During this week’s special legislative session, called for by the Governor, the Assembly missed its opportunity to address serious fiscal issues that loom over our state. Instead of taking the action necessary to alleviate these problems, my colleagues faced inaction from legislative leaders that has stagnated New York government for decades.
The very issues that are in critical need of legislative attention were sidestepped by the Assembly Majority with their New York City-centric agenda. They chose to ban Hydraulic-Fracturing natural gas drilling and bailing out the perpetually failing New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. with our hard-earned tax dollars.
New York is facing yet another budget deficit. As the days pass, no action is being taken to remedy this critical issue facing our state. Legislative leaders have not brought forward an agreement to solve our state’s escalating budget gap, estimated to be $315 million. Their unwillingness to act leads me to believe that they are eager to push the problem onto our incoming governor, instead of tackling it head-on and making some headway toward correcting our state’s financial crises.
I am hopeful that Governor-elect Cuomo will steer state budget discussions in a way that avoids pitfalls and mistakes of the past, such as over-estimating revenue and refusing to make real cuts to state spending. New Yorkers cannot afford any higher taxes and fees. Without looking at state expenditures, we cannot expect any other outcome than a bloated budget that falls short on revenue while continuing to overburden taxpayers.
There is no doubt that difficult decisions lie ahead and that special interests will buck any curtailment of their government dollars, but the reality is this: if nothing is done, our government will fail and more problems will persist. With the right leadership and attitude we can deal with the issues at hand and perhaps turn New York around for the better.
As always, if you have any questions or comments about our local economy or any state issues, please don’t hesitate to contact me at either my Johnstown office at (518) 762-6486, or my Herkimer office at (315) 866-1632.