Lupinacci: "Hopeful" On Proposed Budget

The following is a statement from Assemblyman Chad A. Lupinacci (R,C,I-South Huntington) -
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Yesterday, the Assembly introduced its 2016 one-house budget resolution. After carefully reviewing the proposal, I have mixed feelings about the draft’s make-up. I am pleased to see it has met meaningful and bipartisan goals like the complete restoration of all Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) funding. Retaining our skilled teachers, providing classrooms with necessary resources and keeping athletic programs and extracurricular activities available to New York State’s students has been a top priority of mine since my election in 2012 – I am glad that the Assembly Majority has finally made it a priority in 2016.

I was also encouraged to see the inclusion of Pre-K expansion and conversion aid for districts that don’t currently offer full-day kindergarten. It is crucial that we invest in the education of our state’s future generations.

With that said, I was disappointed to see, once again, the Assembly Majority ignore our state’s pressing need for ethics reforms. How many more corrupt politicians is it going to take before the Assembly Majority and governor get serious on ethics? The people deserve real and meaningful reforms like an independent ethics commission and pension forfeiture for elected officials who commit felonies – not ceremonial and weak proposals that are politically in sync with national platforms. It’s time we get real on ethics and give New Yorkers the representation they deserve.

I was also disappointed that the Assembly Majority did not include any form of mandate relief in the budget proposal. Unfunded mandates are a burden on municipalities and taxpayers. If the state wants to implement programs, they should be funding them, not passing on immense costs to already over-burdened localities.

My colleagues and I look forward to the upcoming negotiation process and I hope we can reach across the aisle and put the interests of New York’s residents before party affiliation.