Assemblyman Joseph M. Giglio (R,C,I- Gowanda) spoke at the Assembly Minority Conference press conference this morning outlining his plan for the 2019-20 budget. The plan, ‘Budget Blueprint for a Better NY,’ calls on the governor and legislative leaders to enact common sense, no-nonsense policies that would benefit all New Yorkers. Giglio specifically called for a hearing to defend the prisons that Gov. Cuomo proposed to close to save money and patch the massive hole in his budget.

The measures outlined in Budget Blueprint for a Better NY are:

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Make the 2 Percent Property Tax Cap Permanent

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Provide a Living Wage for Direct-Care Workers

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Keep the Middle-Class Tax Cuts on Track

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Increase Funding for CHIPS

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Increase Library Aid

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Provide Unfunded Mandate Relief

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Give Help to Small Businesses

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Improve the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) & Offer Student Loan Relief

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Call for a Hearing on Prison Closure Proposals

•Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Keep AIM Funding Levels & Processes Intact

“It’s simply a shame that the governor would try to close these prisons just to fix his budget problems with no thought to the damage it would do to both the prison system and the correction officers who work in them,” Giglio said. “With massive increases in gang activity, drug use behind bars and a 50% increase in inmate on inmate-and-inmate and inmate-on-correction officer assaults, now is not the time to be closing prisons and jam convicts closer together. I call on the governor to abandon this foolhardy measure to pinch pennies and, for once, think about the damage he’d do.”