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Hawley outlines budget priorities: 'Individuals flourish when government takes a back seat'

By Billie Owens

Press release from Assemblyman Steve Hawley outlining his budget priorities:

Government is about the people. Making a difference in the everyday lives of individuals should be the central role to which we aspire as legislators. Society flourishes when personal freedom and liberty rule the day, not directives and penalties handed down in the form of taxes and mandates.

Unfortunately for New Yorkers, Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State Address last week was filled with the latter. Lofty expansion of programs and more state spending is what many witnessed but few desire.

According to the Tax Foundation, New York ranks 49th in the country in tax climate for businesses for the fourth year in a row. In addition, our state ranks 49th in terms of tax levies on personal income, 47th in property-taxes and 43rd in sales taxes – all of which have contributed to more than one millions residents who have left the state since 2010.

We have the power to change these embarrassing statistics and rewrite New York’s mantra of tax, fine and harass.

The solutions start with reducing fraud and waste in our Medicaid system, which spends more than Florida and Texas combined, and mitigating the over 140,000 pages of regulations Albany elites impose on our job creators – not bloating government as Gov. Cuomo proclaims. Mandates like these, which counties and local governments cannot afford, are eventually paid by individuals in the form of higher property and state taxes.

We need to build on the success of the Charitable Gaming Act that was signed into law last year and further empower the thousands of fire departments, Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs, nonprofits, churches and charitable organizations that provide tremendous community services through their raffles.

Lake Ontario flood victims are still hurting and this year’s budget should include more funding to help these struggling individuals and business owners return to normalcy.

State government should hinge on allowing people to flourish and that cannot happen if disconnected elites like Gov. Cuomo continue to use their tax dollars to tax, penalize and restrict them.

Assemblyman Hawley represents the 139th District, which consists of Genesee, Orleans and parts of Monroe County. For more information, please visit Assemblyman Hawley’s Official Website.

Scott Chismar

Yet another rambling press release from Assemblyman Hawley complaining about just how bad things are in New York. We must all remember that he is and has been an elected representative for a long time. Perhaps too long. With each one of his bashing New York press releases, I interpret him to proclaiming just how ineffective of an elected official he is. To me, he is publicly gloating about how he is doing nothing more than receiving a paycheck from the taxpayers for doing nothing. Maybe it is time to get somebody in his slot who can get things done.

Jan 13, 2018, 12:54am Permalink

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