Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
  • entries
    73
  • comments
    19
  • views
    2,176

About this blog

Senator Tom O'Mara's ( R- NY 58th ) weekly column. 

Entries in this blog

Pumping The Brakes On NY's All Electric School Bus Mandate

Pumping The Brakes On NY's All Electric School Bus Mandate

The more this state keeps blindly moving ahead to impose outrageous energy mandates on all New Yorkers, the clearer it becomes that the current plan is not affordable, feasible, or reliable. To say nothing of realistic. Let’s focus on the impact on school districts and school property taxpayers coming down the line in the very near future -- because that’s the latest debacle coming to light and it’s getting more expensive by the minute. In 2022, Albany Democrats enacted a new law mandating
Protecting Those That Protect Us

Protecting Those That Protect Us

Over the past three years, the home security consumer awareness and research organization Safewise conducted a “The State of Safety in America” nationwide survey of “more than 15,000 Americans to see how safe they feel.” According to the group’s final report, issued in March, “New York is by far the most concerned state.” New York is the “most worried about safety” state in the nation, the survey found, with 70 percent of New Yorkers reporting that they are “concerned daily” about their saf
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
 

Our "Rescue New York" Plan Focuses On Overlooked Priorities

Governor Hochul delivered her State of the State message to the Legislature last week. Now we wait and see how she plans to pay for it. Those answers start to arrive later this month when she unveils her proposed 2023-2024 state budget. My initial reaction to the governor’s broad outline of her priorities for New York’s future is this: Governor Hochul highlighted the affordability crisis facing all New Yorkers, but every agenda item she spoke of will only make New York a more expensive plac
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Opioid Crisis Remains Major Area Of Concern

Opioid Crisis Remains Major Area Of Concern

We were reminded not long ago, as part of the most recent National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, of just how serious and deadly the opioid crisis remains across our region, state, and nation.  The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has noted the dramatic impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on opioid addictions. According to the CDC, nearly 84,000 Americans overdosed during the latest 12-month period.  It is a stark reminder of an ongoing crisis that continues
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
One Of the Worst Disasters In State History

One Of the Worst Disasters In State History

It turns out my column’s headline last week -- “Attorney General report a beginning, not the end” – was quite an understatement. In fact, the AG’s report has sparked nothing short of a firestorm since its release on January 28. It revealed, among many findings, that the Cuomo administration was underreporting COVID-19 nursing home deaths by potentially as much as 50 percent – and the findings were based on a review of just ten percent of the state’s nursing homes. After requests for mo
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
On The Brink of Making It Worse For Farmers

On The Brink of Making It Worse For Farmers

We need to keep close watch on the future of our family farms.   A key action of the 2019 legislative session was the approval of controversial legislation (S6578/A8419, Chapter 105 of the Laws of 2019) known as the “Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act,” sponsored by two New York City legislators and pushed hard as a “progressive” hallmark by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Throughout the year prior to this law’s enactment, I joined many opponents, including the New York Farm Bureau, to warn a
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
NY's Spending Spree Already Proving Unsustainable

NY's Spending Spree Already Proving Unsustainable

It didn’t take long and it’s not good news for future taxpayers.  In April, when Governor Kathy Hochul and the Democrat legislative majorities in the Senate and Assembly finished stocking up what would become New York’s largest-ever state budget, many of us warned about its irrational spending.  Remember that the final 2022-2023 budget rang in at over $220 billion, hiking New York government spending by at least $8 billion over last year while simply ignoring the overriding need for ma
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
NY Not Addressing Root Causes Of Ongoing Economic Uncertainty

NY Not Addressing Root Causes Of Ongoing Economic Uncertainty

I was pleased recently to have New York’s leading small business association, the National Federation of Independent Business of New York (NFIB/NY), reaffirm my commitment to the future of small business and revitalizing our state and local economies overall.  As part of the organization’s 2021-2022 legislative review, I was one of seven state senators to earn a 100% rating on how priority issues were addressed for small business owners across New York.  The NFIB/NY “Voting Record” can
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Nourish NY Emerges As A Highlight Of Effective Government

