Assembly Will Barclay

I recently had the opportunity to meet with health professionals who work to prevent cancer and help detect the disease in its early stages.  I wanted to draw attention to a great program they manage that screens participants for breast, cervical, prostate and colorectal cancer for free.

There are nice commercials running on the airways and television stations with a catchy, popular song, and the state has revamped its websites and adjusted its image to be one that is inviting to business. These are good first steps toward promoting our state and attracting businesses, but we need to create policies that actually encourage investment.

Our state touts a new mantra and website: NY Open for Business.  While this is true in many ways, we can stand to improve just how open for business we are to both existing and new businesses.

A study out last week reports that prescription drug abuse is on the rise. Thankfully this session we passed the I-STOP bill. This legislation creates the Internet System for Tracking Overprescribing (I-STOP) program. This is a “real-time” registry for doctors and pharmacists to track prescriptions.

It’s hard to believe the 2012 legislative session has already come to a close. Since passing an early budget in March, my colleagues and I took action to improve the quality of life for all our communities through many different pieces of legislation.

We had some fun last week in Albany at the annual Dairy Day. One newspaper quipped, “Dairy Day ups Cheese Intake in the Well of the LOB (Legislative Office Building).” This was the case, though whether the Times Union meant this in more ways than one is up to the reader to decide. While mascots and celebrities did traverse crowds, it was clear we were celebrating what has become a fun and important tradition in Albany: Dairy Day.

Mandate relief, economic development, community safety top my ‘To Do List’ during last days of session.

While many enjoyed the record warm temperatures March offered, fruit farmers held their breathes and wondered what this would mean as trees began to bud earlier than they could remember.

There were a number of pro-business policies enacted this year in Albany. I’m pleased to announce the Foreign Trade Zone in Central New York will expand. The Governor recently signed this legislation that I co-sponsored into law to help draw more businesses to Central New York.