year by raising their Personal Income Tax exemptions. It’s no secret that small businesses have been drowning in a sea of burdensome taxes and regulations for many years. I look forward to reviewing the governor’s proposal closely over the next few months and providing some much-needed relief to our small-business owners in the North Country and Mohawk Valley. I hope that the governor is serious about advancing this critical measure as part of the 2016 budget.”

Blankenbush represents the 117th Assembly District. It covers a portion of western St. Lawrence County that includes Gouverneur.

Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury

“Today’s announcement by the governor is a starting point. In the days and weeks ahead, New Yorkers from all corners of the state will have the chance to weigh in on what they like, and don’t like, about the executive budget. During budget hearings beginning on January 20, we’ll hear directly from the state agencies how they arrived at their figures and proposed policy changes.

I am very pleased to see a serious focus on infrastructure in the executive budget. It’s no secret that New York’s roads and bridges need a lot of attention. The sudden closure of the Champlain Bridge, and its immediate impact on communities and commerce, is a cautionary tale of what can happen when infrastructure is ignored.

I also am pleased to see an increase in funding for the Environmental Preservation Fund. Of interest to me, and I know a lot of North Country communities, is funding to eradicate invasive species. Education and prevention are important but the goal is to eliminate the invasive species, a costly proposition for many of our municipalities and lake associations. Increased funding for the EPF presents a good opportunity to provide that financial help.

The proposed minimum wage increase is a concern for small businesses that are writing, emailing and calling almost daily. There message to me is they don’t have the ability to pay higher wages, though they would like to be able to. A more productive focus would be to ensure more businesses are having success and can employ more people and pay higher wages. I want to see real tax relief and a regulatory structure that helps our businesses.

The State Senate voted yesterday for a two percent spending cap. A self-imposed cap has kept recent state budget spending under much better control than years ago. A statutory cap, as part of this year’s budget, would assure taxpayers of much-needed fiscal discipline on the State level in the years ahead.

Ending the Gap Elimination Adjustment, GEA, is another priority. The State Senate has voted to eliminate this costly burden on school districts. We need to Assembly and Governor to join us.

Finally, the Assembly leadership should get on board with a measure to deny taxpayer funded pensions to public officials found guilty of corruption. We had agreed to doing this as part of last year’s budget agreement, but the Assembly leadership failed to pass the resolution that was approved with overwhelming support in the Senate.”

Little’s 45th Senate District is a small portion of eastern St. Lawrence County from Lawrence extending south to Piercefield, plus Parishville.

Assemblyman Marc Butler, R-Newport

“We have so much to accomplish for the people of New York this year, and we must hit the ground running. Immediate priorities for me include fully restoring school aid funds taken during the 2010-11 budgeting gimmick known as the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), enacting ethics legislation that will make a difference in how the Capitol operates and help restore the public trust, and putting hard-working middle-class families first instead of misguided plans like the governor’s ‘college for cons’ tuition program. We have a lot of work ahead and I will be fighting for the people of my district.”

Butler represents the 118th Assembly District. It includes a piece of southern and central St. Lawrence County, from Norfolk to Wanakena.