News from Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb
Albany Office:
LOB 725 • Albany, NY 12248 • 518-455-3979
District Office:
70 Elizabeth Blackwell St. • Geneva, NY 14456 • 315-781-2030
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Statement From Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,C-Canandaigua) On The 2019 State Of The State & Budget Address

“Rather than provide a detailed state spending plan for 2019, Gov. Cuomo rolled out another campaign platform. It is nearly impossible to determine where his political agenda stops and where New York State’s fiscal policy starts.

There was almost no focus on everyday New Yorkers – the single-income family struggling to put food on the table, the small business owner trying to meet their bottom line, the retired couple wondering if they can afford to stay in their home, or the recent college graduate looking for a second job so they can make their next student loan payment.

We heard no real solutions to persistent problems and even less accountability from the governor. He seems to believe ongoing issues like sky-high property taxes, crumbling infrastructure, worst-in-the-nation outmigration, a failing subway system and overburdened small businesses should not have been addressed over the last eight years.

As we begin developing and finalizing the state’s fiscal plan for the coming year, I hope measures that were not mentioned today are included to:

  • protect our most vulnerable New Yorkers by ensuring direct-care workers receive a living wage;
  • lower property taxes for all New Yorkers;
  • overhaul the state’s failing economic development programs and promote job creation;
  • reduce state costs on localities – unfunded mandates that drive up taxes and drive residents to other states; and
  • achieve parity in the infrastructure funding provided to upstate and downstate.

The overwhelming majority of issues facing New York were present long before the Trump administration arrived at the White House. Pointing fingers at Washington D.C. was a successful narrative during campaign season and provides a convenient narrative at a rally, but it doesn’t acknowledge or fix the root problems New York has faced for years.

Until Gov. Cuomo realizes he can’t control what’s happening in the nation’s capital, our state’s longstanding issues will persist. We can, and must, do better for the people of this state.”