Senator Tom O'Mara

Not that we needed another poll to tell us that New York State is getting increasingly more unaffordable, but recent statewide polling from the Siena Research Institute offers a telling look at the state of affordability in New York. It’s a concern, of course, that many of my legislative colleagues and I have steadfastly pinpointed throughout the past few years as New Yorkers have consistently let it be known that the prohibitive cost of living in this state is driving them away. The truth remains that citizens across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions I represent, and statewide, are worried about making ends meet. They see this state becoming less affordable, less free, less economically competitive, less responsible, and far less hopeful for the future. While many Albany Democrats may acknowledge that New York State has an affordability crisis causing the exodus of so many of our citizens to more affordable states – remember that we lead America in population loss – they nevertheless remain committed to out-of-control spending, high taxes, exorbitant costs for everything under the sun, and burdensome regulations and unfunded state mandates. New York State’s current direction is not sustainable. While excessive costs cannot be brought under control solely through actions out of Albany, state government can and should be taking every step possible to ease the burden. Keep in mind that fiscal watchdogs have already projected significant state budget deficits throughout the foreseeable future and, inevitability, footing the bill of budget deficits always falls on taxpayers. We need to rescue New York and that can begin by restoring the right priorities to turn things around, rebuild stronger and safer communities, and work toward a more responsible and sustainable future for middle-class communities, families, workers, businesses, industries, and taxpayers. From the latest Siena poll: Seventy-five percent of state residents report that the amount of money they spend on groceries is having either a very serious or somewhat serious impact on their finances. Seven in ten New Yorkers say that housing costs are having a very serious or somewhat serious impact on their financial condition. Upwards of sixty percent of state residents say that their utility costs are having at least a somewhat serious impact on their finances. And that other monthly expenses including the cost of cell phones and entertainment services including internet and cable are having a very or somewhat serious impact on their financial condition. It simply reaffirms the need for a legislative agenda pushed by our Senate Republican Conference throughout 2024, “New Hope for the Empire State,” to focus on policies being ignored in Albany that prioritize economic growth and job creation, tax relief and regulatory reform, and many other affordability initiatives. The “New Hope for New York” agenda is a comprehensive plan to ease the financial burden on middle-class families and small business owners, lower costs and improve affordability, and restore the quality of life in communities statewide. The plan calls for numerous actions including: enacting a state spending cap; rejecting and eliminating tax increases and unfunded state mandates on local governments and school districts; providing across-the-board tax relief; rejecting extreme, mandated climate proposals; increasing affordable housing options; making child care more accessible and affordable; improving the state’s business climate by protecting small businesses and farms by reducing regulations, and lowering taxes and unfair costs. We face an affordability crisis. We face a border crisis. Law and order remains in free fall. New York, on its current path, fails to produce hope for a long-term, sustainable future for communities and families, businesses and industries, or taxpayers and workers. 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.

Now that Governor Hochul and Albany’s band of Green New Dealers appear ready to finally begin rethinking their strategy to impose far-reaching energy mandates on all New Yorkers, it will be important for the rest of us to keep highlighting exactly what needs to go back to the drawing board. At the top of any list, in my view, is a concern we spotlighted earlier this year that could very well be the most costly unfunded state mandate ever imposed on New York’s local school districts and school property taxpayers – which is truly alarming in a state already recognized as one of the most heavily mandated in the nation. Specifically, in 2022, Albany Democrats enacted a new law mandating that, starting in 2027, all school buses purchased in this state will have to be electric. Last February at the State Capitol, our Senate and Assembly Republican conferences joined school district representatives to begin warning what the consequences of that action would be and, in a word, the fallout would be dire. It’s worth repeating and renewing our call to reject the current timeline for implementing this specific mandate on schools. First, it will be enormously expensive. Electric buses cost up to three times as much as conventional diesel buses. Additionally, schools will be required to undertake significant electrical infrastructure and distribution line upgrades, as well as address major workforce transitions. The cost of the conversion has been conservatively estimated at between $8 billion and $15.25 billion more than the cost of replacing them with new diesel buses. For already overburdened local property taxpayers, it’s emerging as yet another hard hit, to say the least. Furthermore, it would be unworkable right now. The existing electric grid can’t support it. Electric vehicles are showing an inability to operate or charge in frigid temperatures, and it does get cold in New York. Designed to operate best in 70-degree temperatures, electric vehicles lose up to 40 percent of their traveling range in extreme cold and the time required to charge them is much longer. A pilot program in Vermont found traveling range decreased by 80 percent in some instances. In short, it seems reasonable and fair to reassess and reexamine the current timeline and its potential impact on school districts, students and families, and local communities. I have already joined Assemblyman Phil Palmesano to introduce and sponsor legislation (S8220/A8447) that, among other provisions, would delay the mandate’s implementation until at least 2045 and require additional cost-benefit and safety analyses before it can take effect. Our Western New York colleague, Senator George Borrello, has also introduced similar legislation (S8467) to rescind the mandate and replace it with a state-funded pilot program that would allow schools to test how these buses perform in a range of transportation responsibilities. One of the school superintendents who joined us earlier this year in Albany to help sound the alarm, Dr. Thomas J. Douglas, Superintendent of Horseheads Central School District in my legislative district, summed it up very effectively, “The total cost will ultimately be borne by the local tax base since this is really an unfunded mandate. The sad fact is that there is no guarantee that this technology will work predictably in Northeastern winters. All the governor, NYSERDA, and PSC need do is look to the Midwest this past winter to see electric vehicles and chargers not being able to run in frigid temperatures. We cannot risk that with our children. Put simply, the state must pump the brakes on electric busing.” The current timeline for implementing New York State’s all-electric school bus mandate raises far too many troubling questions on affordability, as well as on reliability and safety for student transportation. Pump the brakes. Slow it down. Bring it in for a complete overhaul. Take your pick. Anything will be better than allowing this electric school bus mandate to keep moving forward as it stands right now. 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.

