One week to go.
One week to go until we all have the chance to vote, and by casting our ballots, to truly turn this state around and get New York back on the right track.
One week to go and I hope we will take this opportunity that’s before us. It represents the most pivotal election in my lifetime, with New York facing so many critical crossroads.
If there has ever been a “change” election in New York State, this one is it.
Election Day, November 8 (and remember that early voting is underway until November 6), could mark a critical turning point – or keep our state headed into a train wreck.
In my view, it represents the most impactful statewide election in a generation in New York State.
It’s going to hinge on voter turnout, we know that. It means that your vote has the chance to make a difference more than ever. A “my vote doesn’t matter” attitude will be the demise of our state. It’s exactly what the progressive far-left wants you to feel.
Will we choose a new direction by electing a new governor in Lee Zeldin, a new state attorney general in Michael Henry, and congressional candidates who can help pry Washington and the federal government from the grip of one-party control?
Or will we continue with the status quo that is failing all New Yorkers, that has made this state less affordable, less free and less safe, and only promises to make it worse if voters allow it to go on.
One-party, all-Democrat control of New York State government has been a disaster in so many fundamental ways – just as one-party, all-Democrat control of our United States government has been.
We all are paying the price everyday with skyrocketing food prices, cost of gas at the pump and home heating fuel, not to mention higher and higher taxes being taken out of your paycheck.
Under Governor Kathy Hochul, and the Senate and Assembly Democrat supermajorities controlling the state Legislature, Albany’s spending is wildly out of control. They have, quite simply, gone on a shameless spending binge with taxpayer dollars. This year’s $225-bilion state budget – nothing short of an irresponsible monstrosity – has launched New York into the stratosphere of state budgets in America well into the future. If reelected, it’s poised to go even higher under our big-spending Governor Kathy Hochul and a Democrat Legislature driven to remake New York as America’s most “progressive” state (trust me, we’re unfortunately already there) and with a glaring lack of commitment to fundamental priorities. Our state budget already rivals the size of the Florida and Texas state budgets combined – even though each of those states has a greater population and are growing while New York State has a continuing exodus due to the lack of affordability and freedom.
It’s an unsustainable and dangerous direction that will keep shocking New York taxpayers well into the future – particularly in a state already ranked the least affordable in the nation, with one of America’s heaviest tax and regulatory burdens, and with a national and global economic outlook that’s uncertain, at best.
If Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Tish James, and all of Albany’s other powers that be are reelected, the hits will keep coming in other places too.
Remember that a Farm Wage Board established by former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature’s Democrat majorities in 2019 recommended lowering the current farm worker overtime threshold from 60 hours to 40 hours. The Hochul administration has already given the green light. It’s a move that risks undermining the strength and vitality of many upstate communities, cultures, and economies for generations to come. Agriculture advocates like the New York Farm Bureau, Grow NY Farms and the Northeast Dairy Producers Association, together with many individual farmers, farm workers, farm leaders, and legislators, including me, strongly oppose it.
In fact, Cornell University has done two separate surveys of our agricultural industry that have concluded that farm workers will get fewer hours and farms will become more automated with machinery and robotics.
The same goes for Governor Hochul and these extreme downstate legislative majorities moving at warp speed to remake the future of energy for businesses, communities, and residents through a “Climate Leadership and Climate Protection Act” (CLCPA) that lacks any cost-benefit analyses of its impact on feasibility, affordability, and reliability. Despite ongoing warnings that the public has no idea what’s coming, New Yorkers will be stunned at what’s in store for all of us in the very near future.
I’ll simply reiterate here what I’ve been saying throughout the past few years: New York State is already an absolute leader in this arena, as we should be, accounting for just 0.4% of global carbon emissions. The Climate Act only applies to New York -- not to neighboring states, or to China, India, or Russia, which account for 40% of global emissions. In other words, even if New York State does reach zero emissions, it will have zero impact on the global climate or the effects of it upon us here in New York. It will come at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars and untold economic consequences, and it will surely further crush the affordability of living for families, drive up the expense of doing business, and limit economic opportunities even more.
Of course, let’s never forget that most reasonable New Yorkers recognize that rising crime and violence, and weakened public safety and security, are the result of the pro-criminal policies being enacted and pushed by this state government under one-party Democrat control. Public opinion polls keep showing that the vast majority of New Yorkers that the triple threat of crime, lawlessness and violence is a top concern.
Nevertheless, Governor Hochul, Attorney General James, and Albany’s legislative Democrats remain unrelenting in their ongoing embrace of failed bail reform, lenient parole policies, an out-of-control Parole Board that has already released dozens of cop killers, cowing to the “defund the police” movement, and an overall careless approach to criminal justice that simply continues to embolden the criminal element statewide.
It has been alarming to district attorneys, law enforcement officers, and criminal justice experts alike.
If Governor Hochul, Attorney General James, and all of Albany’s other powers that be are reelected, it will not let up.
To mark the beginning of the 2022 legislative session, our Senate Republican Conference put forth a comprehensive set of goals to help grow local and state economies, focus on the financial challenges facing many middle-class families and small business owners, and make public safety an urgent priority.
We called it “Take Back New York.”
From combating crime to job creation to tax relief, one-party control of New York State government has been a disaster for Upstate New York communities, economies, and taxpayers. This relentless pursuit of a far-left, extreme-liberal, one-party, downstate-Democrat agenda is the priority over a long-term, sustainable future for Upstate, middle-class communities, families, workers, businesses, industries, and taxpayers.
The overriding goals of Take Back New York would:
● Offer a safer, saner, and better quality of life for all New Yorkers by repealing bail reform and supporting law enforcement and crime victims;
● Make New York more affordable for every resident by cutting the state’s highest-in-the-nation tax burden and enacting a series of measures that lower the cost of living;
● Develop a strong workforce for a strong economy through substantive training and development programs, a major commitment to family farms, and fostering quality and affordable childcare for working parents;
● Improve the state’s business climate and expand economic opportunity by cutting burdensome regulations, providing relief from unfunded state mandates, and investing in physical infrastructure and broadband statewide;
● Restore accountability to the state government in the aftermath of disgraced ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo’s rampant abuses of executive power, and Governor Hochul’s continuation (and even worsening) of this disgusting status quo.
One week to go to vote and help take back Upstate’s rightful place in this government.
One week to go to end one-party control, restore checks and balances in Albany, and take back local decision-making.
One week to go to Save Our State, to take back a more responsible and reasonable approach to governing.
Please vote to make a change.
###