Politics

Session is in full swing. There are many pressing items that need to be addressed. Here are my legislative priorities for 2014. We need to clean up Albany and pass ethics reforms. I’m tired of the misconduct and unethical behavior.

This past week, Governor Cuomo presented his 2014 State of the State address.  For the first thirty minutes of the approximately one-and-a-half hour speech, the Governor reviewed what he saw as successes during his first three years in office. During this part of his speech, his main point was that state government, which has often been labeled by the media as dysfunctional, is now working again thanks namely to his leadership.

The Governor recently signed a number of bills into law. I wanted to take some time this week to make you aware of a few new ones that will or have recently become effective.

The Tax Relief Commission issued its final report this month. The commission was established by the Governor and was charged with providing recommendations to cut $2 billion in state taxes over three years. Included in its final report were property tax relief recommendations that the Governor will consider.

This past election, voters were asked to authorize that our  State Constitution be amended to allow for the construction of up to seven casinos in New York State. Voters approved the measure by a 57% to 43% margin. It was one of the most controversial referendums in recent history. Not only was the measure itself controversial, but the language explaining the referendum was also controversial.