You’ve heard it and read it time and again over the past several years since the enactment of New York’s far-reaching climate agenda known as the “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act” (CLCPA): Governor Hochul and her energy czars are moving too far, too fast to impose sweeping clean energy mandates on every state citizen. Since the CLCPA’s approval in 2019, we’ve watched Albany Democrats move at world record speed to pile one unaffordable mandate on top of another unworkable mandate on top of the next unrealistic mandate desperately trying to inflict a zero-emissions economy on this entire state – and altogether these actions will come with a devastating price tag and consequences for ratepayers and taxpayers, businesses and industries, school districts, farmers, local economies, and more. Keep in mind some of the mandates already in the state’s mandate pipeline and on the way to hit all New Yorkers extremely hard in the very near future, including: No natural gas within newly constructed buildings, beginning in 2025; No new gas service to existing buildings, beginning in 2030; An all-electric school bus mandate starting in 2027; No replacement natural gas appliances for home heating, cooking, water heating, clothes drying beginning in 2035; and No gasoline-automobile sales by 2035. The important reality that has been consistently overlooked (or ignored) by supporters is that Albany Democrats have been desperately trying to achieve 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040 -- despite our state emissions accounting for just 0.4% of total global emissions and recognizing that, even if we could somehow get to zero through the imposition of these drastic, draconian measures imposing untold hardships on New York’s communities, residents, industries, and local economies, it will have virtually zero impact on the statewide, national, or global climate. One recent report, in fact, warned that the costs to New Yorkers could well prove to be over $1 trillion by 2050 – and that’s in a state already recognized as one of the nation’s least affordable places to live, one of America’s highest taxed and regulated states, and the state that is losing population faster than any other in the country. Let’s always keep in mind that New York State already consumes less total energy per capita than all but two other states. New York State’s per capita energy consumption for the transportation sector is the lowest in the nation. In 2020, New York State’s per capita energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were lower than those of any other state; but then the Albany Democrats closed the Indian Point nuclear energy plant and CO2 emissions have increased over 40% in the New York City area since the closure. In short, we’re already a national leader in this arena of public policy, as we should continue to be. Nevertheless, from the outset of the CLCPA’s implementation, I and many others have repeatedly warned that this climate agenda would only produce a perfect storm of unaffordability, unfeasibility, and unreliability. That has become clearer and clearer by the day. Now, the governor and her energy czars finally appear ready to start seeing the light too. A report released last week from the Hochul administration admits that New York will miss its goal of 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and is considering pushing the date to 2033. While even a new goalpost of 2033 remains far too ambitious, in my view, the apparent reassessment and reexamination at least opens a long-overdue and desperately needed public discussion on the realities of the current strategy. It’s a strategy that, as it stands, is not realistic or achievable. It is not responsible or rational. It lacks critical foresight, and it unreasonably risks energy grid reliability and affordability. The chair of the state’s Public Service Commission acknowledged last week to Politico, “It will be a challenge to achieve the 2030 goal as things currently lay.” According to Politico’s reporting, “The review released Monday (July 1) of the state’s progress, required under the climate law, paints a stark picture of the challenges facing policymakers in achieving the legislative mandate. It includes recommendations by the Department of Public Service and NYSERDA, which will be considered by the Public Service Commission. It will be available for public comment for 60 days before it is finalized and the Public Service Commission considers actions.” The forthcoming rethinking is critical to this state’s future and will demand careful scrutiny by all of us.

In case you missed it – which would be no surprise since its release was largely kept quiet by Governor Hochul -- a long-awaited report on New York State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has finally gone public. It arrives two years and more than four million taxpayer dollars later after the governor first announced its undertaking. Here’s the verdict from the Empire Center for Public Policy: “Hochul had commissioned a $4.3 million after-action review of the crisis, saying she wanted it to cover ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ and bolster the state’s preparedness for future outbreaks. Yet the 262-page report from the Olson Group, a Virginia-based consulting firm, turns out to be thinly researched, poorly argued, ill-informed, sloppily presented and marred by obvious errors. Although many of its findings ring true, it glosses over or ignores some of the state’s most questionable actions – such as ordering thousands of Covid-positive patients into nursing homes.” You can find a copy of the Hochul-commissioned report and read the Empire Center’s review of it, “Hochul’s Pandemic Study Is A $4.3 Million Flop,” here: https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/hochuls-pandemic-study-is-a-4-3-million-flop/ The report was recently delivered with very little fanfare – in fact, virtually none at all as far as I can tell – by the Hochul administration. No press conference. You won’t find it on the state Department of Health website. No pronouncements from the governor herself that the report can point the way to more effective state responses in the future. Most importantly, no measure of accountability. Perhaps the most telling aspects of the release are that it was slipped out on a Friday afternoon -- common timing for news you want buried -- and just three days AFTER former Governor Cuomo testified to Congress on the very subject matter of that report. In fact, the report admits that “a number of key officials were unwilling to participate (emphasis mine)” because they were worried “about possible litigation and other legal actions.” This, according to the report’s authors, “has undoubtedly resulted in some gaps in the record.” That’s quite an understatement. It leaves enormous gaps that, in the end, leaves the whole exercise just a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars. How can we take serious a so-called “after-action review” that failed to compel testimony from the key figures involved in the day-to-day decision making and implementation of the state’s COVID-19 response beginning in 2020 under Cuomo and, after his resignation in disgrace, under Governor Hochul? As I said, it shouldn’t come as any surprise. It leaves New York where it started: in need of an independent commission to examine what went on, and why, at the highest levels of state government throughout the pandemic. It leaves taxpayers footing the bill for another wasted effort. It leaves every New Yorker who lost a family member or any loved one to COVID without accountability or justice. It leaves us still not as prepared as we should be and can be for any future crisis of this kind. In the end, all this report accomplishes is to continue to make the larger point: Why? Let’s never forget that New York government, and all New Yorkers, remained under the iron fist of executive order for nearly three years beginning in March 2020. We know that these executive powers were abused. There were no legislative checks and balances in an all-Democrat-controlled, toe-the-line Legislature. Local decision-making was ignored. It was unilateral action after unilateral action by the governor, executive dictate after executive dictate, state mandate after state mandate. It was a disaster, and incredibly costly, as we keep finding out. The trouble is that we’re not finding out the way we should be. It just keeps raising red flags and suspicions. Senate and Assembly Republican conferences have repeatedly called for an independent, transparent, no-holds-barred, top-to-bottom examination of all the decisions that were made and all the actions that were taken during the COVID-19 response and recovery. Instead, two years ago this month, Governor Hochul announced the hiring of the Olson Group, yet another consultant (overseen, by the way, by her own state director of homeland security and emergency services) to conduct an “After Action Review” of the state’s pandemic response. Now we have it and, in the words of the Empire Center, the final product “falls far short of what Governor Hochul promised” and, further, the governor “should declare the Olson Group’s work unacceptable, demand a refund and launch a real after-action review – by joining with the Legislature to establish an independent pandemic response commission.” Having had a front row seat as the ranking member on the Senate Investigations Committee throughout the pandemic, for me this latest development unfortunately just keeps calling to mind the sordid and terrible chapter of the Cuomo administration’s handling of the COVID-19 response in New York’s nursing homes, which was replete with lies, misinformation, stonewalling, whitewashing, and bald-faced personal gain for the former governor with a $5.1-million book deal. All that we continue to know for certain is that there remains a glaring lack of urgency within the Hochul administration to willingly reexamine the Covid-19 response, all of it, from the beginning until now — its costs, its shortcomings, its outright failures, what worked and what did not, who was responsible and who wasn’t, what actions should remain in place going forward and what needs to be scrapped immediately. This was the most devastating public health crisis New York State ever faced. The longer the reassessment of the response is delayed, the more transparency gets clouded, the more credibility is eroded, and the more the effectiveness of New York’s future responses is jeopardized and weakened.

