“This year’s session has been extremely dysfunctional and marred by gridlock and controversy. We saw the downfall of two of Albany’s most powerful elected officials; yet, there has been little to no meaningful ethics reform passed despite consistent pressure from the Assembly Minority Conference. Gridlock epitomized the waning days of session and the divide between upstate and downstate became much more apparent.

“As upstate businesses continue to struggle and middle-class New York is eroding, legislative leaders selfishly negotiated rent control as their end-of-session priority, an issue virtually meaningless to upstate New York.

“The extended negotiations between the ‘three men in a room’ cost taxpayers almost $40,000 per day for the per diem and travel expenses for the 213 legislators that were required to remain in Albany. We have been in session for a total of 14 hours this week, so that amounts to an extra $160,000, or $11,429 per hour in session, paid for by taxpayers. These extended negotiations are an affront to hardworking citizens of our state. ”