Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women. According to the New York State Department of Health, more than 15,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and almost 2,600 women die from the disease each year in New York State. Early detection, however, has played a tremendous role in saving lives and allowing many people to live cancer free for years after initial diagnosis. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 90 out of 100 women survive breast cancer for five years or more after being diagnosed thanks to early detection.

Too often it goes unrecognized, but New York state is a leader in agriculture. The farmers in our state grow and produce a diverse range of commodities and Upstate’s nutrient-rich soils give way to some of the best products in the nation. Year after year, New York farms produce award-winning dairy products, wines, and apples that we can be proud to call homegrown.

One of the biggest legislative challenges in Albany is making sure that there is parity in state spending between Upstate and Downstate New York. This is particularly challenging when it comes to transportation spending. New York City relies primarily on mass transit for its transportation needs. In Upstate, our primary mode of transportation is our cars. Accordingly, the needs of each region tend to be very different.

New York is heavily dependent on volunteer fire departments for fire protection. According to the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, 89% of the state’s fire departments outside of the New York City area are volunteer. Their commitment to volunteer fire protection provides both a critical life-savings service to communities and a tremendous cost savings to area taxpayers.

With kids starting a new school year, many will be encouraged to think about the future and set goals for themselves. For many kids, goals will include pursuing a college education. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 19.9 million students will attend American colleges and universities this fall.

As students and teachers begin a new school year, I thought it would be a good time to update constituents on the Common Core standards, now known as the Next Generation Learning Standards, and where things stands with standardized testing. As many will recall, in 2013 the New York State Board of Regents adopted the Common Core learning standards. Almost immediately following their adoption, it was realized that the standards were flawed and that the quick implementation of Common Core would create unnecessary hardship on students, parents, teachers and administrators.

Earlier this month, more than 100 people were hospitalized within a short time period for synthetic drug overdose in New Haven, Connecticut. Health officials there issued a public health alert, warning people of the dangers of the drugs after several people convulsed and collapsed at a public park. This was not an isolated incident and our region is no stranger to the impact of synthetics drugs.

Earlier this year, the state comptroller’s office issued a report about consumers’ credit card debt in New York state. The information, which is largely based on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s data, shows how people are managing their households within their local economies and serves as a basis for comparison when it comes to household finances.

New York State has thousands of lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and millions of acres of forest. The geographic diversity of our state, and its great natural resources, not only makes New York a beautiful state to live in but a wonderful place to enjoy the outdoors.