Former First Lady Laura Bush once said, “I have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card." Or recall the words of former President Harry Truman, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” 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, “Adventure Begins at Your Library,” stresses the lifelong value of reading and pays tribute to the key role libraries and library staff play in our communities. 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; and 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 states, “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.” Putting it another way, the great American author Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” The bottom line is that summer reading is a lifeline for children at a time when increased research is showing 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 am proud to share the Senate’s online summer reading program. To participate, students and parents will soon be able to visit my Senate website, www.omara.nysenate.gov, and click on the “Summer Reading Program” logo 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 at www.flls.org. There are plenty of ways to help children get summer off to a great start. A reading list is one of the most important and impactful ways of all.

Among other designations, the month of June is recognized as National Great Outdoors Month. That designation is certainly worth some attention here in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, especially at a time like now when we need to keep growing and strengthening every sector of economic opportunity for local communities. According to the latest report released earlier this month from the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), a leading coalition of outdoor recreation associations, “The outdoor recreation industry does more than bring joy to millions of Americans: it helps drive our economy.” According to statistics from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the industry provides nearly five million jobs nationally (3.2% of all U.S. employees), generates more than $1 trillion in economic output, and accounts for 2.2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). Here in New York State, the numbers are equally impressive, with the industry providing 275,000 jobs (2.7 percent of the state’s employees) and generating upwards of $31 billion in economic activity. ORR President Jessica Wahl Turner said recently, “Every June, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable is proud to coordinate Great Outdoors Month. This is an opportunity to celebrate outdoor recreation and America’s incredible natural treasures. Outdoor recreation contributes an impressive $1.1 trillion to the economy, while also providing health and wellbeing benefits to communities across the country. Great Outdoors Month is also an opportunity to ensure the outdoors are welcoming and accessible to everyone. This month, let’s come together to celebrate the joys and benefits of outdoor recreation and renew our commitment to making the outdoors accessible for all.” Outdoor recreation would turn out to be a ray of hope throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of unprecedented challenges and upheaval, outdoor recreation remained strong, still accounting for nearly $700 billion in gross domestic output in 2020. According to reports, in 2021 outdoor recreation hit a record high with 164 million participants nationwide. “Throughout this pandemic, outdoor recreation has been a cornerstone of American life,” the Outdoor Industry Association noted at that time. “As we look forward, it’s clear the outdoors will be an important part of America’s economic future.” It has been all of that and more. In other words, there is a lot of biking, boating hiking, hunting, camping, climbing, fishing, paddling, bird watching, and other outdoor recreation going on locally, statewide, and across the United States. We’re told that more than one-half of American citizens annually take part in an outdoor recreation activity and that they annually make more than 10 billion outdoor outings. As a former chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee and a lifelong sportsman, I have been grateful for opportunities to support the ongoing resurgence of outdoor recreation. The Legislature annually takes actions on behalf of the outdoors, not solely for the economic and conservation benefits but also because these activities offer a high-quality means of exercise, healthier lifestyles, and family fun and recreation. Surveys by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have shown striking facts about the nationwide economic impact — to the tune of $122 billion in revenue and millions of jobs — of the 87.5 million Americans who fish, hunt, or engage in other wildlife-related recreation. Hunting, fishing, and trapping are deeply rooted in New York’s (and our region’s) culture, experience, and tradition. The same goes for our unmatched network of New York State parks, trails, and historic sites. The advocacy group Parks & Trails New York (PTNY) routinely highlights the economic impact of New York’s more than 200 state parks, dozens of historic sites, more than a thousand miles of hiking trails, and over 8,000 campsites (to say nothing of numerous boat launches, beaches, swimming pools, and nature centers). PTNY has estimated that the state parks and trails system supports approximately 54,000 jobs and generates upwards of $5 billion in park and visitor spending – which means each dollar of state investment is supporting a return of an estimated nine dollars in consumer spending. As we continue working to turn around the Upstate New York economy through small business growth, a revitalization and strengthening of manufacturing, high tech research and development, an ongoing foundation of agriculture and tourism, and in many other ways, we will be smart to keep an eye on the outdoors. New York’s unique outdoor experiences and pastimes – and our region is unmatched in this arena -- are sure to entice increased spending on goods and services provided by local businesses. These expenditures support jobs, generate sales and income taxes, and spark tourism. In this period of ongoing uncertainty about the economic future of our state and nation, one thing is clear: More New Yorkers than ever before are eager to get outside for a breath of fresh air and a better view – and it keeps adding up to a stronger bottom line. It’s at least one bright spot on the horizon. 