Press Releases

Blankenbush Helps Deliver Critical Broadband Investment to Lewis County

Encouraged by the progress on one of his longstanding legislative priorities, Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) today applauded a new, targeted state investment he helped bring back to Lewis County- expanded broadband access. Three new...

Blankenbush Rips Farm Labor Bill

“New York City Majority politicians delivered a gift to the politically-connected labor unions that fund their campaigns. New Yorkers will pay dearly for it. The farm labor bill will pile hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs on family farms...

Will of Our Citizens Takes a Backseat to Illegals

“I opposed this bill, and I’m urging my colleagues in the Senate to do the right thing and prevent it from reaching the governor’s desk. We’re a nation of immigrants. We’re also a nation of laws. We shouldn’t be rewarding...

Blankenbush Stands Up For Crime Victims and Their Families at Capitol

Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) and his Assembly Minority colleagues today unveiled Ramona’s Law, legislation which would extend the maximum allowable time between parole hearings for inmates who commit heinous violent crimes. Currently,...

Blankenbush Rips Majority Politicians’ Political Charade

“The Assembly Majority members need to stop playing politics. They’re wasting the precious time we have left together this session harassing our President by pushing ridiculous bills that take aim at constitutionally protected executive powers...

Assembly Majority Continues Bending Over Backwards for Inmates at the Expense of Crime Victims

“Assembly Majority members sponsor a bill which would automatically fast-track parole hearings for inmates who have served fifteen years of their sentence and are over 55 years of age. That means that a 40-year-old who raped and murdered a child...

Blankenbush, Colleagues Unveil Petition Urging Assembly Majority to Bring Gold Star Family Scholarship Bill to Floor

In response to the Assembly Majority blocking a bipartisan bill to provide cost-free college tuition to the children of active duty service members who die in action, Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) and his colleagues have launched a petition...

Majority Politicians Rebuke Bipartisanship, Block Help for Gold Star Families

Calling it an “entitlement” and pointing to a supposedly prohibitive price tag of “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” New York State Assembly Committee on Higher Education Chairwoman Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan) and her Majority colleagues...

Legislature Must Regain Mojo

“Obviously, there was a lot for our Conference to hate in this year’s budget. As the party of the hardworking middle class in New York, Minority politicians were never going to support a budget that raised taxes by billions of dollars, prevents...

Assembly Majority Pass Reckless Budget Proposal

“The fact that the Assembly Majority members would vote to raise taxes by billions of dollars while gutting millions in local assistance funding for farmers shows how out of touch they are. We’re going to fight this as hard as we can,”...

“Local Roads Matter!”

Blankenbush, Local Town and County Highway Officials Rally In Albany for Increased Funding for Local Infrastructure
Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers, hundreds of local highway officials and representatives from key local government groups to rally for an increased investment in our state’s deteriorating roads,...

Blankenbush Votes against the Majority’s Dangerous Gun Law

“When the Majority members pass gun control laws that trample all over our Second Amendment Rights, they do so under the guise of “safety.” Yesterday’s legislation referenced “safe storage.” It sounds good, right?  The...

Blankenbush Announces Mobile Office Hours

In the coming weeks, the office of Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) will be holding mobile office hours in Camden, Lowville, Gouverneur and Westmoreland. He’s eager to hear from the people of the 117th District, and he wants to learn...

Blankenbush’s Advocacy to Restore AIM Gaining Ground

“I’m proud of municipal officials and my colleagues in the Legislature for convincing the governor that millions in needless cuts to local governments would cause serious harm to New Yorkers across the state. As towns and villages across Upstate...

Cuomo Continues to Fail as Developer in Chief

“It never made sense to offer the richest man in the world billions of dollars in corporate welfare to locate his company in the most prosperous city in America. If the governor offers the same incentives and tax relief to hardworking men and women...

Misguided Bills from Majority Politicians Erode Second Amendment Protections

“These extreme bills today will make it more difficult for school districts to hire security officials and resource officers, erode due process protections and infringe on constitutional rights. Today, the speaker of the Assembly said he doesn’t...

Blankenbush Slams Dream Act

            “Handing out free tuition aid to illegals when the average recent college grad is walking around this state with nearly $40,000 of debt is an insult. Hardworking citizens sacrificed, saved and bet on themselves...

Governor’s Left-Wing Agenda Doesn’t Fit My District

“In my district, we need real change. What we’re hearing from the governor is more of the same- new spending, new handouts and new progressive programs that might work for New York City but don’t work for middle-class people here. “In...

Blankenbush Wants Legislature to Focus on Upstate Economy

“While things might be going well in New York City, too many families Upstate are living paycheck to paycheck. Too many dairy farms have closed, too many small businesses have shut their doors and too many people have moved to states with better...

Blankenbush Tapped For New Leadership, Committee Posts

Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb recently named Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C,I-Black River) as the chairman of the Minority conference’s Steering Committee. Kolb also appointed the veteran lawmaker to two new committee posts. Blankenbush...