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Fighting for You
As a citizen legislator, I see the challenges hard-working families and small businesses face every day. As a first-term State Senator, I will continue to work to cut wasteful spending, stop new taxes and fees and bring common sense solutions and reform to State government in order to create a better future for all of us. I have stood up to the Albany bureaucracy and special interests and fought to eliminate Medicaid fraud, reform the public pension system and end unnecessary state programs and mandates that waste our tax dollars.
Making the Right Choices for Taxpayers
I am committed to changing the way Albany does business by striving for a more open, transparent government that lowers taxes, eliminates wasteful spending and puts more of your hard earned money back in your wallet. I propose to:
- Stop burdensome regulations and laws that drive small businesses and good paying jobs out of State
- Cut State spending 15% across the board
- Provide property tax relief to homeowners
- Enact a hiring freeze for all State agencies and departments
Creating Jobs and Strengthening Our Economy
Reforming state government is the only way we can create private sector jobs and new opportunities to keep our children here at home. I will fight to cut taxes, end wasteful spending and stop unnecessary regulations that hurt job creation. We need to keep our young talent that we have in New York right here.
New York State lost 269,000 jobs last year. The fact is that too many New Yorkers are out of work and searching for jobs. I have a plan for State government to foster a more business-friendly environment to create good-paying jobs in our community:
Job Creation Plan
- $2,500 tax credit for every new job created which expands total payroll
- Additional $3,000 tax credit if a new hire is currently collecting unemployment insurance
- Roll back 124 new tax and fee increases, totaling over $14 billion, from the 2009 and 2010 State Budget
Providing Property Tax Relief
Rising property taxes are causing people to sell their homes and move to states with lower taxes. My plan is to first cap and then cut your local property taxes, double the STAR exemption to provide immediate relief and repeal state mandates that are driving up costs for local governments.
Everybody knows Western New York's property taxes are among the highest in the nation - that is why I have fought in Albany to restore the STAR Rebate Check program after it was eliminated in the 2009 State Budget. Under my plan, 82,767 homeowners across Erie and Genesee County would receive an average of $386 in property tax relief every year.
Cutting Wasteful Spending
Runaway spending is plaguing state government. The State spends $4,328 per second, an increase of $149 per second from last year. The State budget deficit outlook totals $30 billion over the next few years.
It is time to make the hard spending cuts and operate Albany using business principles. I have suggested cutting spending 15 percent across the board in every state department and agency. State legislators, Department Heads and Commissioners should work together to decide where cuts can be made.
Reforming New York's "Cadillac" Medicaid Program
New Yorkers have the most costly Medicaid program in the nation. In fact, New York spends more on Medicaid than any other State. I am committed to overhauling the Medicaid system by eliminating the fraud that exists in the system, improving the quality of care and bring costs in line with other states. I also support co-pays for services, like everyone else has to pay, and using savings to reduce the local share counties must pay which drives up property taxes.
UB 2020
As a graduate of SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo Law School, and now as a first-term State Senator, I understand the positive impact the University at Buffalo has in our region and how critically important UB 2020 is to our community. UB 2020 will modernize and expand UB and, at the same time, create opportunities and provide research and technology for businesses and institutions in Western New York.
UB 2020 would grant more flexibility to universities for campus operations and more freedom to negotiate contracts and purchases. Furthermore, the plan authorizes UB, rather than the State legislature, to set a rational tuition policy. Drastic year to year tuition increases would be eliminated - making it easier for students and their families to anticipate and plan for the tuition costs for all four years of college.
Enacting UB 2020 would add over 750 faculty, 600 support staff and 10,000 students. An increase of 10,000 students alone would contribute an additional $80 million to our local economy. More importantly, UB 2020 will allow UB to serve as a model for the next generation of research universities. This modernization will enable our children and grandchildren to compete in a 21st century global economy right here in Western New York.
Protecting Our Family Farms
The agriculture industry remains a primary economic and employment engine in New York State. In addition, it provides beautiful landscapes, wildlife habitats and a fresh food supply for all New Yorkers.
During my first term as a State Senator, downstate legislators and labor unions attempted to increase regulations on farm workers which would result in many local family farms eliminating workers and going out of business. The legislation would impose $200 million in new mandates and create the second strictest overtime regulations in the nation. I lead the fight to defeat this legislation and I will continue to work with my colleagues to do all that I can to protect our family farms.