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 kick off the just concluded 2024 regular session of the State Legislature – one that we believed represented a pivotal session with New York at a crossroads in so many areas – the Senate Republican Conference put forth a comprehensive set of goals to help rebuild and strengthen local and state economies, focus on the financial challenges facing many middle-class families and small business owners, and make public safety a top priority. At that time back in early January, I said, “We face an affordability crisis. We face a border crisis. Law and order are in free fall. The Albany Democrat direction for New York simply fails to produce any hope for a long-term, sustainable future for communities, families, workers, businesses, industries, and taxpayers. New York is a state in decline that continues to become less safe, less free, less affordable, less economically competitive, less responsible, and far less strong for the future. We are at a dangerous crossroads and we must enact an across-the-board agenda to cut taxes, address affordability, and rebuild stronger and safer communities.” We called it “A New Hope for the Empire State” and we began rolling it out at the very start of this session — a session that New York’s Democrat legislative leaders brought to a close last week — with a focus on fiscal responsibility and affordability for all taxpayers, rebuilding and revitalizing New York’s local economies, and addressing rising crime and public safety. Albany Democrats decided to keep heading in a completely different direction. It continues to put this state’s future on high alert. Their direction for New York is producing billions upon billions of dollars of short- and long-term spending commitments that will keep New York a state of high taxes, endless fees, and forced borrowing for state and local taxpayers far into the future. The overriding goals of our New Hope agenda would have: Improved public safety for all New Yorkers by prioritizing actions to combat rising crime and lawlessness statewide; Made New York more affordable for every resident by cutting the state’s highest-in-the-nation tax burden and taking other actions to lower the cost of living in New York; Improved the state’s business climate and expanded economic opportunity by cutting burdensome regulations; Moved more responsibly and sensibly toward a cleaner energy future without ignoring affordability, feasibility, and reliability like the strategy currently set in motion under Governor Hochul is doing; and Restored accountability and local decision making to state government in the aftermath of rampant abuses of executive power throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. But that’s not where we have gone his session under continued one-party, all-Democrat rule. The size of the state budget continues to skyrocket. There was no turning back from this explosive tax-and-spend path. Far from it, in fact. The new state budget, as I have detailed in previous columns, took yet another huge leap in size and will burden state and local taxpayers for years to come. The same goes for law and order. Albany Democrats keep turning criminal justice on its head. Most reasonable New Yorkers recognize that rising crime and violence, and weakened public safety and security, are the direct result of the pro-criminal policies being enacted and pushed by this governor and a State Legislature under one-party control. They have emboldened the criminal element throughout this state through failed bail reform, lenient parole policies, an out-of-control Parole Board, cowing to the “defund the police” movement, and an overall careless approach to criminal justice. In short, our calls to make New York more affordable, responsible, safer, and sustainable – and more hopeful -- have, once again, gone unheard this session. Instead, Albany Democrats continue to make New York State a tax-and-spend addict, a safe haven for lawbreakers, unaffordable for taxpayers, less attractive to job creators, and facing a dire economic future. It’s no way to run a responsible government. They are creating a state in decline. 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.

State government’s spending habit has become so addictive that, eventually, every move that everyday citizens make in New York will come attached with another tax or a new fee or a higher cost. Already we find out, directly from Governor Hochul’s own Division of the Budget (DOB), that the cost of the recently enacted, 2024-25 state budget has already increased by at least $2 billion. When legislators voted on the budget in late April, we were told that the new state spending plan would total $237 billion. The DOB’s new report – which, by the way, was quietly released on a recent Friday afternoon – now essentially says, “Hang on, it’s actually $239 billion.” That’s a big difference. It means that state spending has increased by $10 billion over last year. It’s not just pocket change we’re talking about. It will have an enormous impact on the future for all of us. In fact, the DOB now projects that current state spending will far outpace revenue in the coming years, to the tune of $2.3 billion in the next fiscal year, $4.3 billion the following year, and $7.3 billion the year after that, or a roughly $14-billion deficit overall. Fiscal watchdogs, including the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), argue that the future is even more alarming and that New York’s structural deficit could exceed $16 billion in the 2028 fiscal year alone. From the CBC, “State leaders basically have two choices. They can either try to bring spending growth down to what it was in the teens, or they can continue to kick the can down the road.” From the DOB, “The State’s financial position is expected to remain strong over the multi-year plan. However, out-year budget gaps are projected as spending is expected to exceed available resources (emphasis mine) and will need to be addressed in future years.” Here’s the trouble with the DOB’s more rose-colored analysis: Since 2018, these Albany Democrats have shown no ability (or willingness) whatsoever to stop their out-of-control spending addiction. They have done nothing but kick the can down the road toward fiscal disaster. 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. A burgeoning 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, now $239-billion spending plan is just the latest chapter. They have simply and carelessly thrown caution (right along with taxpayer dollars) to the wind. Since 2018, they have increased state spending by nearly $70 billion – and far too much of it in a relentless pursuit of a misguided, questionable, unsustainable political agenda. It’s been an increase in excess of 41% in just five years alone of one-party control in Albany. So here we go. The ink is barely dry on the latest, largest-ever Democrat budget and the governor’s own DOB already warns that the state is spending more -- far more -- than it makes. The ink is barely dry and New York State is already in the red for many years ahead. New York State’s budget in 2018, the last year that Republicans held the majority in the state Senate, totaled $170 billion. Following this year’s nearly $240-billion budget, as noted above, state spending has increased approximately $70 billion. Governor Hochul and her Democrat allies in the Legislature have simply cemented what will always be the defining action of this era in state government: out-of-control spending that is nickle-and-diming New Yorkers to the breaking point. 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.

