Senator Tom O'Mara

The great American author Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” Once again this summer, I am happy to be joining my colleagues in the State Senate, in partnership with the New York State Library – and together with so many local libraries across our region and statewide -- to help promote summer reading. This year’s theme, “Color Our World,” stresses the lifelong value of reading and pays tribute to the key role libraries and library staff play in our communities. The State Library annually joins New York’s 23 public library systems, 757 public libraries and 311 neighborhood branches to promote summer reading statewide. Many studies have highlighted the fact that children who read during the summer months make greater academic gains in the following school year than children who do not. The 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 roughly 22% of the school year By the end of the sixth grade, children who lose reading skills during the summer are, on average, two years behind their peers. While numbers alone help bring the larger story into focus, words themselves often deliver the most impactful testimony of all. Scholastic’s “Kids & Family Reading Report” has become one of the gold standards of advocacy and research on the importance of summer reading. Scholastic President and CEO Peter Warwick has stated, “The data is alarming – fewer children today identify as frequent readers and reading frequency plummets as kids age. And yet, there’s beauty in the data as it shows how access to books and a community of reading role models can bolster excitement for reading in a child’s life, which in turn can ignite a greater interest in the skills of reading so that they can explore more stories.” The bottom line is that summer reading is a lifeline for children at a time when increased research shows that reading can help foster more positive mental health in children and young adults alike. Consequently, I am grateful this summer to help highlight the efforts of the New York State Library and public libraries statewide, including so many throughout the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions. For my part, I welcome the chance to share the Senate’s online summer reading program. To participate, students and parents can visit my Senate website,www.omara.nysenate.gov, and click on the “Summer Reading Program” icon on the home page. According to Scholastic, a few of the keys to successful summer reading are letting young readers choose the books they want to read (91% of children say they are more likely to finish a book if they have picked it out themselves), encouraging kids to read four or more books and, most importantly, providing easy access to books. Libraries are the gateway for making books and other reading materials and programs available throughout our communities. Our region is incredibly fortunate to have an outstanding network of public libraries providing access to books and other reading activities, materials, and opportunities. Southern Tier and Finger Lakes libraries sponsor a variety of reading activities and events. Visit the website of the Southern Tier Library System, www.stls.org, for links to member libraries in Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, and Yates counties. The members of the Finger Lakes Library System, including Seneca and Tioga counties, are online atwww.fls.org. There are plenty of ways to help children get summer off to a great start. Building a reading list is one of the most important and impactful ways of all. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Last September, when Governor Kathy Hochul convened a two-day “Future Energy Economy Summit” in Syracuse, many of us were hopeful that it would begin a long-overdue, sincere, and transparent rethinking of the future of energy for all New Yorkers. At that time, the need for this rethinking was gaining traction. Doubts were increasing over the Albany Democrat approach -- an approach that has been built on rapidly imposing radical and sweeping clean energy mandates following the enactment of the Climate Leadership and Protection Act (CLCPA) in 2019. The state’s Climate Action Council (CAC), established through the CLCPA, issued its action report in December 2022, a year and four months after Governor Hochul was sworn in as New York’s chief executive. From the outset, many of us have warned that the failure to put forth a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the costs of implementing these mandates under their prescribed timelines doomed the entire effort. We have questioned the affordability, feasibility, and reliability of the strategy for ratepayers and taxpayers, business and industry, and local economies. We have done so with good reason and it bears repeating. The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which is responsible for managing the supply and transmission of electricity across New York State, issued a report in 2022, three months prior to the CAC's final report, entitled “2021 – 2040 System & Resource Outlook.” That report warned of future reliability shortfalls due to the CLCPA which will require the state's electric grid to triple its current generating capacity by between 110 gigawatts (GW) and 130 GW by 2042. This includes, because of the intermittent and unreliable nature of wind and solar, between 20 GW and 47 GW of Dispatchable Emissions-Free Resources (DEFRs), a generic name to describe an unknown source not yet developed. It will require 20 GW of new clean electricity generation by 2029. To put that growth in perspective, during the 23 years prior to September 2022, the state only developed 13 GW of new energy production, and only 2.6 GW over the five years prior. During that same five-year period, New York deactivated 4.8 GW of generation, for a net loss of over 2 GW – enough to power over a million homes. “That means that New York is currently going backwards, not forwards,” according to NYSIO. The Empire Center for Public Policy has noted that “between 2024 and 2025, electricity prices in New York increased at a faster rate than the national average…NYISO warns that New York is on a path to losing more generation capacity than it is adding2,3, with 5207 MW of deactivations and 2256 MW of additions since 2019.” In its 2022 report the NYISO politely characterized the required growth in electric generation as “unprecedented” and that “future uncertainty is the only thing certain (of the Albany Democrat plan).” Bear in mind that the unknown costs of all of this will be borne by New York ratepayers, which is already taking place under the massive rate hikes being imposed by NYSEG, RG&E, and National Grid across our region, with much higher increases to come. It's just the tip of the iceberg of how all of this will exacerbate the overall unaffordability crisis we have in this state. Last July, a report from the Hochul administration finally admitted that their timeline to achieve 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040 isn't realistic and, in fact, can't be met under the plan with current technologies as it stands. Later that same month, NYISO reiterated its warnings that under the current timeline the state is "at risk of blackouts without significant new generation coming online before the middle of the next decade." The state comptroller followed up with an audit and report that the implementation of the Democrats' climate agenda has been seriously flawed and, especially, that its true costs remain unknown. The comptroller's audit further cemented long-held doubts over the current plan’s affordability, feasibility, and reliability. Consequently, when Governor Hochul convened last September’s energy summit, we wondered if it would be a “back to the drawing board” moment on the CLCPA timeline and other climate mandates. Equally important, would it lead to an honest, open, long-awaited, and desperately needed public discussion on the realities of where we’re headed? In its 2025 Power Trends recently issued on June 2, NYISO again reiterated its reliability concerns stating that "as traditional fossil-fueled generation deactivates in response to decarbonization goals and tighter emissions regulations, reliability margins on the grid are eroding. The addition of new dispatchable generation needs to be considered in the near term to mitigate the dual risks of accelerated load growth and aging infrastructure." NYISO President and CEO Rich Dewey said, "In addition to new conventional supply, the repowering of aging, inefficient and higher emitting assets should be evaluated as a bridge to a lower carbon future while delivering a more reliable electric system to support new economic development projects. Repowering older, renewable facilities may also hold promise for needed capacity. In short, every plausible option and opportunity to bolster both reliability and resource needs should be on the table.” While the summit nine months ago didn’t produce the rapid turnaround in thinking many of us would like to see, we clearly did begin sensing a shift in short- and long-term thinking on one of the central challenges facing New York’s future. That’s especially true when it comes to the undeniable need for dispatchable power and the role that nuclear power, both small- and large scale nuclear, to address ever-rising electricity demands, including to meet what experts are projecting