Assembly Will Barclay

To understand the significance of this situation and how it happened, it’s important to remember that Sheldon Silver dominated the Assembly for more than 20 years and his power was not structurally limited. He solely controlled the way ethics investigations were run, he determined which bills made it to the floor of the house, and he determined what resources and staff individual Assembly members received.

Giving people can be found all around us, and especially during the holidays when many organizations pair their campaigns to raise awareness about the needs around us with the holiday season. Many rise to the call for help throughout our region and band together to make sure those around us have a happy holiday season.

The old cliché “there is no such thing as a free lunch” sadly rang true when it was announced that Health Republic of New York, one of the most popular insurance choices on NY’s health exchange, was being forced to shut down due to substantial financial losses.

November is National Adoption Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the need for families to adopt children in foster care. Nearly 40 percent of American adults, or 81.5 million people, have considered adopting a child, according to the National Adoption Attitudes Survey.

With all the challenges that we face in our daily lives, it easily can be overlooked how lucky we are to live in the United States. Our form of government, the structure of which is set forth in the U.S. Constitution, is surely an integral part of our greatness.

One of the biggest legislative challenges in Albany is to make sure that there is parity in state spending between Upstate and Downstate New York. This is particularly challenging when it comes to transportation spending. Downstate New York relies on mass transit for their transportation needs, while in Upstate, we are much more reliant on our cars for our transportation needs.

Beginning this year, New York state high school students have more choices available to meet the graduation requirements. The State Education Department has dubbed this flexibility as “multiple pathways” or “4+1.” I was pleased to sponsor legislation which passed and was signed into law in 2014 that required the State Education Department to adopt instruction related to CPR and the use of defibrillators.

Almost every week there is news concerning a large cyberattack in which personal identifying information is compromised. This personal information has included addresses, phone numbers and even social security and credit card information. No one is immune to these sophisticated schemes, including the U.S. Government and it has proven hard to police for law enforcement.

Several local firefighters have been traveling throughout our communities and schools in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Month. This month they’re out teaching young children about the basics of fire safety, hosting tours of fire trucks, and opening their fire departments to meet and greet the public.