Throughout generations of Americans on Memorial Day, many words have been shared to honor the memory – and the service and sacrifice – of our fallen heroes. From President Ronald Reagan, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." From President John F. Kennedy, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them." From President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." And from President Abraham Lincoln, at Gettysburg, “We here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” From Arlington in our nation’s capital to Woodlawn, Bath, and Romulus here at home -- and at thousands of other veterans’ cemeteries and monuments across this land -- Americans will gather once again to observe Memorial Day. The nation’s long-standing Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery is highlighted by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, on which the following words are inscribed, “Here rests in honored glory an American solider known but to God.” Therein lies the essence of Memorial Day: To pause in our daily lives and remember the American soldiers who now rest “in honored glory” in devotion and service to all Americans -- to our families, our friends and neighbors, our communities, our state, and our nation. In that spirit, we continue to raise the American Flag. Here at home, we proudly recognize New York State as the “Birthplace of Memorial Day,” in Waterloo, Seneca County, which our nation has observed since the time of the Civil War, as well as stand proud at the newly designated New York State Veterans Cemetery (formerly known as the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery) in nearby Romulus. We turn enduring thoughts and prayers to our soldiers, the heroes, who gave their lives, including the young soldiers who have recently been lost. We honor wounded warriors, and we support the men and women serving in harm’s way at this very moment -- shining examples of bravery, eternal honor and respect, and courage and conviction. We salute all New York State veterans and the millions more strengthening communities across our nation. Because of our veterans, we can look into the eyes of the young people in our lives this Memorial Day, the faces of the future, and have faith that they, too, will be instilled with the spirit to keep America strong, to keep believing that the American way is a good, decent, worthwhile way. In the end, perhaps this is the great justice for all of the missions flown, the foxholes dug, the hills taken, and the battles fought on land and sea. America’s Armed Forces have made and will continue to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep America free, so that she can lead the way to a freer world. The sacrifices of our military will keep alive America’s promise, so that people throughout the world will look to her for inspiration. Our servicemen and servicewomen will keep America strong, so that other nations will draw courage from her strength. For as long as we remember and keep them alive in our hearts, we will stand as we do -- free in a land of opportunity and promise. The spirit of this salute will endure and persevere. God Bless America and God Bless our troops. 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.

We can’t afford to let this one fly under the radar and so it remains worthwhile to warn, once again, as many of us have been warning throughout the past several years, that the Albany Democrat climate agenda currently moving forward across this state is a perfect storm of unaffordability, unfeasibility, and unreliability. It cannot be stressed enough: Since the 2019 enactment of what’s known as the “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act” (CLCPA), we’ve watched Albany Democrats move at world record speed to pile one unaffordable mandate on top of another unworkable mandate on top of the next unrealistic mandate trying to inflict a zero-emissions economy on this entire state – and altogether these actions will come with a devastating price tag and consequences for ratepayers and taxpayers, businesses and industries, school districts, farmers, local economies, and more. Earlier this year, for example, I joined legislative colleagues and school district representatives, including Horseheads Central School District Superintendent, Dr. Thomas Douglas, to focus on just one fast-moving state energy mandate requiring, starting in 2027, that all school buses purchased in this state be electric. We stood together to warn that it is projected to be the most expensive unfunded state mandate to ever hit local school districts and property taxpayers. I have introduced legislation (S8220/A8447), sponsored in the state Assembly by area Assemblyman Phil Palmesano, to immediately delay this mandate and do what should have been done long before passing it, which is to undertake a thorough cost-benefit analysis; take other actions to ensure affordability, feasibility, and reliability; and be forthright with taxpayers and ratepayers on what this is going to cost them. Keep in mind that the all-electric school bus mandate is just one of numerous energy mandates already in the state’s pipeline and on the way to hit all New Yorkers extremely hard in the very near future, including: No natural gas within newly constructed buildings, beginning in 2025; No new gas service to existing buildings, beginning in 2030; No replacement natural gas appliances for home heating, cooking, water heating, clothes drying beginning in 2035; and No gasoline-automobile sales by 2035. The overriding point for those of us who have been warning about these looming mandates is not that we don’t believe New York State should be moving toward cleaner and more renewable energy, because that’s simply not the truth. We do believe it and we have supported actions that already make New York State a national leader. New York State consumes less total energy per capita than all but two other states. New York State’s per capita energy consumption for the transportation sector is the lowest in the nation. In 2020, New York State’s per capita energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were lower than those of any other state; but then the Albany Democrats closed the Indian Point nuclear energy plant and CO2 emissions have increased over 40% in the New York City area since the closure. The important reality that keeps getting overlooked (or ignored) by the other side is that Albany Democrats want 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040 -- despite our state emissions accounting for just 0.4% of total global emissions and recognizing that, even if we could somehow get to zero through the imposition of these drastic, draconian measures imposing untold hardships on New York’s communities, residents, industries, and local economies, it will have virtually zero impact on the statewide, national, or global climate. The latest Empire Center report warns that the costs to New Yorkers could well prove to be over $1 trillion by 2050 – and that’s in a state already recognized as one of the nation’s least affordable places to live, one of America’s highest taxed and regulated states, and the state that is losing population faster than any other in the country. Consequently, as we move into the final weeks of the current legislative session, we cannot let this fly under the radar of public attention and scrutiny. The all-Democrat energy strategy as it stands is not realistic or achievable. It is not responsible or rational. It lacks critical foresight, and it unreasonably risks energy grid reliability and affordability. At the very least, it demands reassessment and reexamination before it’s too late. 