Politics

No Picture
Aubertine

Remembering Those Who Made The Ultimate Sacrifice

May 31, 2010 Contributor
Memorial Day is an important holiday with a nearly 150 year history here in New York State. It is a time to pause and reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made by so many brave men and women in defense of our way of life. This loss of life should never be forgotten and our thoughts and prayers for our Soldiers should not be limited to just one day.

[…]

No Picture
Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay

We Deserve Better; Let’s Pass a Budget Already

May 17, 2010 Contributor
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.

[…]

No Picture
Aubertine

Amid Albany Frustrations, Agriculture Is Getting Renewed Attention

May 17, 2010 Contributor
With all that is frustrating in Albany right now—the budget deadlock, the lack of an Assembly companion to Power for Jobs legislation, the reintroduction of the farm labor bill—there has been good news. The Senate has passed more legislation to benefit agriculture than any year in recent memory.

[…]

No Picture
Aubertine

Once-Rare Events Show Progress of Reform

May 3, 2010 Contributor
Last week, in this column, I discussed the previous week’s action by the Senate Agriculture Committee in support of farm workers, farmers and consumers through a bipartisan vote to kill the bill in committee. This is one sign that changes I pushed for and helped enact last year have begun to restore the people’s voice in state government.

[…]

No Picture
Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay

Reforming School Aid Formula Would Even Playing Field for Districts

April 25, 2010 Contributor
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.

[…]