Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) joined his Minority colleagues today in Albany to announce a groundbreaking plan that would pave the way for significant local tax reductions for upstate residents. The plan would entail New York State taking over the county share of Medicaid expenses over a 10-year period.

“These cradle-to-grave welfare programs are bleeding our state dry,” Hawley said. “Many state leaders do not realize that a large portion of these state-imposed costs are mandated expenses on counties which are then passed down to residents in the form of higher property and local taxes. The bottom line is that Albany should pay for what Albany spends instead of passing the buck down to local governments.”

New York’s Medicaid budget is about $70 billion, more than one-third of the entire state budget. In federal fiscal year 2016, New York spent more on Medicaid than Texas and Florida combined, despite the fact that the combined populations of these states was approximately 46.1 million to New York's 19.7 million.