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 Yorkers are losing hope and the signs of it are all around us. We lead the nation in population loss thanks in no small part to the fact that we continue to be one of the nation’s highest taxed and most heavily regulated states – in other words, one of America’s most unaffordable places to live, work, and raise a family. The latest statewide polling of registered voters from the Siena College Research Institute showed Governor Hochul having her lowest-ever favorability rating. The poll also found that more than 80% of New Yorkers believe the ongoing arrival of thousands upon thousands of illegal migrants is a serious problem – and keep in mind that the poll was conducted before the Albany Democrats enacted their latest state budget and delivered another $2.4-billion handout to provide programs and services for illegal migrants. Needless to say, a majority of poll respondentscontinue to dislike the job that Governor Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and the Biden Administration are doing (or, more accurately, not doing) to address New York’s border crisis. The poll also revealed that most New Yorkers believe that crime across this state has gotten worse over the last year. Approximately 60% of voters remain concerned that they will be a victim of crime. Yes, New Yorkers are losing hope. But what’s being done to restore it? To kick off the 2024 legislative session – one that we believed represented a pivotal session with New York at a crossroads in so many areas – the Senate Republican Conference put forth a comprehensive set of goals to help rebuild and strengthen local and state economies, focus on the affordability challenges facing so many middle-class families and small business owners, and make public safety a top priority. At that time back in mid-January, I said, “We face an affordability crisis. We face a border crisis. Law and order are in free fall. The Albany Democrat direction for New York simply fails to produce any hope for a long-term, sustainable future for communities, families, workers, businesses, industries, and taxpayers. New York is a state in decline that continues to become less safe, less free, less affordable, less economically competitive, less responsible, and far less strong for the future. We are at a dangerous crossroads and we must enact an across-the-board agenda to cut taxes, address affordability, and rebuild stronger and safer communities.” We called it “A New Hope for the Empire State” and we began rolling it out at the very start of this session with a focus on fiscal responsibility and affordability for all taxpayers, rebuilding and revitalizing New York’s local economies, and addressing rising crime and public safety. Albany Democrats have gone in a completely different direction. It continues to put this state’s future on high alert. Their direction for New York is producing billions upon billions of dollars of short- and long-term spending commitments requiring billions upon billions of dollars in new taxes, fees, and borrowing for future generations of state and local taxpayers. The overriding goals of our New Hope agenda would have: Offered a safer and better quality of life for all New Yorkers by repealing bail reform and supporting law enforcement and crime victims; Made New York more affordable for every resident by cutting the state’s highest-in-the-nation tax burden and taking other actions to lower the cost of living in New York; Improved the state’s business climate and expanded economic opportunity by cutting burdensome regulations; Moved more responsibly and sensibly toward a cleaner energy future without ignoring affordability, feasibility, and reliability like the strategy currently set in motion under Governor Hochul is doing; and Restored accountability and local decision making to state government in the aftermath of rampant abuses of executive power throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. But that’s not where Democrats have gone so far this session and there’s very few signs of it turning around any time soon. The size of the state budget continues to skyrocket. There is no turning back from this explosive tax-and-spend path this year. Far from it, in fact. The new state budget, as I have detailed in previous columns, took yet another huge leap in size and will burden state and local taxpayers for years to come. The same goes for law and order. Albany Democrats are turning criminal justice on its head. Most reasonable New Yorkers recognize that rising crime and violence, and weakened public safety and security, are the direct result of the pro-criminal policies being enacted and pushed by this governor and a State Legislature under one-party control. They have emboldened the criminal element throughout this state through failed bail reform, lenient parole policies, an out-of-control Parole Board, cowing to the “defund the police” movement, and an overall careless approach to criminal justice. In short, our calls to make New York more affordable, responsible, safer, sustainable, and hopeful, have, once again, been going unheard. Nevertheless, the fight goes on to rebuild and reclaim hope for a more reasonable approach to governing this state. It's more urgent than ever. 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.

In a recent column, I wrote about Chemung County Sheriff’s Investigator Mike Theetge who, while in pursuit of a suspect in a retail theft operation at a Target store in Big Flats, Chemung County, was struck and severely injured by the getaway vehicle being used in the crime. Investigator Theetge is 35 years old. He suffered a skull fracture and brain bleeding. Gratefully -- thanks to his own fortitude and strength, and the incredible care and support he has received -- Investigator Theetge is steadily improving. But he and his family face a long road of recovery. Sadly, and tragically, the ongoing spread of lawlessness throughout this state once again hit far too close to home last week when two Syracuse law enforcement officers – Onondaga County Sheriff Lieutenant Michael Hoosock and Syracuse Police Officer Michael Jensen -- were gunned down and murdered in the line of duty on Sunday, April 14. In the aftermath of the Syracuse tragedy, Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter, in words that echo the sentiment of so many throughout this region and state, said, “I’m frustrated. I’m angry. I’m hurt. Just like everybody else in Syracuse. There is what I believe is a target on the back of law enforcement. People have come to a new level of brazenness towards law enforcement and if that doesn’t scare the hell out of our community then I don’t know what will." Sheriff Baxter is right about a “a target on the back of law enforcement” and a “new level of brazenness towards law enforcement.” Many believe it stems directly from the brazenness of Albany Democrat policies and a mindset that have failed and refuse to recognize – in fact, that deliberately work against -- the need for law and order. As I have stated many times over the past several years, the consequences are clear: a rapidly declining Empire State. Beginning under former Governor Andrew Cuomo and continuing under current Governor Hochul, working in tandem with a state Legislature under all-Democrat control, New York State’s criminal justice system has been turned upside down and inside out. Failed bail and discovery law reforms. A “Raise the Age” law (aka the Gang Recruitment Act) that removes criminal responsibility for violent 16- and 17-year-olds, thereby providing incentive for gangs to recruit and utilize younger members. A parole system that continues to outrageously release the most violent of inmates, including cop killers and child murderers. A correctional system that has become a powder keg of violence because it handcuffs administrators and correctional officers from being able to maintain control, and the inmates know it. The approval of new laws like the so-called “Clean Slate Act” facilitating a widespread sealing of millions of criminal records, 2.3 million records to be exact, including for any number of violent crimes including assault, armed robbery, attempted murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and others, regardless of the number of criminal convictions an individual has. The halls of state government are out of control and, consequently, the streets are out of control. Under the cover of a so-called “progressive” political ideology that has taken over the reins of power in Albany, this state has become less safe. Plain and simple. Statewide polling throughout the past few years confirms that New Yorkers view crime as one of the most critical issues confronting the state and that New York is moving in the wrong direction to address it. Albany Democrats keep trying to defend a mindset for which there is no defense. They keep trying to assure the rest of us that public protections remain in place. That, somehow, the reality of their “no consequences” approach to law and order is not real. Instead of changing their own ways, they keep trying to convince us that all we need to do to make things better is to stop believing what we keep seeing and hearing every week. 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.

