Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay

When policy makers talk about job growth, there are varying opinions on how to go about achieving this goal. In recent months, we witnessed federal stimulus dollars of historic proportions pour into our economy to try to help kick start job creation.

Earlier this month, our state law changed to improve voting opportunity and procedures for the military. I was pleased to support this legislation in the Assembly. The new law allows military to be able to cast their vote in a time frame which allows their ballot to be counted.

The New York State Assembly Summer reading challenges will begin appearing throughout local schools and libraries for parents and children this month. This brochure, which features a calendar and a space to keep track of reading time throughout the summer, challenges kids to read for at least 15 minutes a day for 40 days throughout the summer months with an adult or on their own.

State and local police officers, particularly in the northern portions of Oswego County, are urging motorists to be aware of horse-drawn buggies. In recent years, more Amish families have moved to our region and are on the roadways.

Because of the lack of respect our leaders have for the law—passing a budget on time—and the lack of true leadership, our communities lost parks, state workers were forced into furloughs, and the Democratic majority staged a “sit-in” at the Governor’s office and played ‘he said, she said’ in the media. As I said, we deserve better.

May is National Stroke Awareness Month. Learning the signs of stroke and calling 911 for help are the best ways to prevent disability and death from stroke.

More state aid should be driven to low-wealth districts than high-wealth districts. Many of the school districts in my Assembly district are low-wealth school districts and therefore are heavily reliant on state aid. When state aid is cut, they feel the cut more acutely than high wealth school districts because of their high dependency on state aid.