will be enormous and growing demands for artificial intelligence, data storage, and other technology services expected to result in record-high energy consumption in the near future. Our Senate Republican Conference has put forth a comprehensive set of proposals to chart a different course. We have called for refocusing on affordability, feasibility, and reliability. We have offered what we believe are commonsense alternatives to delay the CLCPA mandates while providing relief to taxpayers, ensuring the reliability of the grid, and, especially now, ensuring a diverse energy portfolio that will keep energy options affordable and accessible for the long term. Among a range of proposals, for example, we have called for expanding investment and research into alternative small scale nuclear energy possibilities. Since the CLCPA's approval in 2019, Albany Democrats have been moving too far, too fast trying to inflict a zero-emissions economy on this entire state that will have zero impact on the state, national, or worldwide climate. Remember that New York State accounts for just 0.4% of global emissions. Until we begin, in earnest, a straightforward reassessment of the realities of the current CLCPA strategy – including a recognition of the role that we believe nuclear energy, as well as high-efficiency, low-emissions natural gas generation, can and must play in meeting future electricity needs -- these actions will keep arriving with a devastating price tag and consequences for ratepayers and taxpayers, businesses and industries, school districts, farmers, and entire local communities and economies. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

The bottom line is that the state Legislature finished this year’s regular legislative session late last week exactly where it started the session in January: New York State remains one of the least affordable states in America. In fact, the actions (or inaction) during the seventh consecutive year that New York government has been under one-party, all-Democrat control only point in the direction of making things worse. Over the past year, New York has consistently earned the dubious distinction of being unaffordable. According to a U.S. News & World Report last summer, New York State ranked 45th in the nation, right near the bottom, in affordability. A USA Today Homefront report found “the Empire State ranked dead last in the rankings when it comes to overall affordability.” I have heard it continually from families, taxpayers, working men and women, small business owners, and many others throughout the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions: They are worried about making ends meet and they have been for a long time now. They have watched this state become less affordable. They have felt it become less free. They believe it to be less economically competitive, less responsible, and far less hopeful for the future. Nothing changes in the wake of the 2025 legislative session. Albany Democrats remained true to out-of-control spending, high taxes, exorbitant costs and fees for everything under the sun, and burdensome regulations and unfunded state mandates. New York State’s current path is not sustainable. Albany isn’t responsible and can’t control the ups and downs of every excessive cost facing citizens, however state government can and should be taking many more actions than it has been to try to ease the burden. It’s not for any lack of warning signs and alarm bells. Fiscal watchdogs already project significant state budget deficits in the immediate years ahead, deficits caused, in large measure, by the inability of Governor Hochul and an all-Democrat Legislature to stop overspending. State budget deficits always equal higher costs for all New Yorkers. Footing the bill of budget deficits inevitability falls on taxpayers. New York is a state in decline. To repeat: All the talk from Albany Democrats at the start of this legislative session in January was about making New York State more affordable. Six months down the road and these same Democrats have enacted massive increases in state spending, continued to impose costly climate mandates on all New Yorkers, ignored any meaningful long-term tax relief, failed to strengthen our state’s economic competitiveness and standing, and relentlessly pursued an agenda of misguided priorities for New York. We needed to prioritize a comprehensive set of actions to focus squarely on the affordability challenges facing middle-class families, turn the tide on population loss, and make public safety job number one. Instead, New Yorkers got more of the same: An Albany Democrat commitment to a fundamentally far-left, extreme-liberal, out-of-touch agenda that doesn’t get the job done for Upstate, middle-class communities, families, farmers, workers, small businesses, industries, or taxpayers. It has made New York State a tax-and-spend addict, a haven for lawbreakers, unaffordable for taxpayers, less attractive to job creators, and facing a dire economic future. And then there’s this: A recent Newsday investigative report found that “the $254 billion state budget adopted last month by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature includes new limits on scrutiny that independent analysts say make it harder for taxpayers to know what they are paying for. Critics say the measures include excluding some spending from review by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, avoiding competitive bidding in some contracts, pushing some spending and borrowing onto state authorities instead of the budget and passing ‘lump sum’ appropriations that will be divvied up after the budget was approved.” In other words, Albany Democrats are spending taxpayer dollars like never before AND working overtime to “make it harder for taxpayers to know what they are paying for.” It’s no way to run an effective or responsible government. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

“To say that I’m a frustrated dairy farmer in New York State would be an understatement. I don’t understand how a bill like this even gets remotely this far.” That was the reaction of just one New York State dairy farmer at the Capitol last week where a proposal coming out of New York City stirred a rallying cry of Upstate opposition from the New York Farm Bureau and many others, and rightly so. The “Upstate-Downstate divide” has been one of New York’s longest running shows and there have always been reminders that we remain worlds apart. There’s no denying, however, that these reminders have escalated since 2019 when New York government fell under total, one-party, all-Democrat control. It’s been especially concerning since what it has meant is that state government over the past six years has effectively been under the thumb of New York City-based and oriented leaders whose agendas often seek to impose across-the-board, one-size-fits-all laws, mandates, and rules that might serve big city needs yet inflict unfair and unreasonable burdens on the rest of New York, especially Upstate. The latest example is legislation introduced by two prominent New York City Democrats that would effectively ban future dairy farms in New York from expanding beyond 700 cows. It’s an attempt on their part to control what they wrongly view as the proliferation of “factory farms” and their environmental impact. The opposition has been swift, even among some Upstate Democrats who fully understand the consequences of a proposal like this one if it ever became law. For now, the measure remains in committee in the Senate and Assembly, which is where it needs to stay. Upstate United said, “They don’t have dairy farms in their districts, and legislation like this suggests that either they don’t care or are unaware of the industries that support Upstate’s economy. More than 95% of New York’s farms are family owned. At a time when New York State is making significant investments in major processors like Fairlife, Chobani and Cayuga Milk Ingredients, it makes absolutely no sense to restrict or limit the number of cows those farms can have when the milk they’re producing is needed for those companies to be successful.” From the Northeast Dairy Producers Association, “Dairy farmers are the original stewards of our natural resources. Regardless of farm size, 95% of New York State farms are family owned and operated. For generations, they have been committed to continuous improvement in caring for the environment, their animals, and their local communities. We aim to work collaboratively with legislators across the state to ensure a future that allows New York’s family farms to continue to provide for New York families.” One upstate county agricultural coordinator said, “They haven’t done their research. They’ve never been on dairy farms. How dare they try to regulate something they know nothing about.” The trouble is that these Albany Democrats have gained a foothold at the highest levels of New York government, and they do dare. They have successfully enacted laws, mandates, and rules that simply ignore Upstate New York’s economy, traditions, and ways of life at great cost. We’ve seen it time and again. In recognition of June as National Dairy Month, Steuben County recently reflected on the importance of our regional and statewide dairy industry with these words, and it can’t be said any better: “Did you know that Steuben County is home to over 1,300 farms, generating more than $250 million annually? And here's the kicker: half of that comes from milk production alone. That’s not just impressive – it’s essential. From family-run dairy farms to large-scale operations, our local farmers are the backbone of an industry that feeds New York and beyond. Their hard work supports beloved food companies like BelGioioso Cheese and HP Hood, right here in our region. “But the impact doesn’t stop at the barn door. Dairy farming has one of the highest economic multipliers of any industry – meaning every dollar earned on a dairy farm creates even more earnings across our local economy. Jobs, transportation, equipment, retail, food production – it all connects back to the land and the people who care for it.” This recent attack out of Albany on the future of family dairy farms is just the latest in a long line of ill-informed, misguided, outrageous, and ridiculous proposals. It continues to show a complete lack of understanding. It continues to push government overreach that would have a devastating impact on our rural, upstate local economies where the dairy industry has long been and must remain a mainstay of our region. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Beware of the final days of any legislative session in Albany -- and be ready for last-minute surprises. That’s especially important to keep in mind this year. It’s critical for all New Yorkers to keep an eye out. There are legislative proposals under discussion that deserve high-alert status. Legislation known as the “NY HEAT Act,” for example, would effectively ban the use of natural gas as an energy source for homes and businesses. It would have disastrous consequences, including driving up already high utility costs for most ratepayers; forcing homeowners to spend thousands of dollars to retrofit their homes to eliminate natural gas; removing consumer choice on how to heat their homes; and escalating costs for building homes and homeownership. A recent analysis from the Empire Center pinpoints the ramifications: “New York has some of the most ambitious climate goals in the country: electric school buses by 2035, zero emissions electricity by 2040, etc. Why New Yorkers, who already consume less energy per capita than any state (other than Rhode Island), should lead the charge in saving the planet is the question for the politicians who voted on these policies in 2019.” The HEAT Act specifically, according to Empire Center, “consists of two basic ideas: first, New York will make you heat your home with electricity, and second, you might end up paying your neighbor’s electric bill.” It’s a disaster in the making for most middle-class ratepayers. New York is already one of the least affordable and highest taxed states in America. We lead the nation in population loss. The Heat Act would make it worse. Albany Democrats continue to impose unaffordable and unrealistic energy mandates with no concern for affordability, feasibility, or reliability. They keep reaching deeper and deeper into the pockets of middle-class taxpayers, destroying family budgets, killing local jobs, and weakening local economies with the promise of very minimal or realistic benefits for most New Yorkers. From the start, our Senate and Assembly Republican conferences, business leaders, and other advocates have repeatedly called for a cost-benefit analysis of New York’s ongoing imposition of these far-reaching energy mandates, like the HEAT Act, since the approval in 2019 of the “Community Leadership and Climate Protection Act” (CLCPA). We have consistently demanded answers about what the CLCPA agenda will cost ratepayers and local economies, expressed concerns about the broad mandates being enacted, and questioned whether the goals are realistic or achievable. New York State only contributes less than a half a percent of global emissions. China and India are each adding more coal burning emissions each year in an amount greater than New York's total. Even if New York could get to zero, we will have no impact on global climate change and therefore, no benefit for the hundreds of billions, if not trillions of anticipated costs trying. The HEAT Act alone would raise rates for at least 75 percent of New Yorkers, eliminate thousands of good-paying local jobs, and slap up to $50,000 in costs on homeowners who may be forced to transition from natural gas to electric heat. New Yorkers already struggle to pay high utility bills. Even before CLCPA was approved in 2019, 25 percent of the delivery charges on utility bills were made up of New York State taxes and fees. NYSEG/RG&E recently declared that now over 50% is related to state mandated costs. For months now, my office and the offices of many of my colleagues in the state Legislature have been inundated with ratepayer complaints of exorbitant bill increases. No acceptable explanations have been forthcoming by the utilities or the state Public Service Commission which regulates utilities. Over the past six years, things have only gotten worse. According to an Empire Center analysis of the first CLCPA report published by the Department of Public Service last year, rates had already risen by as much as 9.8 percent while recent rate increases had not been fully phased in yet. Yet on it goes. Last week, the Democrat-led state Senate passed the so-called “Extended Producer Responsibility Act,” known as EPR, which will drive up costs of all packaged goods, including food products, due to outrageous mandates and recycling requirements on companies that sell anything packaged. Not a single Republican voted for it. And if all that is not enough for the Albany Democrats, reports revealed yet another proposal introduced by two New York City legislators that would effectively ban future dairy farms in New York from expanding beyond 700 cows. One upstate county agricultural coordinated reacted this way and he’s right on target, “They haven’t done their research. They’ve never been on dairy farms. How dare they try to regulate something they know nothing about.” It's the latest in a longstanding tradition of ill-informed, misguided, outrageous, and ridiculous proposals coming out of a state government now dominated by one-party, New York City-based leaders and interests. It continues to show a complete lack of understanding and calls for government overreach that would have a devastating impact on our rural, upstate local economies where the dairy industry has long been and must remain a mainstay. While the Albany Democrats constantly talk about affordability, or the lack thereof, of living in New York State, they consistently take actions that drive up the costs of living here. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

New York still doesn’t have a new state budget. Instead, Governor Hochul and the Democrat-led State Legislature are running state government on a series of emergency extender measures, ten in total as of this writing. It’s no way to run a government. It produces uncertainty, concern, and a lack of confidence, rightly so, about where the state is headed. Governor Hochul went solo early last week, like she did last year, and announced a “general agreement” on what she claimed will be a $254-billion spending plan for this new fiscal year. To which the Democrat leaders of the Legislature responded with, “Not so fast.” Consequently, we head into another week without a final budget, without critical details of what might be included (or not included) in any final plan, and with all of it sure sounding like there remain more than a fair share of important issues unresolved and under discussion behind closed doors. Meanwhile, we keep hearing and seeing the warning signs of trouble ahead: From Bloomberg News, “A net 30,000 New Yorkers fled (New York City) for Florida’s Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties in the five years through 2022, taking with them a combined $9.2 billion in income.” Keep in mind that New York State’s revenues overall are highly dependent on the income taxes paid by these high-income earners, many of whom live and work in the city; The budget “agreement” announced by the governor calls for hiking the payroll tax rate for companies with payrolls of $10 million a year from 0.6% to 0.895% -- a move which many see as just the beginning of New York’s unending search for higher taxes to continue paying for unaffordable state spending. From the New York Post, “Business owners and industry reps warned the looming tax increase…will cause bigger companies to leave the state and make cuts that’ll hit workers in the pocketbooks.” From state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, “Major cuts in federal funding simply cannot be replaced by state taxpayers, will reduce the services the state provides and will exacerbate the long-standing history of New Yorkers sending more of their hard-earned tax dollars to the federal government than they get back.” Despite this looming uncertainty, state leaders ignore this reality and instead of moving forward with some caution, common sense, and restraint, appear ready to go ahead and hike state spending by at least $15 billion over last year with a pledge to reconvene down the road to make any necessary adjustments which, by the way, the governor is seeking the authority to do unilaterally. The trouble for taxpayers is that we’re still not certain where any final budget enacted by the governor and