I was hopeful that the recently completed special session of the legislature would deliver strong results for working families and small businesses across Western New York.

Unfortunately, despite continuing economic uncertainty and ongoing confusion regarding reopening the state, the State Senate Majority used this session to advance a blatantly political agenda that will do nothing to address the problems so many people face.

To make matters worse, they actively opposed and blocked legislation to rescind the Governor’s emergency powers. They also blocked legislation that would increase penalties for assaulting police officers.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the session was the Senate Leadership’s voting “reform” proposals. Senate Bill S8806, made registering to vote for certain people easier by mandating that certain state agencies automatically ask customers if they would like to register to vote.

While on its surface this is an admirable goal, the legislation only allows this to be done by certain agencies.  For example, the New York City Housing Authority would be required to ask people to register to vote, but the DEC would be forbidden from registering someone getting their hunting license.

To be clear, I have supported legislation that has done this across the board but picking and choosing certain state agencies and not others is wrong.

Another bill, S8833, even went so far as to amend the voter approved Independent Redistricting Commission. The changes would eliminate requirements that would prevent one political party from having total control of the process.

Furthermore, the Senate Majority increased the threshold needed to veto a gerrymandered redistricting process. The sponsor of the bill and Deputy Majority Leader went so far as to say that the minority should not have a say in the process. This is not only surprisingly arrogant but flies in the face of core principle of America’s democratic-republic system of government.  

To make things worse, these bills were introduced within the last week and rammed through with virtually no public input. Unfortunately, this has been a staple of this majority’s style of government.

Despite claims of being more inclusive and respectful of the whole state, the current majority has made it clear that their only concern is advancing their political agenda.

While this week’s session was extremely frustrating, I will not stop advocating for the residents of Western New York and working to support its hardworking families and small businesses.

Sincerely,

MICHAEL H. RANZNEHOFER

State Senator - 61st Senate District

U.S. Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann released a draft plan for new congressional districts in New York and set a deadline of 9 a.m. Wednesday for public comment on her plan.

Mann released the plan after receiving and reviewing proposals from both houses of the New York Legislature, Common Cause and others.

The draft puts Genesee County in the middle of a redrawn NY-27 district, moving the NY-26 to cover just Buffalo. 

The largely rural district includes parts of Erie County, most of Niagara and just a bit of Monroe County and stretches into Ontario County. All of Orleans and Wyoming counties are included in the plan.

Presumably, Rep. Kathy Hochul would be the Democratic candidate for the NY-27 and Rep. Brian Higgins would run in the new NY-26.

For all of the releated documents, click here.

Redistricting plans unveiled last night by a New York court reviewing the proposals indicate Republicans and Democrats in Albany have very different views of how Genesee County should be represented in Congress.

One plan splits the county in two and another plan keeps Genesee County whole.

One plan would seemingly make it easier for Rep. Kathy Hochul to retain her seat in November's general election. The other plan would seem to make an election fight tougher.

Both plans presented by the legislature -- the Democratic majority in the Assembly and the Republican majority in the Senate -- say that one of the aims  is to protect incumbent seats.

"Preserving the cores of existing districts — sometimes also referred to as incumbency protection — is a well-established, traditional districting principle in New York," reads a legal brief prepared by Republicans in the Senate.

The Senate memo cites several legal precedents saying that preserving relationships between legislators and constituents is a legitimate legal concern, and that for congressional seats, protecting seniority of house members is important to maintaining the state's influence in the lower chamber.

Democrats in the Assembly prepared a similar memo.

The Democrats also said they put a high value on protecting minority representation (as required by prior legal cases), so for the NY-26, the district includes all of urban Buffalo and Niagara County. It also includes other portions of Erie County and all of Orleans County, but in Genesee County the towns of Le Roy, Stafford, Byron, Bergen and Pavilion are in Rep. Tom Reed's NY-24 district.

The Republicans plan -- which is somewhat similar for WNY to a plan presented by Common Cause -- keeps Genesee contiguous and keeps the entire GLOW region as part of the same district.

In that plan, all of Niagara County and a portion of Erie County are part of the NY-24, making the district almost entirely rural.

The court could make a decision on a redistricting plan by some time Friday.