Nourish NY Emerges As A Highlight Of Effective Government

One of the most positive state-level actions heading into this holiday season was the recent enactment of a new law I helped co-sponsor and strongly supported to make the “Nourish New York” program a permanent fixture of New York government moving forward.  It is the product of legislation (S4892/A5781, Chapter 631 of the Laws of 2021) that received overwhelming bipartisan support in the state Senate and Assembly, where it was unanimously approved earlier this year, and was recently signed
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Not So Fast On The End Of The Nursing Homes Tragedy

Not So Fast On The End Of The Nursing Homes Tragedy

During a rare question-and-answer session with reporters at an event at Yankee Stadium last week to announce a new vaccination program, Governor Cuomo continued to defend his administration’s actions on the spread of COVID-19 in New York’s nursing homes, where the pandemic has already taken the lives of nearly 16,000 seniors. Some viewed the governor’s latest eye-popping comments as a victory lap – that the governor was pounding his chest and declaring himself absolved of any and all wrongd
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

1
Nomination Processes Underway To Honor Local Citizens

Nomination Processes Underway To Honor Local Citizens

There are two nomination processes underway across the Senate district I represent that I’d like to bring to your attention and encourage your participation. As a reminder, the 58th Senate District encompasses Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, and Yates counties, and part of Allegany County (the towns of Alfred, Almond, Amity, Andover, Birdsall, Burns, Grove, Independence, Scio, Ward, Wellsville, and Willing). The first process will help select our region’s 2024 inductee into
New Yorkers Know What Albany Ignores: We're Not Safe

New Yorkers Know What Albany Ignores: We're Not Safe

It’s been an unrelenting reality for the past two years: New York is not safe.  Yet Albany’s powers that be still don’t get it.  Public opinion polls keep sending the message: Too many New Yorkers, in too many places throughout this state, do not feel safe where they live, work, and raise their families.  Albany ignores it.  New York’s citizens blame state government policies for creating a pervasive climate of lawlessness and for emboldening society’s violent, out-of-control
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
New York's Family Farms Facing Yet Another State Imposed Crisis

New York's Family Farms Facing Yet Another State Imposed Crisis

In the near future, a New York State Wage Board, established under a 2019 law known as the “Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act,” will revisit one of the key provisions of that law – and its decision could forever impact New York agriculture as we have known it.  Specifically, this Wage Board could decide, without legislative approval, to lower the mandatory overtime pay threshold from the current 60 hours to 40 hours.  In other words, the future of farming in New York State still han
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

1
New York's COVID-19 Response Still Clouded In Secrecy

New York's COVID-19 Response Still Clouded In Secrecy

On the fourth anniversary of ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo’s now infamous March 25, 2020 executive order forcing New York’s nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients back into their facilities — a move that many believe directly contributed to the COVID-related deaths of more than 15,000 seniors in long-term care facilities — I joined legislative colleagues and “Voices for Seniors” advocates at the Capitol last week to remember one of the most terrible chapters in this state’s history. The
New York Moves To Turn off The Power At The Start Of Winter

New York Moves To Turn off The Power At The Start Of Winter

It’s fitting this week that New York’s ongoing leap into the energy unknown arrives on winter’s doorstep.   On December 19, the state’s “Climate Action Council” plans to release final recommendations to implement far-reaching renewable energy mandates for all New Yorkers. Winter officially starts two days later, although some might argue that it’s been winter in New York for several years now.   Remember that these mandates were set in motion in 2019 by the “Climate Leadership and Clim
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
New York Didn't Do Everything Right

New York Didn't Do Everything Right

If you haven’t been following the daily developments on the Cuomo administration’s nursing homes disaster, following are just a few highlights from the past week: Nine Democratic members of the state Assembly, in a letter urging support for stripping Governor Cuomo’s COVID-19 emergency powers, accused the governor with federal obstruction of justice, calling it a “criminal use of power”; Governor Cuomo responded by publicly attacking one of the letter’s signers, Assemblyman Ron Kim
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
New Budget Of Missed Opportunities And A Troubling Future