legislative majorities will wind up. As noted in this column last week, final budget bills will ultimately get rushed through the legislative process, with no reasonable or responsible time for public review, often late at night, and taxpayers will be left holding the bag for a whole host of unwanted – and, once again, unaffordable -- surprises. That’s been the modus operandi defining this era in state government. Last year, remember, Albany Democrats left town in late April touting the enactment of a 2024-2025 budget totaling $237 billion. Turns out, a little over a month later, that their budget actually called for spending roughly $240 billion. That was according to a report quietly released on a Friday afternoon by the governor’s own Division of the Budget (DOB). That was a significant difference. It wasn’t just pocket change. It meant that state spending last year increased by $10 billion. This year, it will be a $15-billion increase – that’s if we can take their word for it this time around and there’s not another surprise readjustment on tap. State government’s spending habits have become so addictive that, eventually, every move that everyday citizens make in New York will come attached with another cost, another tax, or another new fee or mandate. It will have an enormous impact on the future for all of us. It keeps coming down to this, year after year, under one-party control: dire fiscal forecasts keep arriving, not only after an ongoing, unprecedented, multi-year spending spree, but also at the same time the Democrats keep initiating enormous, additional state spending commitments for which they don’t even yet know the final price tag. An ongoing illegal migrant crisis. Increased Medicaid spending. A multi-billion-dollar Unemployment Insurance debt. And let’s not forget the costs of Albany's Green New Deal with its outrageously costly, full electrification mandates, to name just a few. This year’s final, supposedly $254 billion spending plan will be just the latest chapter. Albany Democrats have simply and carelessly thrown caution (along with taxpayer dollars) to the wind. Since 2018, they will have increased state spending by an amount approaching $90 billion -- and far too much of it in a relentless pursuit of a misguided, questionable, unsustainable political agenda. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

The word on the street out of Albany is that Governor Hochul and the Democrat-led State Legislature could be on the doorstep of enacting a new state budget that’s already a month behind schedule. Yet that’s the point. It remains just a word on the street. Which means that whenever the governor and legislative leaders get around to finalizing a new budget, New Yorkers are still going to be left with a broken budget adoption process. It’s a process that every step of the way keeps the public in the dark about fundamental decisions on this state’s short- and long-term future. It’s a process in desperate need of accountability. As the ranking member on the Senate Finance committee, that’s the point I’ve been making over the past several weeks since April 1, when a final 2025-2026 state budget was supposed to be in place. While New Yorkers may hear and read about a “conceptual agreement” out of Albany, there’s never any concrete legislation for the public to review beforehand. It’s always a “take my word for it” deal before the taxpayers get handed the bill for yet another unaffordable state spending plan. Keep in mind that the enactment of a new state budget is the most impactful action that state legislators take every year. It reaches into the pockets and the everyday lives of all New Yorkers. That will be especially true this year when Governor Hochul and Albany Democrats put the finishing touches on a budget pushing spending to its highest level in state history and one that will once again include far-reaching, non-budget policy initiatives that many good government groups believe should not even be considered as part of the budget adoption process. Negotiations take place entirely behind closed doors. That becomes especially troubling – and dangerous -- in this era of complete one-party control of New York government where there is an unprecedented lack of legislative checks and balances. The public is kept in the dark like never before. We know that taxpayers will soon be shouldered with their heaviest-ever burden for a nearly $260-billion spending plan. We know it will be one of the world’s largest governmental budgets! We know that there will be tax and fee increases, and new mandates and debt obligations. We know there will be winners and losers. New Yorkers just don’t know the details. New Yorkers still do not know, with any specifics, exactly how Governor Hochul and legislative Democrats intend to carry it all out – or, for that matter, what surprises are still in store. The bottom line is that New Yorkers don’t know, and they should. Our Senate and Assembly Republican conferences have been making this point throughout the past several budget adoption cycles that have headed this state in the wrong direction, according to most New Yorkers: Before we take the votes on a final budget, our constituents deserve to know what’s in it. They deserve to know more than a word on the street. Specifically, we have continually called on Governor Hochul and legislative Democrats to reject the use of so-called “messages of necessity” once the budget legislation is printed and ready for a vote. The State Constitution includes a vital “aging” provision that essentially requires a three-day waiting period (commonly called “aging”) before legislation can receive a final vote. While three days is not nearly enough time in the context of a stack of budget legislation as thick as dictionaries, it at least gives individual legislators, the press, the public, and all interested parties the chance to review the plan’s details. However, a longstanding loophole in the law authorizes governors to issue a “message of necessity” to bypass this three-day waiting period and allow for an immediate vote on any piece of legislation once it’s introduced. It’s time to bring this state’s budget adoption process into the modern day, especially at this time when one-party control keeps on producing skyrocketing state spending plans that are increasingly chock-full of policy initiatives that should, for accountability’s sake, be given stand-alone consideration. Fundamental checks and balances have effectively been thrown out in this state government. Governor Hochul and the Legislature's Democrat majorities go on working behind closed doors to allocate state taxpayer dollars and set in motion far-reaching public policies impacting our local citizens, communities, and economies in consequential ways. The state budget demands a full public airing and the appropriate time for review and debate, but that’s never what we get. It's a broken process that blindfolds the public and keeps producing bloated state budgets that taxpayers will never be able to afford. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Local volunteer fire departments across the region and statewide are once highlighting one of New York’s most daunting challenges: the recruitment and retention of local volunteer firefighters and EMTs. FASNY is launching a “Light Up NY Red” campaign this week, from April 21-27, coinciding with the start of the annual RecruitNY weekend on Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, when volunteer fire departments statewide open their doors to raise public awareness. “We’re working with state and local officials to get some of our biggest landmarks involved (in the Light Up NY Red campaign),” said FASNY President Eugene Perry, noting that New York’s volunteer firefighter ranks have plunged by 33% over the last two decades, leaving roughly 80,000 active personnel. Leading up to this week, the group has stressed the need for all firehouses statewide to “glow red” throughout the week ahead and urged firefighters to light their homes and businesses with red lights. The lights are intended to “symbolize their commitment to a tradition of neighborly help and the need for more volunteers.” FASNY has also called on residents to join in the effort by switching on red porch lights to show their support. It remains a critically important initiative for New York State’s future, especially throughout our rural, upstate localities where the local volunteer fire department has long been a foundation and mainstay of so many communities. Its demise can’t be risked. Consequently, the challenge of recruiting volunteer firefighters and EMTs deserves all the attention it gets. Keeping our corps of emergency services volunteers strong must be a statewide priority. Volunteer fire departments have long been the foundation of public safety and security, and the center of community service and civic pride. RecruitNY sounds the alarm and accomplishes these goals very effectively. FASNY has called on state legislators to increase the state’s income tax credit for volunteers from the current $200 to $800, a move that passed the Senate last year and one that I continue to strongly support. The $200 level was established nearly two decades ago and has remained stagnant since 2006. Together with regional state Assemblymen Phil Palmesano and Chris Friend, I have long sponsored legislation known as the “Omnibus Emergency