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New York's taxpayers, families, and job creators keep telling us that this state is on the wrong track. They keep telling us that they can no longer afford to live, work, raise a family, or start a small business here. They keep leaving in droves. Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Monday for S

We strongly believe that the creation of a state-level Rural Suicide Prevention Council would be a lifeline for addressing the epidemic of rural suicide. Albany, N.Y., June 10--State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats), Senator Pam Helming (R,C-Canandaigua), Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning), and Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski (R,C-Canisteo) today called on Governor Kathy Hochul to enact legislation they have sponsored and strongly supported to establish a statewide Rural

Penn Yan, N.Y., June 9—State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats) and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning) visited Penn Yan Academy on Monday to pay tribute to the Boys Varsity Lacrosse Team for winning the 2025 New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class D championship. The team captured the state championship last June at Hobart and William Smith's Boswell Field, defeating the Chenango Forks Blue Devils 11-8. The victory in the state champions

Listen to Senator O'Mara's June 8th 'Newsmaker' interview on WHCU Radio with a review of the recently concluded 2026 legislative session, including record-setting state spending and the skyrocketing cost of New York State's system of Medicaid. Listen HERE.

Don't taxpayers deserve a "zero tolerance" policy on abuse, fraud, and waste? Alarmingly, there's been a glaring lack of interest at the state level in taking steps to make this system more responsible to taxpayers. Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column...

It acts like the need to cut taxes, eliminate unfunded mandates, restrain overregulation, reduce debt and control borrowing, make this state more economically competitive, and other commonsense fiscal and economic practices will never again be priorities. Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Mond

New York State taxpayers today and long into the future already face trying to afford, live, and work under a bloated, wasteful, and unaffordable state government. New York is already one of the highest taxed, heavily mandated, overregulated, and least affordable states in America. This budget makes it worse. Albany, N.Y., May 28—State Senator Tom O’Mara (R-C, Big Flats), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, today called the final 2026-2027 New York State budget be

Albany, N.Y., May 26—At a ceremony in the Legislative Office Building at the state capital on Tuesday, State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats) and his Senate colleagues inducted Denis E. Oliver, a well-known and longtime Service Officer for the Steuben County Veterans’ Service Agency, into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame. Oliver, a United States Air Force veteran, represented O’Mara’s 58th Senate District and joined approximately 60 other veterans from thro

My very best wishes to all of you for a safe, enjoyable and, above all, meaningful Memorial Day weekend. From WETM-TV, "Memorial Day Events in the Twin Tiers 2026" From the Finger Lakes Times, "Service to honor Purple Heart recipients, Sampson veterans" From The Evening Tribune, "Memorial Day is May 25. Services, parades in Hornell area communities" From The Wellsville Sun, "Memorial Day Weekend in Wellsville planned by Morrison Hayes Post 702" From The Observer/Review&Expres

Albany, N.Y., May 20--The State Senate and Assembly, with a message of necessity from Governor Kathy Hochul, today approved the first of what is expected to be a total of nine pieces of legislation comprising the 2026-2027 New York State budget. The budget legislation approved today covers the Education, Labor, Housing, and Family Assistance portion of the new budget. Another budget measure is expected to be acted on tomorrow and, according to the Senate Democrat Majority, th

Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column... This week, "Half-steps on climate law changes won't fix it" Drip. Drip. Drip. Details on the still unfinished state budget have been few and far between over the past six weeks now that the budget has been late, but

Albany, N.Y., May 12--The State Senate and Assembly, with a message of necessity from Governor Kathy Hochul, today approved an eleventh "budget extender" measure to keep state government running while negotiations over a final 2026-2027 budget remain deadlocked at the Capitol. With the final budget now six weeks late, budget extenders have authorized more than $23 billion in state spending, an amount that State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats) noted “is in excess of the ent

Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column... This week, "Taxpayers have had it with tax-and-spend government" It’s fitting that a new statewide poll came out early last week that found nearly 70% of New Yorkers believing affordability in this state is moving i

Albany, N.Y., May 6—At a ceremony in the Legislative Office Building in Albany on Tuesday night, State Senator Tom O’Mara (R-C, Big Flats) and his Senate colleagues honored Heather Perkins, Chief Operations Officer at The Arc Allegany-Steuben, as a New York State Senate 2026 “Woman of Distinction.” A resident of Andover (Allegany County), Perkins began her career with Allegany Arc in 2003 as a Medicaid Service Coordinator and advanced through various positions, including Be

Albany, N.Y., May 5--State Senator Tom O'Mara (R-C, Big Flats), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, and other members of the Senate Minority Conference met with the members of the Albany press corps following Monday's legislative session. "I don't think we have any moderation going on in these budget discussions," O'Mara told reporters, remaining critical of a budget adoption process keeping New Yorkers in the dark over the details of what's being negotiated by Go

Albany, N.Y., May 4--The State Senate and Assembly, with a message of necessity from Governor Kathy Hochul, today approved a ninth "budget extender" measure to keep state government running while negotiations over a final 2026-2027 budget remain stalled at the Capitol. Today’s extender legislation authorizes funding to keep state operations running through Wednesday, May 6. The state budget is now over a month late. A new fiscal plan was supposed to be in place by the start o

Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column... This week, "The PROTECT Act equals stronger law and order" New York State continues to hold a tight grip on far too many titles that no other state would want to go anywhere near, especially worst-in-the-nation tax

Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature. Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column... This week, "Are budget talks focused on affordability?"

Albany, N.Y., April 27-State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) is urging New Yorkers to make their voices heard during a public comment period ending on Friday, May 1 on a petition before the state Public Service Commission (PSC) “to evaluate whether to temporarily suspend or modify the obligations under the Renewable Energy Program established as part of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,” commonly known as the CLCPA. Over the past several years, O’Mara