St. Lawrence County state legislators listened to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget speech today and those Republicans who have put out statements on it are not completely dismissive of his ideas in the $137 billion proposal.

But on the whole they are taking the opportunity to reiterate the GOP themes of tax relief and easing restraint on business.

In statements to the press, we have heard this afternoon from State Sen. Joe Griffo (R-Rome), Sen. Patty Ritchie (R-Heuvelton), Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury), Assemblyman Marc W. Butler (R-Newport), and Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R-Black River).

Griffo said the governor touched on some of “my priorities during my tenure, so I’m pleased the governor has started us off on the right path.”

Griffo mentioned specifically the governo'rs proposal that “controls state spending, cuts taxes and encourages private sector business growth, especially upstate.

"We’ve made great strides during the last three years, turning a $10 billion deficit into a projected surplus, which now allows us to provide meaningful relief to some of the most taxed people in the country,” Griffo said.

“To keep our economy going, we have to expand on the governor’s proposals in three ways,” he said.

"We need to create a permanent state spending cap, so that the state continues to live within its means and to provide certainty to property owners and businesses.

"We need to lower the cost of doing business by eliminating regulations that don’t make sense. My Senate colleagues recently identified 2,200 rules that hinder private sector job growth. We need to eliminate many of these and pass my bill to have this type of review take place at least once a decade.”

And last, Griffo said, "We need to invest in education beyond what the governor proposed, and do so in a way that treats districts fair and equitably.”

But he objected to the governor’s call for public financing of campaigns, saying people don’t see it as “meaningful” compared with other programs.

Griffo mentioned specifically the Common Core standards and the objections to its implementation he has heard.

"And now the governor has heard you. I welcome his proposal to review the significant flaws in the implementation of this program,” he said.

48th District Sen. Patty Ritchie said she was also “pleased to hear Governor Cuomo recognize that it’s time to take action on the implementation of this new curriculum. I’m hopeful that the panel of education experts and legislative leaders proposed by the governor to discuss issues surrounding the Common Core will help to address the concerns of parents and educators.”

In her statement to the press, she spoke more about what she hoped to see, such as more effort “to rein in burdensome property taxes and reduced middle-class tax rates” and her wish to “cut red tape” and “eliminate corporate taxes for manufacturers. ”

Griffo, who represents a swath of central St. Lawrence County along with Lewis and Oneida counties, was pleased that the governor mentioned the “$10 million to support a partnership between Clarkson University and the Trudeau Institute to turn the North Country into a biotechnology hub,” and other programs beneficial to his district outside of St. Lawrence County.

"I am pleased the governor has set aside $15 million to create a emergency preparedness, homeland security and cybersecurity college. The state has already made a significant investment in these disciplines in our area, and I’ll be advocating for the new college to be located in the Mohawk Valley,” he said.

Assemblyman Marc W. Butler said the governor “outlined an ambitious budget agenda,” but the 118th District Assemblyman added that “We need to provide communities with unfunded mandate relief and spend wisely to bring meaningful tax relief to our families and job creators.

Butler agreed with the governor that “It is critical that we focus on reviving the upstate economy,” and he said he looked forward to “offering my suggestions to ensure the budget serves the best interests of my constituents.”

117th District Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush of the cast a more skeptical eye on the governor’s speech.

“As a legislator, I’m more concerned about the details of the governor’s budget, rather than buying into the image he paints during his budget address. As we have seen in the past, there are times he’s on point and others where he misses the mark entirely.

He says he will be studying the proposal for signs of the issues he promotes, such as “unfunded mandate relief for our municipalities, investment in agriculture and other job creating upstate industries, education funding, increased aid to repair roads and bridges, state spending controls, and, most importantly, tax relief for families and job creators. It’s important that we set our priorities and keep our promises to New Yorkers. We must be focused on the people, their needs and their success.”

Sen. Betty Little of the 45th District said she is looking forward to the next steps in the process, the hearings in the Senate and Assembly which will give her a “chance to question commissioners and other state agency heads about the proposal to gain a more in-depth understanding of the Cuomo administration’s plan for the next fiscal year. Following that, each house will craft its own proposal and conference committees will convene to work out the differences.”

As for school funding, Little said, “My hope is that we can eliminate the GAP elimination from the school aid formula, which has hurt rural school districts disproportionately. While the goals of universal pre-k and expanded after school programming are laudable, I want to ensure they are affordable and do not result in any unfunded mandates school districts cannot afford.

As of this writing we have not heard from 116th District Assembly member Addie Russell (D-Theresa) or 115th District Assembly member Janet Duprey (R-Peru).