Services Volunteer Incentive Act,” to provide a series of tax and other incentives to help address the recruitment and retention challenge. Our legislation has been part of ongoing state-level efforts by FASNY and others to keep drawing attention to a challenge that many believe poses a property tax crisis in waiting and other crises for many rural, upstate communities. A FASNY study, “Tax Savings and Economic Value of Volunteer Firefighters in New York,” found that the state’s 100,000 volunteer firefighters save taxpayers nearly $4 billion annually. Other specific findings included that: an additional 31,000 career firefighters would be necessary to convert to an all-paid service statewide; the annual cost of an all-career service would be $4.7 billion; there would be a one-time cost of $8.2 billion to acquire existing stations/structures, vehicles, and equipment -- approximately 1,300 stations would have to be built new or reconstructed; and property taxes statewide would rise an average of 28.4% statewide. The FASNY report noted, “New York State as a whole relies heavily on volunteer fire departments. Of its 1,795 municipal fire departments, 89% are volunteer. Volunteer firefighters are most prevalent in smaller, suburban, and rural communities that have a lesser tax base than larger towns and cities. That these communities rely on volunteers testifies to cost savings from volunteer departments, and conversion to paid departments would be a particular burden for these localities.” There are bright spots on the horizon. A statewide survey last year revealed that two-thirds of respondents planned to visit their local fire station to gain more information on becoming a volunteer. The survey also reinforced the fact that volunteer firefighters and EMS providers -- and the essential role they perform in the community -- are held in high esteem with 98% of respondents agreeing that “volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services are important for the health and safety of my community.” Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Governor Hochul and the Legislature’s all-Democrat majorities still can’t agree on a new state budget, but they’ve shown where they’re headed time after time over the past several years. Back in April 2021, when former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Democrat-led Legislature were putting the finishing touches on their new, massive $212-billion state spending plan, it was a budget, we now know, that accelerated the irresponsible fiscal actions that have brought this state to where we are today. That budget four years ago raised state spending by a whopping $18 billion while still finding a way, shamelessly, to raise taxes by more than $4 billion! Most significantly, it continued to set the stage for what has been cemented as the defining action of this era in state government: out-of-control spending. New York State’s budget in 2018, the last year that Republicans held the majority in the state Senate, totaled $170 billion. This year, while Governor Hochul proposed a $252-billion spending plan, the Democrat majorities in the Legislature are looking to go well beyond that and are eyeing a final budget of at least $260 billion – a budget that, if enacted, would represent an increase in state spending of $90 billion, or nearly 53%, over the last six years. It’s overwhelming, and it’s outrageous. Another way to look at this outrageous growth in spending is that the $90-billion-plus increase alone is larger than most of the state budgets in America. Four years ago, after the enactment of the final 2021-22 budget, I said, “We had an opportunity and a responsibility to enact a fiscally responsible, short- and long-term strategy for the post-COVID rebuilding, restoring, and resetting of local communities, economies, and governments for the long term. Equally important, we needed to recognize the fiscal challenges New York will face for the foreseeable future and steer clear of any massive new taxing and spending. That’s not what this budget represents. It sets up an economic and fiscal disaster.” Fast forward to today, with the adoption of a 2025-26 state budget going on two weeks late, and we all know what’s coming: Higher spending and more taxing. Albany Democrats are clearly on their way to enacting the largest-ever state budget, by a wide margin, and they’re already on the lookout for their next tax hike opportunities, both short- and long-term. New York is already recognized as one of America’s highest taxed, least affordable, least business friendly, least free states. We are one of the most debt-ridden states. We lead the nation in population losses. We have been singled out as one of the most undesirable places for retirees. We’re overregulated and impose one of the heaviest burdens of unfunded state mandates to boot. New York’s business tax climate has long been noted by the Tax Foundation and others as one of the nation’s worst. Despite it all, Governor Hochul and the Legislature’s Democrats remain determined to be the biggest spenders of all, ignoring the warnings of numerous fiscal watchdogs that New York State government keeps moving all of us in the wrong direction. Once they decide to get around to it, Governor Hochul and New York’s Democrat supermajorities will enact a new state budget that, as I’ve said more than once over the past several years, will spend the roof off the state Capitol. It will continue to be an unending search for more tax dollars to afford an irrational spending spree. The ongoing implementation of regressive taxes will leave middle-income families and workers, motorists, truckers, farmers, small businesses, manufacturers and other industries, and seniors among the hardest hit. In a state long known as one of the highest-taxed, highest-spending states in America, the continually evolving Albany Democrat vision for New York keeps running the risk of setting new standards of recklessness – at great cost and devastating consequences for far too many New Yorkers and the local economies they depend on. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Albany’s leaders left the Capitol late last week after shrugging off the enactment of a new state budget that’s already a week late. The holdup remains over several public policy discussions, including discovery reform, involuntary commitment of the severe mentally ill, and maybe a few others. In other words, non-budget policy discussions. Not the desperately needed economic and fiscal discussions that should be dominating this budget process. No discussions over high taxes, even though New York remains one of the overall highest-taxed states in America. Upstate United had this to say in a recent statement: “According to a newly released study from WalletHub, New York is ranked at the top of the list for having the highest individual income tax burden, second highest overall tax burden, fourth highest in property tax burden and twenty second in sales and excise tax burden. While it may not come as much of a surprise to many New Yorkers that we are saddled with some of the highest taxes in the country, providing relief or prioritizing affordability continues to be more of a talking point than an action item for policymakers in Albany. Ironically, this analysis comes to us at the same time legislative leaders are in the process of negotiating a record-high state spending plan that is likely to exceed $250 billion.” No discussions over the ever-exploding costs of Medicaid and how to get it under control. From a recent Empire Center analysis and commentary: “Governor Hochul’s executive budget calls for the state share of Medicaid to increase by $6.4 billion or 17 percent – continuing a steep upward trend that she herself has called ‘unsustainable.’ That assessment is hard to dispute. If the governor’s budget is approved as written – with no additions by the Legislature – state Medicaid outlays in fiscal 2026 will rise to $44 billion, which is 60 percent larger than the $28 billion level she inherited just three years ago.” Despite this alarming growth, approximately three times the average rate of the previous ten years, the Empire Center concludes that the governor’s current plan for Medicaid moving forward “mainly just pumps more of the taxpayers’ money into an already expensive and dysfunctional status quo.” No discussions over relief for local businesses, local schools, and local economies from the longstanding burden of unfunded state mandates, including an unworkable all-electric school bus mandate that’s still on track to potentially be the hardest hit ever on our schools. No discussions over effectively addressing a staffing and safety crisis within state prisons following the strike-related firing of over 2,000 corrections officers. Instead of serious thinking about how to address this staffing shortage and the ongoing deterioration of prison safety, the sole answer from the Hochul administration so far is to call in the National Guard, untrained for this purpose and at exorbitant cost, estimated to be four to five times more than the actual cost for corrections officers, and to begin implementing an accelerated early release plan to set more prisoners free. And no discussions over the number one question that all New Yorkers should be asking: Can New York taxpayers ever afford the rate of spending that has defined state government over the past six years under one-party, all-Democrat control? Because that’s where we’re headed again. That’s the fundamental question that keeps getting ignored. These Democrats are the biggest spenders in state history. If they enact the spending plan everyone expects they’re going to approve when they get around to it this year, since 2019 they will have increased spending by approximately $90 billion. By their own admission, it will result in a string of state budget deficits over the next three fiscal years totaling $6.5 billion in 2027, $9.8 billion in 2028, and $11 billion in 2029. In other words, they’re more than willing to keep on spending money that’s not there. Fundamentally -- and from any perspective at all of common sense -- it’s reckless. It’s out of control. It directs billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars to what many consider to be misguided, politically driven, and even frivolous actions and handouts. And to pay for it, again by their own admission, they go in search of a new or higher tax, the next fee, and other fiscal irresponsibility. