Delivering Property Tax Relief

Taxpayers throughout our communities are overtaxed and in desperate need of property tax relief. That is why I fought and secured meaningful property tax relief in the 2007-08 State Budget. Beginning this fall, homeowners in the Mohawk Valley and Central New York will receive increased STAR Rebate Checks in their mailbox. For the next three years, homeowners throughout the state will benefit from over $6 billion in property tax relief in the form of rebate checks.

When families throughout our communities called for tougher laws to combat sex offenders in our communities, I stood up and fought for civil confinement. Finally, after a long, hard fight, civil confinement is now law in New York.

Under the new law, before a sex offender is released from prison, mental health professionals will determine whether the offender is likely to commit more sex crimes. A court will then make a final determination whether the offender is dangerous and requires confinement in a secure treatment facility following their prison sentence.

For more information on how to help keep your family safe, go to:

www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us

In order to combat the culture of dysfunction and corruption in Albany, I stood at the forefront fighting for a reform agenda that will significantly change your state government. While we were successful in making significant reform with the enactment of key ethics and budget reform, the collapse this year of the state budget process reminds us that more must be done to change the status quo in Albany.

Simply put, Albany spends too much and reforms too little. That is why I am fighting to rein in out-of-control state spending in order to ensure fiscal responsibility today and in the future. I am also working to instill long-term debt reform so that future generations of New Yorkers do not have to face an insurmountable debt burden.

Blueprint for Prosperity and Vitality

For years, the upstate economy has been lagging behind with jobs dwindling and businesses leaving our state for more affordable regions of the country. Back in March, the state Legislature adopted a workers’ compensation reform agenda that I have long championed. With the enactment of this new law, business owners will see the essential relief they deserve while injured workers will see a long overdue increase in benefits.

Still, more must be done to improve our economy. In order to restore long-term prosperity in our economy, I have developed a blueprint that will combat waste and fraud in government and provide small businesses the relief they need and help create jobs here in the Mohawk Valley and Central New York.

Fighting for the Future of Our Farms

In 2006, dairy farmers here and throughout the Northeast suffered record financial losses. In order to help struggling dairy farmers, I helped secure passage of the Dairy Assistance Program, which provided $30 million to dairy farmers statewide to overcome the financial burden of low milk prices.

In order to restore prosperity to our farms and economy, I have created a comprehensive agricultural agenda that would:

• Restore hope in the future of farming in New York state with the establishment of the New York Farmer Recruitment and Retention Act;

• Lower cost for farmers by providing low interest loans that will allow farmers to produce energy right on their own farms; and

• Provide essential tax relief with the expansion of the Farmer’s School Tax Credit and the establishment of a real property tax credit that will serve as an incentive for farmers to switch to crops that can be used as ethanol.