Assembly Will Barclay

In New York State, approximately 3 million caregivers provide more than 2.6 billion hours of care to loved ones each year. According to the New York State Office of the Aging, the economic value of this care is $32 billion. A family caregiver’s commitment often allows loved ones to stay out of nursing homes or assisted living, and in familiar surroundings close to family and loved ones.

There’s an effort under way for a four-county shoreline region of Lake Ontario to be designated as a National Marine Sanctuary. If designated, the local fresh-water area would be federally protected, help teach locals and visitors about the area’s rich Native American culture and historic underwater landmarks, and promote our fishing industry.

Last week brought the unwelcome news that Entergy, the company that owns and operates the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County, is considering shutting down the facility. If this is to come to pass, the consequences to the local community and Central New York would be catastrophic.

Over the past three months, The New York Times has covered stories on the local impact of synthetic drug use. In July, they published a story on the synthetic drug problem that has been growing in the Syracuse region. This week, due to the growing epidemic of synthetic drug use in New York City, they reported on the dramatic spike in the use of K2, synthetic marijuana, in Harlem and in other parts of New York City.

September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month. According to the latest statistics available, New York’s rate has remained relatively steady since 2010 but unfortunately, 5 out of every 1,000 births in New York result in infant death, according to the State Department of Health. Some good news on this front is infant mortality rates have decreased about 16% from 2002 to 2012 but there is still more we can do to continue to improve those rates.

The Great New York State Fair will once again kick off on Aug. 27 and run until Sept. 7. The State Fair’s history in Syracuse is long and proud. The annual 12-day event has steadily expanded since its early days. In 1841, the nation’s first state fair was held in Syracuse and there was said to have been some 10,000 people who heard speeches, viewed animal exhibits, attended a plowing contest, and sampled goods for the farm and the home. Despite modern times, the mission of the fair hasn’t changed much.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Governor’s decision to convene a Wage Board for the purposes of considering increasing the minimum wage for fast food workers to $15 an hour. It has been reported that the Governor convened the Wage Board in effort to placate advocates (mainly from NYC) who are pushing for various liberal causes to be enacted in the State such as increasing the overall state minimum wage. When the legislature failed to increase the state’s minimum wage, these advocates accused the Governor of not doing enough.

Joyce Mitchell, the woman who confessed to assisting two convicted murderers escape from Clinton Correctional Facility, will still collect a public pension thanks to Albany’s failure to pass a widely supported reform measure. In her retirement years, whether spent in prison or elsewhere, we can rest assured that she’ll be able to cash her pension checks. If you were wondering about the 30 or so lawmakers in the last 10 years that have been convicted of crimes, or sanctioned or resigned from office, essentially admitting their guilt or wrongdoing, they too are eligible to receive their pensions.

Two bills in particular which passed the State Legislature could help both seniors and visually-impaired residents if signed into law by the Governor. I supported each in the Assembly and both passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.