On the evening of Friday, March 30, Chemung County Sheriff’s Investigator Mike Theetge, in pursuit of a suspect in a retail theft operation at a Target store in Big Flats, just two miles from my home, was struck and thrown by the getaway vehicle being used in the crime. Investigator Theetge, 35 years old, suffered a skull fracture and brain bleeding. As of this writing, he remains hospitalized in critical condition. First and foremost, please keep Mike and his family in your prayers. The outpouring of community support has been incredible. According to the Chemung County Sherriff’s Office, individuals or businesses wishing to make a direct donation to the Theetge family should contact the Sheriff’s office at 607-737-2950 (Road Patrol) or 607-737-2987 (Administration) for assistance in doing so. The prevalence of ever-rising retail theft across this state and nation reaches home here in the Southern Tier in a shocking and tragic way. This is not just a big city issue, it’s right here in our own backyard in rural, upstate New York. We are all being impacted by the consequences of no consequences resulting from the Albany Democrats’ soft on crime and punishment policies. It’s estimated that retail theft is costing New York State businesses upwards of $4 billion annually. Polls have shown that retail workers are fearful of being attacked at their workplaces. One recent survey conducted by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, for example, revealed more than 80 percent of retail workers say that they are worried about an active shooter coming into their workplace. Yet, raise the prospect of increasing criminal penalties to crack down on retail thieves -- for example, legislation to make it a felony offense to assault a retail worker – and the response from leading Albany Democrats demonstrates the mindset destroying law and order in New York State. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie recently said, "I just don't believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent." Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joined her Assembly counterpart in expressing the same sentiment, “Both houses find that merely raising penalties, does not necessarily get at, you know, diminishing the amount of crime." Another leading Senate Democrat, Brooklyn Senator Kevin Parker added, “I don’t see any increase in penalties coming out of the state Legislature.” It’s preposterous. If retail thieves, if criminals in general, don’t fear the consequences of their actions – and they don’t in New York State today – there’s no stopping this explosion of crime and violence. You might just as well wave a white flag of surrender. “It’s better off to commit a crime than get a job in New York,” says the President of New York’s Bodega and Small Business Association “How do you deter crime except by penalty?” asks Nelson Eusebio, who heads the National Supermarket Association and Coalition to Save our Supermarkets. He’s right. For her part, Governor Kathy Hochul has acknowledged the growing retail theft crisis and put forth a $45-million plan to establish a new state-level task force to coordinate statewide responses. The governor also wants to: set up a New York State Police Smash and Grab Enforcement Unit dedicated to building cases against organized retail theft rings; increase funding for local district attorneys to prosecute property crime cases and to bolster the ability of local law enforcement to combat retail theft; and establish a Commercial Security Tax Credit to help business owners offset the expense of store security measures. That’s all well and good, but can any of the above be truly effective without being accompanied by tougher penalties for criminals? Yes, the governor has expressed her own support for increased penalties as part of the broader deterrent and enforcement strategy, but she failed to put it in her proposed executive budget, which is where she has the most power with the Legislature’s Democratic supermajorities. Consequently, it’s clearly going nowhere in the Democrat-controlled Legislature and the governor appears in no position to be able to sway their opinion. Writing in the New York Post, longtime New York City newspaper columnist Michael Goodwin reacted to Assembly Speaker Heastie’s “penalties are not a deterrent” way of thinking this way: “Because (Heastie) has a life-or-death grip on every piece of legislation that moves or doesn’t move in Albany, his admission illustrates why lawmakers have allowed and even encouraged the waves of crime and public disorder that are destroying New York. The lenient bail laws, the handcuffs on judges, the raising of the age from 16 to 18 for young offenders to be treated as adults — they all play a role in the coddling of criminals and the victimization of the innocent. The murder of (New York City) Police Officer Jonathan Diller by a career criminal who along with his partner had racked up at least 35 combined arrests underscores the devastating impact Heastie and his Democratic collaborators are having.” Goodwin hits the bull’s eye here. New York State under one-party control has spent the past several years coddling criminals and victimizing law-abiding, innocent citizens. The plague of retail theft goes on ravaging New York and other cities and, as I started this column, the prevalence of lawlessness is seeping into every corner of the state, including the horrific encounter that left Chemung County Sheriff’s Investigator Mike Theetge fighting for his life. 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.

