Statement from Assemblyman Kolb on the Gov’s State of Upstate Address

January 17, 2008

In his State of Upstate speech, the governor lays out a plan for the infusion of 1 BILLION DOLLARS into our local communities to help jumpstart our lagging economy. While this might sound exciting to local communities, what is the cost to our Upstate taxpayers? With a looming budget deficit, the Governor offered no specifics on where the money was going to come from in order to pay for this investment.

I strongly believe that in order to address the challenges facing upstate New York, we must get to the root cause of our problems. Providing a ‘band-aid’ fix to our dilemmas will only provide temporary relief to our struggling businesses and homeowners. We need long-term comprehensive solutions, such as reduced burdensome business regulations, a property tax cap, more controlled state spending and measures to lower energy costs in order to give businesses and residents the incentives to stay in New York. It is in this way that we can reverse the economic downturn that has taken place in our upstate communities and, once again, become an attractive place for families to live and work.

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