Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara (D-Rotterdam) attended a presentation of Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year. The presentation given by Jerry Boone, Commissioner and President of the New York State Civil Service Commission, took place at Centro Civico in the City of Amsterdam.

“This presentation is a way for the Governor to deliver his budget address to more people,” Santabarbara said. “Over the next few weeks I will continue to work towards passing an on-time budget that holds the line on spending, while also investing in critical areas such as economic development and education aid.”

Assemblyman Santabarbara also said he met with the Board of Supervisors earlier this week to talk about ways to spur economic growth in Montgomery County. One of the things they discussed was finding ways to match the skills of the local workforce to jobs that are available, and to jobs that will be coming to the area.

“The Governor’s proposed budget includes the Next Generation NY Job Linkage Program Act, which I fully support,” said Santabarbara. “This program will help community colleges prepare students with the skills they will need for the jobs in our region, so they won’t have to travel far from home for work.”

Some of the other initiatives in Governor’s budget proposal that Santabarbara supports include:

• Taste-NY program that would provide $2 million to promote locally grown products and allow them to be sold tax free in certain locations; and
• Market NY: $5 million in new competitive funding to support tourism marketing plans that promote regional attractions.