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News
from
Senator
Stachowski
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March 2008 PATERSON SET TO LEAD STATE
Paterson stated that "we will all commit ourselves in a bipartisan way to building a relationship that will restore the public trust in our government." That is the David Paterson that I know as he was Democratic minority leader before becoming lieutenant governor. David Paterson knows how the system works, but more importantly he has a reputation as a conciliator, which will be helpful in dealing with two legislative bodies with differing views on issues such as health care, education, state spending, energy and taxes. Governor Paterson was also the floor leader for the Senate Democrats, which means he was the individual responsible for leading debate and delivering our conference's point of view. I was the deputy floor leader at the same time, a role which afforded me the opportunity to work with him on myriad issues. I think people will find that he is smart, accommodating and knowledgeable. Obviously the new Governor will need to hit the ground running if we hope to have a new budget in place by April 1. In fact, we in Albany have been holding public hearings on the proposed Executive Budget and going through the tedious process of number crunching, all in an effort to deliver an on-time spending plan. Last week the Senate adopted a budget resolution which staked out our house's priorities, another step in the Albany budget process. When this resolution came to the floor for a vote, I rose and spoke about a flawed process which saw Democratic Senator's receive a 50 page budget document less than twelve hours before we were expected to vote on it. It was vaguely written, and gave us no inkling as to revenues, expenditures or policies. It was politically motivated and intentionally ambiguous. What I did support was the fact that this resolution restored many important programs the Governor had said he'd like to cut, including a STAR rebate, aid to education (including BOCES and Teachers' Centers), health care (including nursing homes and hospitals), highway improvements and youth detention (which would have been shifted to the counties). The Senate plan also eliminated many of the fees that were contained in the Executive Budget. When explaining my negative vote, I noted that I could not support a document that did not explain where the revenues would come from to cover all these restorations. Would you send out checks from your checking account without knowing where your next deposit would be coming from? Over the course of my service in the Senate I have always prided myself on acting in a conservative, responsible manner -- both fiscally and legislatively. The budget resolution I saw last week was not what the people of the 58th District would want, nor would they expect me to support. It's time to move our state forward, and I look forward to enacting a new budget and passing meaningful new laws by the end of session in June. -
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For
Information:
Dennis Kozuch 826-3344 senstachowski@yahoo.com |