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Sometimes there’s just no explaining Albany. That’s really been true over the past six years of New York State government under one-party control. It’s been head scratching, to say the least. Infuriating might better describe the current state of affairs. And the current situation is chaos. Take the latest on public safety which, since Governor Cuomo and the Albany Democrats taking majorities in both houses of the Legislature, has been driven into the open arms of criminals and other bad actors that the majority of New Yorkers feel have made their communities and streets and neighborhoods and parks and subways far less safe. Albany Democrats just keep on sticking to their story: What crime? All this concern over crime and violence only exists in the minds of all those New Yorkers and all the police and corrections officers, district attorneys, and crime victims, who keep warning this state is less safe. It’s all just fear mongering, according to Democrats. At least Governor Hochul might be feeling the heat of public opinion. Despite continuing to toe the line about how safe things really are on New York City’s subways and elsewhere around the state, the governor is seeking changes as part of the new state budget. While many of us believe her proposals don’t go nearly far enough, she’s at least willing to take a few important steps in the right direction of restoring New York’s criminal justice system, strengthening public safety, pursuing justice for victims, and acting on the clear and convincing need for common sense. First, the rising tide of homelessness and violent mental illness is a tragedy impacting many, if not most communities in one way or another. There are too many people on our streets not receiving proper treatment. They do great harm to themselves, and they commit crimes that, in the worst instances, result in vicious assaults and killings of innocent victims. Governor Hochul is rightly recognizing the danger. She acknowledges the need to keep severely mentally ill patients in hospital care and has proposed to expand New York’s involuntary commitment statute to ensure that more of our severely mentally ill will remain in hospital care. The governor’s proposal would clarify the information considered in making these decisions to include whether the actions of a person with a mental illness would "result in serious harm." She also proposes allowing the decision-making process to include a person's capacity to understand their inability to provide for their essential needs like food, clothing, medical care, safety, or shelter. So far, the governor’s changes to the involuntary commitment statute have been rejected outright by the Legislature’s Democrat leaders. It’s the same story on what’s known as “discovery reform.” In 2019, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo and an all-Democrat Legislature enacted far-reaching bail and discovery law reforms that have turned criminal justice on its head. It has been roundly criticized as a disaster. While the disastrous consequences of bail reform have been well documented, the Democrats’ discovery changes can’t be overlooked. They’ve had an equally alarming impact on crime victims and public safety. While I agree that changes for fairness to the accused were warranted, the 2019 discovery law changes went too far the other way, just as their no bail changes did, in this instance imposing far too tight a timeline on the state’s district attorneys to provide discovery. Failure to meet that timeline results in dismissal of charges. This has proven to be unworkable. As a result, thousands upon thousands of criminal cases have been dismissed in some prosecutors’ offices because they simply don’t have the staff or resources to exercise a proper process carefully and thoroughly in such a short time period. The impact on crime victims has been unimaginable. The consequences for overall public safety and security have been equally destructive. One recent report noted that New York City’s criminal courts have seen an almost unbelievable increase of 455 percent (an estimated 50,000 cases) in forced dismissals following the 2019 law. According to the state Office of Court Administration, criminal case dismissals in New York City skyrocketed from 42% before the reforms to 62% in 2023. In Albany recently, appearing with our Senate Republican Conference to call for changes, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said, “As a prosecutor with over 32 years of experience, and as the District Attorney of one of the largest counties in the state, I’ve witnessed firsthand how 'Cashless Bail' and 'Discovery Reform’ laws have compromised public safety. Since the implementation of these laws, we’ve seen a revolving door of justice, where criminals walk free on technicalities while victims continue to suffer. These laws have made it harder for law enforcement and prosecutors to do their jobs, jeopardizing public safety and leaving our communities vulnerable. This is not a justice system that protects the people of New York.” Her assessment has been echoed by district attorneys across this state. Governor Hochul knows it. She’s proposed changes as part of this year’s state budget. Her proposal would tighten the scope of evidence prosecutors are required to turn over to the defense. It would establish a more sensible timeline for defendants to challenge whether prosecutors are in full compliance. Judges would be allowed discretion to provide sanctions, such as limiting the use of certain evidence inadvertently not disclosed, short of the outright dismissal of cases, to address errors by prosecutors. Again, the governor doesn’t go nearly far enough, but her proposals are limited, reasonable, badly needed, and should be accepted. Yet the Legislature’s Democrat majorities, in their recently enacted one-house budget resolutions, rejected the governor’s discovery law changes. Whether to gain leverage in budget negotiations, or whether legislative Democrats simply prefer the status quo, remains to be seen. “I’m not pro-defendant, I’m not pro-prosecutor,” Assembly Democrat Speaker Carl Heastie recently told Capitol reporters, “I’m pro-justice.” That may be the Democrats’ story and they’re sticking to it. The reality for the rest of us is that for the past six years, Albany Democrat policies have been pro-criminal and not pro-victim -- not by any stretch of the imagination. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

The warning signs on New York’s dashboard keep flashing “Pay Attention”: Pay attention to the financial industry – an industry on which the state’s fiscal and economic well-being is make or break. This industry moving out of New York State, including the most recent Goldman Sachs announcement of its continued relocation of employees and operations to Texas, is alarming. Pay attention to the fact that over the past several years, New York State has been marked as a national leader in population losses. Pay attention to the rankings, including one of the latest from WalletHub, which have repeatedly designated New York among the highest taxed states in America, and often the highest taxed state. Pay attention when studies from the Tax Foundation and other fiscal watchdogs highlight New York’s state and local debt per capita as among the highest of any state in the nation. It goes on and on. These and other warning signs keep flashing and Albany Democrats just keep ignoring all of it. Consequently, in response to what we see as yet another fiscally irresponsible state budget being negotiated right now by Governor Hochul and the Legislature’s all-Democrat majorities -- negotiations that are clearly headed towards the continuation of uncontrolled state spending -- Senate Republicans last week renewed our commitment to actions to create a more affordable New York. Albany Democrats readily acknowledge the affordability crisis causing the exodus of citizens to more affordable states. They do plenty of talking about it. Yet the Democrats can’t give up increasing handouts. They have no interest in stopping out-of-control spending, eliminating taxes, lowering costs, cutting burdensome regulations and mandates, or restoring public safety. In current budget negotiations, Senate Democrats are calling for spending far beyond the approximately $252 billion fiscal plan proposed by Governor Kathy Hochul for 2025-2026, which by itself was already nearly $9 billion higher than New York’s current spending. According to a Senate Republican Finance Committee analysis, Senate Democrats have put forth a $259 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year -- at least $7 billion higher than Hochul’s proposed budget and more than $15 billion higher than current state spending. It would mark the highest-ever state budget. Tellingly, Senate Democrats project that their proposed spending plan, if enacted, would lead to a string of state budget deficits over the next three fiscal years totaling $6.5 billion in 2027, $9.8 billion in 2028, and $11 billion in 2029. In their one-house budget, Assembly Democrats want to spend even more. From the outset, the Senate and Assembly Republican Conferences have warned that Governor Hochul’s out-of-control state spending plan would only skyrocket once the Legislature’s Democrat majorities, the biggest spenders in state history, got their hands on it. That’s exactly where we’re headed. New York could go in a different direction. Senate Republicans last week highlighted several pieces of legislation that could be cornerstones of a new state budget, including legislation I sponsor to provide a significant tax cut to support small businesses and farmers. Other legislation our conference has put forth would establish a First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act; direct the state to determine the true cost of the mandates being imposed under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, better known as the CLCPA, on New York’s ratepayers and then establish a credit for ratepayers and businesses to cover those costs; and enact the “Affordable New York Act,” which is designed to lower the tax burden on individual workers in New York. There are plenty of alternative actions that could help define a new budget and a new direction for New York State. Regrettably, they’re the types of actions that don’t currently have a place in this state’s one-party, all-Democrat government. Is it affordable and is it sustainable for the citizens and taxpayers of New York State to continue down this road of spending? No, it’s not. It remains irresponsible, unaffordable, and unsustainable. We need to liberate New York by restoring the right priorities, rebuilding stronger and safer communities, and working towards a more responsible and sustainable future for middle-class communities, families, workers, businesses, industries, ratepayers, and taxpayers. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Repeatedly in this column over the past six years, ever since the approval in 2019 of the all-Democrat climate agenda known as the “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act” (CLCPA), I have shared warnings – my own and those of many others – that New York State is going too far, too fast. It keeps turning out that we haven’t just been crying wolf. It hasn’t just been a chorus of so-called “climate deniers.” Not at all. In fact, over the past year we have been joined by plenty of voices on the Democrat side of the aisle recognizing it too. Recognizing what? The latest example focuses on just one of a long line of unaffordable, impractical, and unrealistic energy mandates being imposed on all New Yorkers—but it’s the one at the moment that stands for the shortcomings of the entire strategy. It remains a politically and ideologically driven, go-it-alone strategy that will have virtually no impact on the global climate but will be extremely costly for New York State’s consumers and ratepayers, unreasonably restrictive for local economies, and businesses and industries, and enormously burdensome for local governments and local taxpayers. Specifically, what’s back in the news this week is a current mandate known as the Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) rule. It was a regulation adopted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in 2021 as part of the CLCPA. Beginning this year, it will require an increasingly higher percentage of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles – buses, pickups, vans, garbage trucks, long-haul trucks, and the like – to be electric, zero-emissions vehicles. Like the all-electric school bus mandate that we have also highlighted as a hugely expensive unfunded state mandate for local school districts and property taxpayers (and the reason I sponsor legislation to delay its implementation), the looming ACT mandate poses similar consequences for numerous industries, including trucking companies vital to the overall fabric of our state and local economies, municipal highway and public works departments, small business owners, and other consumers. It’s a far-reaching mandate being implemented too fast at a time when the technology and infrastructure isn’t ready for it. It’s too expensive. It’s unworkable, and it was adopted and keeps moving ahead without a straightforward and responsible cost-benefit analysis. That’s the point my colleagues and I in the Senate Republican Conference have been making to Governor Hochul, including in a letter as far back as early last fall raising our concerns over ACT. In that letter we wrote, “Zero emission truck technology is still in its infancy. The majority of these trucks currently cost three to four times the average cost of a diesel-powered vehicle. Requiring the purchase of these vehicles within a substantially limited timeframe artificially creates an imbalance between demand and supply, which will drive costs even higher, both on the truck dealers and small businesses. “For municipalities and businesses that are forced to incur these expenses, this cost will ultimately be passed on to taxpayers and consumers across the state. Consumers are already struggling with the effects of high inflation and the last thing anyone can afford to do right now is pay more because of an arbitrary rule…Additionally, the charging infrastructure needed to power this fleet is not currently available at this time. Without the necessary charging infrastructure or grid capacity, mandating the sale of these vehicles through regulation is akin to putting the cart before the horse.” ACT will triple the cost of a semi-truck, dump truck, and snowplow and reduce the range of these trucks to 150 miles or less requiring four to six hours to recharge. It will negatively impact the desired emission reduction as those owning and operating trucks on the road today will be encouraged to keep their older, dirtier, and less safe trucks, that they would otherwise replace, on the road longer. It also raises the concern that businesses may relocate their trucking fleets out of state since they could continue to operate those trucks in New York. Now, finally, our concerns are being echoed by leading legislative Democrats. Legislation has been introduced to delay the rule until at least 2027. According to the sponsors, “Unfortunately, the ACT regulations are nearly impossible for the trucking industry to comply with because of a lack of truck charging infrastructure, cost factors, and other challenges…there is no point in putting an entire industry at risk in the process.” Better late than never, as they say. It becomes increasingly clear that the Albany Democrat strategy for New York’s energy future is not affordable, feasible, or realistic under its current timelines, including this one for the ACT regulation -- the latest example of this state under one-party control pushing forward with a mandate without a straightforward and honest cost-benefit analysis of how much it will cost taxpayers and consumers, the consequences for the state and local economies, its impact on an already burdensome business climate, and whether it will have any effective impact at all on emissions at this time. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

Over the past several years, New York State has become notorious for politically driven, far-left ideology overriding reality, ideology overruling common sense, and, ultimately, ideology overturning the common good. That’s been true on immigration, climate, fiscal practices, criminal justice, and other arenas of public policy which have become dominated by the one-party, largely far-left, highly politicized control of government. The current crisis in our correctional facilities is now the prime example. Striking correctional officers have made it eminently clear what the danger is here: chaos and breakdown. Not long ago, our Senate Republican conference met with spouses and other family members of these same correctional officers, and they made it clear in the most compelling ways. Last week outside the state Capitol, while the Hochul administration continued to move to fire officers, terminate their families’ health insurance, and threaten fines and even imprisonment, hundreds of correctional officers and their families and supporters kept making it clear again at a rally: Your ideology was wrong. It can’t work. It has upended any shred of law and order within our facilities, which have become violent, dangerous, and life-threatening. As of this writing, the strike remains ongoing and in constant uncertainty. What cannot change in any eventual outcome, however, is the need to admit that one Albany Democrat policy in particular has been a failure, as predicted from the outset by many of us