Another legislative session has come to an end in Albany – and despite the inevitable press releases from Albany Democrats touting their so-called “accomplishments,” the reality is that this session can be summed up in two words: missed opportunities.
The big buzzword was “affordability.” We have to make people’s lives more affordable. Everything from energy, taxes, insurance – all kinds of issues the Democrats claim to have tackled. But I will be damned if I can find anywhere this year that we made anyone’s life in New York State more affordable.
The affordability crisis is THE number one issue being faced by New York’s hardworking families and businesses. This crisis is driven largely by sky-high utility bills as a result of radical energy mandates imposed by Albany Democrats.
In January, results seemed promising, with everyone from the Governor on down talking about affordability. Unfortunately, in the same breath they were preaching affordability, they negotiated a budget that was nearly two months late, and came in at a mindblowing $277 billion dollars. While outrageously increasing spending by more than $23 billion over last year, the everyday New Yorker got nothing to show for it and no more money in their pockets.
The Senate Republican Conference knows that increased spending does not equal affordability – and this year’s fiscal trainwreck of a budget proves just that.
This year’s budget negotiations provided the perfect opportunity to tackle the energy affordability crisis head-on. Yet, despite promising to scale back the damaging Climate Leadership Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and green energy mandates, Albany Democrats chose instead to simply kick the can down the road as they so often do, setting the stage for even higher costs and less reliability in the future, and doing nothing to provide immediate relief for struggling New Yorkers.
This was a missed opportunity to shift to a more common sense, all-of-the-above approach that would ensure affordable, accessible energy options for every region of the state. Even as New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) sits on a slush fund of nearly $3 billion of your money, Democrats did the bare minimum and opted to provide a small rebate check– an election year gimmick that New Yorkers won’t see until the fall.
In the area of public safety – another issue always at the forefront of New Yorkers’ minds as they witness violent crimes and a deteriorating quality of life in many of their communities – Democrats failed yet again. They had the opportunity to put an end to sanctuary policies that have made our communities less safe – instead they doubled down with more policies that limit cooperation between local and federal law enforcement, gave illegal immigrants the Constitutional right to sue law enforcement and immigration officials, and banned the use of masks, making the already difficult job of law enforcement even more so.
While failing to address affordability and public safety, Democrat legislators did find time to take the first step toward legalizing political gerrymandering, in an effort to protect their own political futures and one party control over the state. Instead of strengthening protections and supporting commonsense voter ID requirements, they advanced automatic voter registration for those applying for or re-enrolling in Medicaid – including ineligible or fraudulent enrollees. This is just further proof Democrats continue to put politics over people and undermine public confidence in election integrity.
New Yorkers deserve elected officials who work to improve their lives, not ones who prioritize political self-preservation.
At the onset of the session, my colleagues and I offered a better way – our SaveNY agenda offered up common sense alternatives to the radical policies championed by Albany Democrats that drive up costs, put New Yorkers in danger, limit personal freedom, and continue to drive people and businesses out of our state.
Our agenda was focused on affordability and public safety. To let New Yorkers keep more of their hard-earned money, we advanced the largest personal income tax cut in state history, fully exempting the first $50,000 for single filers, $75,000 for heads of household, and $100,000 for families. That’s real relief for every New Yorker, putting almost $5,000 back into the pockets of working families every year.
To deal with out-of-control utility bills, Senate Republicans advanced legislation to return $3 billion in NYSERDA’s green energy slush fund directly back to ratepayers, as well as bills to eliminate the system benefits surcharge, provide for a utility tax holiday, and suspend state sales tax on gasoline as prices at the pump continue to rise. Each of these proposals would have provided immediate relief to New Yorkers.
And when it comes to public safety, our conference continued our call to eliminate sanctuary policies that endanger New Yorkers, roll back ill-conceived criminal justice laws that have created a revolving door of criminals, and advocated for the PROTECT Act to establish a dangerousness standard to provide more judicial discretion.
New York Democrats missed the opportunity to embrace solutions that could change the trajectory of our state, and instead continued down the same path that has led to the affordability crisis, decreased public safety and an exodus of our most valuable assets: our people.
Session may be over – but the work of our Conference does not stop, and we will continue to advocate for a better New York, and a stronger, safer and more prosperous quality of life in our communities. I hope when we return here in January, we can work together on real solutions to improve our communities and this state we all love.
Rob Ortt serves as State Senate Minority Leader and represents New York’s 62nd District.
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