New Budget Of Missed Opportunities And A Troubling Future

In the weeks leading up to the adoption of the new, 2021-2022 state budget, I kept repeating that we had an opportunity and a responsibility to utilize a massive, one-time flood of federal stimulus aid, nearly $13 billion, in a fiscally responsible way.  We faced an unprecedented chance to commit New York State to a short- and long-term strategy for the post-COVID rebuilding, restoring, and resetting of local communities, economies, environments, and governments for the long term. Equa
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
New Budget Must Address Economic, Public Safety, Affordability

New Budget Must Address Economic, Public Safety, Affordability

The April 1 deadline for enacting a new state budget is fast approaching and the Democrat majorities in the Senate and Assembly are adopting their respective “one-house budget resolutions” to highlight the priorities they will bring to the negotiating table. It’s a crucial step in the process. Most importantly, it gives the public a chance to see where state leaders want to take New York. Remember that Governor Hochul kicked off this budget season by proposing an Executive Budget total
Never Tire In Honoring America's Heroes

Never Tire In Honoring America's Heroes

This week’s Veterans Day observance could not arrive at a more important time for our nation -- as a reminder and as a reflection.  If there is a single national day of honor on the calendar that can and should serve to unite us, it’s this one.  Veterans Day offers a chance to pause to remember the fundamental greatness of the United States of America and those who have made it so, and then to keep pushing forward – pushing forward to find solid ground again during a time that has upended s
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Need For Balance, Common Sense ON New York's Energy Future

Need For Balance, Common Sense ON New York's Energy Future

The cost of a gallon of gas keeps climbing.  The warnings keep coming over significantly higher home heating costs this winter and who knows how many winters to come.    All of this, as well as the fast approaching start of a new legislative session in January, helped make for good timing on last week’s listening session in the Southern Tier on a piece of legislation that, if it’s enacted, could reach into the wallets of everyday New Yorkers and cut into the bottom lines of New York employe
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Local Roads Are Essential

Local Roads Are Essential

Since the adoption of the 2021-2022 state budget, I have been outspoken in my strong criticism of this massive $212-billion, tax-and-spend fiscal plan that sets in motion a whole host of future, long-term commitments to massive new spending and taxing by New YorkState government. There are places in this budget, however, that do address the right priorities and that deserve to be highlighted as positive and vital to the future. As I’ve also noted, that better be the case with $18 billi
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Local Roads Are Essential

Local Roads Are Essential

Approaching final negotiations over a new state budget, it’s critical to begin stressing that this year’s budget must address the right priorities – and one of the top priorities, in my view, is the future of our local roads and bridges.  It’s a priority that I and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano have long worked to strengthen. Since 2013, in fact, we have stood together with New York’s county and town highway superintendents, and many other local leaders, to do everything we can to raise awaren
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Keeping Us In The Dark On Energy Future

Keeping Us In The Dark On Energy Future

A recent joint Senate-Assembly public hearing helped make it clear where New York State is headed on a radical remaking of our energy landscape: nobody truly knows.   Remember that last December, the state’s Climate Action Council released final recommendations to implement far-reaching renewable energy mandates for all New Yorkers. These mandates were set in motion four years ago by the “Climate Leadership and Climate Protection Act” (CLCPA) signed into law by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo an
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Keeping An Eye On The Future Of New York's Family Farms

Keeping An Eye On The Future Of New York's Family Farms

In case you haven’t noticed over the past 18 months, there’s a lot to keep an eye on in state government. If we have learned anything, in fact, we better have learned that the need for aggressive and vocal legislative oversight in New York State government has never been more critical. The perfect storm of a government under one-party control, which automatically diminishes legislative checks and balances, and the fact that the Legislature’s current Democrat leaders have willingly, alm
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

2
Keep Turning The Page This Summer

Keep Turning The Page This Summer

Numbers help tell every story.  For example, many studies have helped make the case that children who read during the summer months make greater academic gains in the following school year than children who do not.   In fact, statistics on the “summer slide” jump right off the page, including that:  Students can lose up to 25 percent of their reading level over the summer;  Children who don’t engage in summer reading lose approximately two months of instructional time, or rou
Senator Tom O'Mara

Senator Tom O'Mara

0
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
×
×
  • Create New...