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 remembering remains necessary because Governor Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature’s Democrat leaders seem determined to forget. The ongoing, unexplainable lack of urgency on a comprehensive, top-to-bottom, independent examination of New York’s COVID-19 response -- including its costs, what New York did right and, more importantly, where things went wrong – remains unacceptable, but that’s where things stand. A desperately needed reassessment and reexamination has never been a frontline priority for Albany Democrat, even though it’s critical, unfinished work. Exhibit A is the fact that Governor Hochul has shown no interest whatsoever in getting to the bottom of New York’s tragic decision to pressure nursing homes into accepting COVID hospital patients. As I said, it will forever be one of the saddest chapters in this state’s history. We cannot allow it to be ignored and forgotten. New York State’s COVID response needs to be independently examined for the sake of justice for the families who lost loved ones in nursing homes and to ensure that what went wrong, on many levels, never happens again. Yes, two years ago, the Hochul administration announced a contract with a Virginia-based consulting firm to delve into the state’s COVID-related policies and actions beginning in March 2020. Set aside the troubling fact that the release of this review’s findings, despite costing taxpayers at least $4.3 billion, has been repeatedly delayed, even worse is that, from the beginning, these hired investigators have reported directly to the governor and her top aides. In other words, Governor Hochul essentially chose to follow the playbook of her predecessor, disgraced ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo, by conducting an in-house review of New York’s COVID response instead of convening an independent investigatory panel. Recall what took place in that first in-house review conducted by the Cuomo-led state Health Department. The report tried to conclude that the March 25th directive "could not be the driver" of COVID cases or COVID-related deaths in nursing homes. However, a later investigation found that the report had been "substantially revised by the Executive Chamber and largely intended to combat criticisms" about the directive. It was later uncovered that former Governor Cuomo and his inner circle misreported the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes with the state attorney general finding, in early 2021, that the Cuomo administration had “undercounted” COVID deaths in New York State by as much as 50%. Reports have revealed that the Cuomo response was replete with lies, misinformation, stonewalling, whitewashing, and ultimately, bald-faced personal gain for the former governor with a $5.1 million book deal. Now, Governor Hochul wants to call her hand-picked reviewer an “outside, independent” investigation but that’s far from the case. Many of us remain troubled that it’s the only reexamination underway and it’s one that will wind up being just another in-house, multi-million-dollar whitewashing of the truth -- another stonewalling effort to cover up and conceal bad decisions, especially on nursing homes. “The best way to ensure New York is better prepared in the future, is to openly and honestly assess the mistakes of the past. Thousands of families continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones in nursing homes due to the disastrous March 25th directive from former Governor Cuomo. They deserve the thorough, transparent investigation that was promised, not more inaction from their state government,” Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt said at our news conference last week. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay added, “Four years of unanswered questions, four years of families grieving, four years of zero transparency. Governor Kathy Hochul promised families an independent review of the state’s policies during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. New York families are still awaiting that review. Making matters worse, the Reimagining Long-Term Care Task Force, which was designed to study deep-rooted issues in New York’s long-term care systems and nursing homes, has never met.” From the earliest days of the pandemic, when I first began serving as the Ranking Member on the Senate Investigations Committee, Senate and Assembly Republicans have repeatedly requested legislative hearings equipped with subpoena power to seek answers and provide accountability for the families who lost loved ones due to the previous administration’s mishandling of the pandemic. Of course, since then, many abuses of power at the highest levels of New York government have come to light. Yet, for some reason, Albany Democrats have tried to keep any meaningful, independent reviews at bay. In fact, since the Democrats obtained complete one-party control six years ago, there has been no exercise of checks and balances between the branches of government, certainly no legislative oversight of the executive. Remarkably, what has continually defined the post-COVID Hochul administration is a glaring lack of urgency to reexamine the pandemic response, absolutely no urgency from the Democrat supermajorities in both houses of the State Legislature for a review of all of it, from the beginning until now -- its costs, shortcomings, outright failures, what worked and what didn’t, what actions should remain in place going forward and what needs to be scrapped immediately. The longer the state’s one-party control avoids an honest and independent reassessment of the most devastating public health crisis this state ever faced, the more transparency gets clouded, the more credibility is eroded, and the more the effectiveness of New York’s future responses is jeopardized and weakened.

It was back to the races for Senate Democrats at the Capitol last week – the race, that is, to see who can be first to inflict yet another energy mandate on New Yorkers. In fact, since the 2019 enactment of what’s known as the “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,” we’ve watched the one-party control of the Albany Democrats move at world record speed trying to pile one unaffordable mandate on top of another unworkable mandate on top of the next unrealistic mandate in their race to try to inflict the devastating consequences of a zero-emissions economy on this entire state. As this state’s energy strategy currently stands, it's a race to unaffordability and to run manufacturing out of the state. Yet they were at it again last week with the approval of a piece of legislation known as the “New York Heat Act.” For her part, Governor Hochul included a version of the same legislation in her proposed state budget and calls it the “Affordable Gas Transition Act.” There will be nothing affordable about it. That’s the point our Senate and Assembly Republican conferences have been making since the start of this disaster in the making five years ago. Natural gas bans. All-electric school bus fleets. No sales of gasoline-powered vehicles. Round and round the Albany Democrats go and you know the rest, nobody knows where they’re going to stop. What we do know, what’s becoming as clear as the clearest sky, is that we’re all going to pay a heavy, heavy price once the bills truly start coming due -- and it’s going to be a cold, hard truth. During a news conference Senate Republicans held after the Senate Democrats approved the Heat Act last week (you can view the full news conference on omara.nysenate.gov), I once again stressed the important reality that keeps getting overlooked (or ignored) by the other side: Albany Democrats want 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040 -- despite our state emissions accounting for just 0.4% of total global emissions and recognizing that, even if we could somehow get to zero through the imposition of these drastic, draconian measures imposing untold hardships on New York’s communities, residents, industries, and local economies, it will have virtually zero impact on the statewide, national, or global climate. Furthermore, it will require gigantic taxpayer-funded, government subsidies, impose heavier and heavier burdens on ratepayers, and fuel a whole new set of environmental consequences and crises, many of them currently unforeseen. And again, our state-level actions on their own -- our solo, utopian leap into the energy unknown -- will make a pittance of a difference to addressing the global climate challenge. Many of us have called it a perfect storm of higher costs and drastic consequences and that’s exactly what’s playing out. The bottom line is that we can’t continue to overlook the better because we want the perfect. The perfect does not exist. The Heat Act, for example, calls for capping utility costs for 25 percent of the lowest-income New Yorkers, according to the plan’s supporters. What they don’t highlight is that the funding needed to continue to operate the state’s energy grid will come out of the pockets of the 75 percent of the ratepayers who won’t receive any assistance under the legislation. In other words, a small group of citizens will benefit while hard-working, middle-class families largely bear the burden. Further, the Heat Act would eliminate the “100-foot rule” for gas service and put at risk thousands of local jobs for utility workers. New York State consumes less total energy per capita than all but two other states. New York State’s per capita energy consumption for the transportation sector is the lowest in the nation. In 2020, New York State’s per capita energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were lower than those of any other state but then, the Albany Democrats closed the Indian Point nuclear energy plant and CO2 emissions have increased over 40% in the New York City area since the closure. New York State has been a champion in this arena and we should continue to be a leader on reducing emissions, yet it has become fundamentally important to keep sounding the alarm that the all-Democrat energy strategy as it stands is not realistic or achievable, it’s not responsible or rational, it lacks critical foresight, and it unreasonably risks energy grid reliability and affordability. 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.