from the very time it was enacted. This crisis has been years in the making, going back over a decade when then-Governor Andrew Cuomo began rapidly closing prisons throughout New York and thereby putting enormous strain on the remaining system – and it will take years now to hopefully restore the system. But one action must be the starting point. The “Humane Alternatives to Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act,” better known as the HALT Act, was approved in 2021 by the Legislature’s Democrat majorities and signed into law by then-Governor Cuomo to fundamentally restrict the ability of prison officials to discipline the state’s most violent inmates by separating them from the general population. New York’s correctional officers were already warning that moving forward with HALT would put officers and the entire correctional system at great risk. The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) began holding rallies across New York in early 2022 calling for the law’s repeal. I joined officers at many of these rallies, as did many of my legislative colleagues. NYSCOPBA President Michael Powers said in 2022: “As we have said for years, the HALT Act would only do one thing, make our correctional facilities more dangerous. The New York State Legislature, the people who created this poorly thought-out legislation are directly responsible for the skyrocketing violence we’re experiencing in our prisons today. They ignored our warnings, our pleas to educate themselves properly before passing HALT, and now they’ve put the lives of everyone who resides or works in a correctional setting at risk.” That’s exactly what has brought us here today: Albany Democrats ignored our warnings, our pleas to educate themselves properly before passing HALT, and they put the lives of everyone who resides or works in a correctional setting at risk. Three years later, inmate assaults on staff have doubled and inmate-on-inmate assaults have nearly tripled, highlighting an escalating trend of rising violence inside prison walls while ongoing prison closures, staffing shortages, and unreasonable and unrealistic mandatory overtime demands have forced officers to work in conditions far beyond any semblance of balance and fairness for them and their families and loved ones. The vast majority of correctional officers and staff within the Elmira Correctional Facility and Five Points Correctional Facility, both of which I represent, and at facilities throughout the state, kept going to work mandatory regular day off shift upon mandatory overtime shift, often 24-hour-plus tours, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year, to undertake the duties and responsibilities they’re charged with diligently, professionally, and respectfully in an ever increasingly unsafe environment. Until that just wasn’t possible anymore. Until it just wasn’t SAFE anymore. Until they finally decided that yet another misguided Albany Democrat policy was not more important, could not be more important than their personal safety, the overall security of their facilities, and the future of their families and loved ones. I, my Republican colleagues, and corrections officers have repeatedly warned Albany Democrats over the past three years that the situation was a powder keg. This strike is the resultant explosion. So far, Albany Democrats have kept their sense of reality and the truth buried under their ideology. Consequently, we face a correctional system in crisis and on the brink of a collapse. “(Albany Democrats) ignored our warnings, our pleas to educate themselves properly before passing HALT, and now they’ve put the lives of everyone who resides or works in a correctional setting at risk,” NYSCOPBA’s president warned three years ago. Exactly. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.

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 local Assemblyman Phil Palmesano, together with many of our Senate and Assembly colleagues regionally and statewide, have long worked to strengthen. Since 2013, in fact, we have stood together with New York’s county and town highway superintendents and workers, and many other local leaders, to do everything we can to raise awareness and call for legislative support. This year we are once again fully behind the annual advocacy campaign known as “Local Roads Are Essential.” The effort is sponsored by the New York State Association of County Highway Superintendents (NYSCHSA) and the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways, Inc. (NYSAOTSOH). In our view, Governor Kathy Hochul has failed to recognize the urgency and make necessary investments in local roads, bridges, and culverts a priority in her proposed 2025-26 state budget. The governor’s proposal to keep funding for the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS), the state’s primary source of funding for local roads and bridges, flat at last year’s level is particularly troubling. First, the governor fails to recognize the enormous impact inflation is having on the costs of construction materials and, consequently, on the budgets of local highway departments. Nationally, according to the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Construction Cost Index, highway construction costs over the past three years have increased by 70 percent! From a long-term perspective, Governor Hochul fails to address the need. The latest study found that municipalities would need an additional $40.35 billion over 15 years to restore locally owned roads through repaving and improvements, or $2.69 billion annually. In a February 13, 2025 letter to Governor Hochul and the Democrat leaders of the Senate and Assembly, we wrote, in part, “We once again stress that New York State's direct investment in local roads and bridges through CHIPS remains fundamental. It deserves priority consideration in the final allocation of state infrastructure investment in the budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year…Local governments, for the foreseeable future, will continue to struggle to address budgetary demands in the face of the state-imposed property tax cap, rising pension, health care and highway construction costs, and unfunded state mandates, among other burdens… A stronger state-local partnership is the only solution to meeting the critical investment level needed to maintain and improve local roads, bridges, and culverts… Through the renewed, vigorous, long-term state investment we have outlined, we will finally move toward the safe and reliable local infrastructure we envision, an infrastructure that will serve as the catalyst for future community and economic development, job creation, and overall public and motorist safety.” Consequently, local roads advocates are calling on Hochul and legislative leaders to: Increase the CHIPS base level funding by $250 million to a total of $848 million; Consolidate five of the state’s local road assistance programs into two programs which would reduce the administrative burden and recordkeeping costs at the state and local levels Increase the CHIPS bidding threshold from $350,000 to $1,000,000 -- or eliminate the threshold all together – to give municipalities more flexibility to pursue the most cost-effective option to bid out or perform in-house projects. Additionally, we are raising an increasing concern over a state mandate scheduled to take effect in 2027 requiring local school districts to begin moving toward all-electric school bus fleets. Because electric school buses are heavier, we are seeing alarming studies estimating that a town’s cost for pavement maintenance would increase from a range of $20,000 to $50,000 per mile to about $550,000 per mile for reconstruction. Further, New York’s towns could see at least a ten-fold increase in the cost of maintaining their roads from this mandate. We spelled it all out at a news conference late last week at the Big Flats Town Highway Garage, where local leaders and representatives of regional highway departments joined us. This week in Albany, local roads advocates from every region of the state will be at the State Capitol – wearing their trademark orange “Local Roads Are Essential” t-shirts – to rally support and we look forward to joining them. In recent testimony before the Legislature’s fiscal committees, Town of Elmira Highway Superintendent Matt Mustico, who also currently serves as the President of the state Association of Town Highway Superintendents, stated, “ Every time there is a weather event, major snow accumulation, freezing temperatures or severe flooding -- the hardworking people on our local crews ensure New York’s drivers get to and from work, homes, schools, hospitals and other destinations safely…As public officials ourselves, we understand the difficulty in trying to meet all of our constituent’s needs with limited resources. We must work together so that all state and local critical infrastructure needs are addressed. Our economy, workers and the traveling public are depending on us.” Our bottom line: The “Local Roads Are Essential” coalition has worked long and hard for over a decade to strengthen New York State’s commitment to local transportation infrastructure. Now is no time for this state to begin turning its back. Senator Tom O'Mara represents New York's 58th District which covers all of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties, and a portion of Allegany County.