Assemblyman Marc Butler
Assemblyman Butler
Working to Enhance Education & Lower Property Taxes


Dear Friend,

Nothing is more important to educating tomorrow’s leaders than ensuring we provide the means to do so. This year, the state Legislature took a big step to enhance education by including a record state aid increase of $1.8 billion in the budget to help schools across the state and the Mohawk Valley. As a result, districts in the 117th Assembly District have a greater amount of state school aid to help educate children than ever before. I supported this increase to assist in providing quality education without having to go to property taxpayers.

As your assemblyman, quality education and relieving our property tax burden are two of my top priorities. While I know the actions taken this year do not provide a permanent fix, it is a start toward providing permanent relief to taxpayers while ensuring that the quality of education is not sacrificed. With this in mind, I am supporting a number of proposals to enhance education and provide for long-term property tax relief.

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This brochure provides you with more information about these proposals and other legislative matters I am working on in Albany to provide quality education our children need, and tax relief for homeowners and businesses. To stay informed, sign up today for my free legislative e-update by sending a request to: .

Sincerely,

Marc Butler
Member of Assembly
117th District
CONTACT ASSEMBLYMAN MARC BUTLER
 235 NORTH PROSPECT STREET • HERKIMER, NY 13350
PHONE: (315) 866-1632 • E-MAIL: BUTLERM@ASSEMBLY.STATE.NY.US


ENHANCING EDUCATION THROUGH THE NEW EDISON PROJECT

The New Edison Project provides a broad range of programs to influence and inspire a generation of high school and college students in the areas of math, science and technology. These programs include:

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  • Advanced Curriculum of the Sciences (A.C.S.) High Schools - These schools would be either distinct high schools or programs within high schools, which provide students with enriched math, science and engineering curricula.

  • The Microscope Fund - This would establish a low-interest loan of up to $50,000 to high schools across our state.

  • Corporate Tax Credit - A tax credit of 50 percent would be provided to New York businesses for gifts up to $50,000 for New York high schools participating in the Project Lead the Way initiative.
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  • Celebrity Media Plan - A media campaign would be developed to highlight celebrities (television, film and those of the math and science world) to draw attention to math, science and engineering career paths.

  • NYS Science Fair (The New Edison Medal) - The creation of a New York State sponsored science fair intended to lead all other states in participation and prizes awarded.

  • Loan Forgiveness - Includes a loan forgiveness program for math, science and engineering majors.

  • Edison TAP (E-TAP) - Recommends an expansion of the TAP program that specifically targets those students entering their sophomore year as full-time students enrolled in a math, science or engineering major.


LOWERING THE PROPERTY TAX BURDEN:
THE NEW YORK STATE PROPERTY TAXPAYER PROTECTION ACT

Property taxes in New York State rank among the highest in our nation and the School Tax Relief (STAR) Program’s effectiveness has been diminished, due in part to school districts and local governments raising taxes substantially. My plan would provide more immediate long-term relief than what is provided by the current system of rebates. It would cut, cap and control property taxes with no need to worry about applications and deadlines.

This is the first comprehensive proposal that would cut spending across the board and return the savings back to taxpayers in direct property tax cuts. The proposal provides a foundation from which the Legislature and governor can work to reach a feasible solution to the systemic problem of skyrocketing taxes.

My legislative proposal would fix the problem by:

  • Requiring any state mandate that is imposed on a locality and costs more than $10,000 annually (or $1 million statewide) to be funded by the state.
  • Providing 100% reimbursement to schools for costs incurred from 4th and 8th grade math and English tests, starting in the 2008-09 school year.
  • Consolidating school district paperwork requirements, saving time and money.
  • Providing money for counties to buy software for Medicaid fraud investigations.
  • Creating an Office of State Inspector General for Education to investigate financial abuse, corruption and misconduct in schools.

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