The Board of Regents approved changes to Common Core last week, including delaying full implementation of the graduation requirements by five years—from 2017 to 2022. This means that instead of ninth graders being the first class to graduate with a...

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I--Pulaski) released the following statement today following the news that the State Board of Regents has recommended full implementation of Common Core standards be delayed by five years, among other recommendations: "I'm...

The Governor’s 2014-15 proposed budget contains, among other things, details relating to his funding and programmatic requests in regards to environmental conservation. As with much of his proposed budget, there are some good ideas and some not so...

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I—Pulaski) today criticized the Governor’s proposal of publicly-financed campaigns in his executive budget. “This is not the direction our state should be headed. Passing this measure in the budget will unnecessarily...

The Governor's proposed budget contained details on education spending. As I stated last week, this was a status quo budget that does not change the state aid distribution formula which puts lower-wealth school districts at a disadvantage. The Governor...

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I--Pulaski) announced today that New York is now third in the nation in milk production, surpassing Idaho. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, New York milk production has grown for four years, after experiencing...

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) today informed members of volunteer fire departments and students about a tuition reimbursement program available through the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY). FASNY has developed the Higher...

As he is constitutionally required to do, the Governor proposed his 2014-15 budget last week. It was a status quo budget proposal that did not contain any revolutionary ideas or reforms, but it does keep spending in check and does contain some positive...

I am pleased to hear about the tax cuts for Upstate manufacturers. Cutting corporate taxes will give businesses more reason to stay as well as attract others. I’m also glad to hear talks about addressing property taxes, as New York’s middle-class...

This past week, Governor Cuomo presented his 2014 State of the State address. For the first 30 minutes of the approximately one-and-a-half hour speech, the Governor reviewed what he saw as successes during his first three years in office. During this...

I was pleased to hear the words “zero-out corporate taxes for manufacturers in Upstate New York.” This is something my colleagues and I have advocated for years. This would provide real incentive for manufacturers to re-invest in our region and bolster...

The Governor recently signed a number of bills into law. I wanted to take some time this week to make you aware of a few new ones that will or have recently become effective. One new law that I sponsored will enable military to receive sales tax exemptions...

“Today is an exciting day for the City of Fulton. It is welcome news for our region, this city, and for Oswego County. I want to thank the Sattar family for selecting Fulton as their first U.S. location to expand their company. I was pleased to be...

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) announced today that a new law will end a duplicative sales tax for members of the military. Barclay co-sponsored the measure in a bipartisan effort with Assemblyman Colton this spring. Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse)...

The Tax Relief Commission issued its final report this month. The commission was established by the Governor and was charged with providing recommendations to cut $2 billion in state taxes over three years. Included in its final report were property tax...

This past election, voters were asked to authorize that our State Constitution be amended to allow for the construction of up to seven casinos in New York State. Voters approved the measure by a 57% to 43% margin. It was one of the most controversial...

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I—Pulaski) said today he is in support of a proposed code change to allow family farms temporary use permits. If enacted, agricultural producers would be able to open their facilities to visitors on weekends and farms would...

On any given week, tens of thousands of unsolicited checks end up in New York residents’ mailboxes—making these checks easy targets for criminals looking to capitalize on someone else’s line of credit. Last month, the Governor signed a bill into...

October is national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. While I realize we are now in November, because I missed writing about this topic last month, and because I strongly believe we need to continue to raise awareness about domestic violence,...

“The recent news that background checks on all ammunition purchases will not begin on Jan. 15, as stipulated by the SAFE Act, is further proof that the SAFE Act was rushed through the legislative process. Enforcement has been one concern all along,...