Steve Hawley

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley will host a series of town hall meetings in Genesee County in the towns of Pavilion, Le Roy and Bergen on May 22.

Residents are encouraged to attend to discuss local issues and share any questions or concerns they have with Hawley. Social distancing and other health and safety protocols will be followed during this event.

“After having to suspend last year’s town halls due to COVID-19, I am excited to have the opportunity to speak with residents and discuss their concerns directly,” Hawley said. “The budget that passed recently is the largest and possibly the most consequential in our state’s history, though frankly I fear those consequences will be negative, so I am eager to hear from people in the district in regard to how they feel about it and how it affects their lives.”

TOWN HALL MEETING SCHEDULE for Saturday, May 22

• Town of Pavilion -- 10 to 10:45 a.m. / Pavilion Town Hall, 1 Woodrow Drive
• Village/Town of Le Roy -- 11 to 11:45 a.m. / Le Roy Village Hall, 3 W. Main St.
• Village/Town of Bergen -- 12 to 12:45 p.m. / Bergen Village Hall, 11 N. Lake Ave.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley is announcing that traffic lights have been installed and activated at the Route 77 and Ledge Road intersection in the Town of Alabama. 

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) had previously planned on construction of a roundabout at this intersection, but canceled those plans after the town passed a resolution opposing the project for reasons related to cost and safety.

The DOT had previously planned to build a roundabout for $1.8 million, but the installation of the traffic lights proved to be a more prudent and sensible solution, costing only approximately $100,000.

Hawley joined locals in opposing this project in favor of installing traffic lights to address safety concerns, which were just turned on this last Thursday.

“I am glad to see this project come to fruition and hope it will ensure safe travel for the agricultural, emergency and commercial traffic that make use of the intersection every day,” Hawley said. “With that said, I still caution all residents to take the dangers surrounding this intersection seriously and heed all traffic signals and devices.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley is joining his colleagues in the Assembly Minority in standing against the extension of a legislative moratorium on evictions.

The Assembly Majority has introduced a bill (A.7175) to extend the moratorium through Aug. 31. Hawley has opposed extending the moratorium in the past, as it has greatly burdened small landlords throughout the pandemic that have been unable to collect rent to pay the mortgages on their properties. 

“The landlords impacted the most by this moratorium are people who have worked their entire lives to buy property to generate an income to take care of their families, and we’ve left them helpless for over a year now,” Hawley said.

“Addressing the burden placed on our housing system by COVID-19 means helping both tenants and landlords, and this moratorium deprives them of their rightful legal and financial recourse.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley is railing against the Assembly Majority after they tabled a bill he sponsored during a Ways and Means Committee meeting that would have exempted veterans over the age of 85 from paying state income taxes (A.5033).

Notably, this bill was rejected even after the Majority passed a budget that gives more than $2 billion in assistance to illegal immigrants in the form of direct payments.

The cost to the state in lost revenue from excluding veterans over 85 years old from state income taxes is estimated to be about $6 million, just over 1/4th of 1 percent (.0000283) of the state’s record high $212 billion budget. 

“The decision by the Majority to refuse to take this small step to show appreciation for our most elderly veterans even after giving billions to people who broke the law to come to this country is shameful, and representative of our state’s misguided priorities as a whole,” Hawley said.

“We are failing those who have risked their lives for our freedoms, and helping those who have disrespected our nation’s rule of law. It seems, year after year, the Majority places the well-being of lawbreakers above that of working people, and apparently even our veterans, even when they need our help more than ever during these unprecedented times.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley was joined today at the Genesee County Veterans Service Agency by Senator Ed Rath, Genesee County Legislator Gary Maha, Genesee County Veterans Services Director Bill Joyce, and Chris Kreiger and Lynn Magistrale of WNY Heroes, the organization that operates the Dwyer program in Genesee County, to discuss funding of the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program and the impact the program has on local veterans. 

The final enacted budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year included $4,505,000 for the Dwyer Program across New York State, with $185,000 allocated for Niagara County, $185,000 for Monroe County, and $185,000 for Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties. This funding was secured even as Governor Cuomo proposed eliminating it entirely in his executive budget proposal.

“As a member of the Assembly Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and being a veteran myself, I am proud to have secured this funding for our service members after yet another attempt by the governor to eliminate it from our state budget,” Hawley said. “This funding saves lives, and operating programs such as the Dwyer program is the least we can do for those that risk their lives to defend our liberties.”

"I was pleased that the Dwyer Program funding was included in the final 2021-22 budget,” Senator Rath said. “The services that the Dwyer Program provides to our veteran community are critical. The State has continuously tried to cut or delay this funding, so I am happy that it was included in full."

“We are honored to take care of veterans and assist their families,” said Chris Kreiger, president of WNY Heroes and Iraq War veteran. “Our programs are about providing a hand up, not a handout. It takes more strength to ask for help and even more strength to accept it.

"Here at WNYHeroes, we are no different than you, the veteran. We don’t dress in fancy clothing, we don’t drive fancy cars, we simply just want nothing more than to provide support while sustaining your dignity at the same time.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley joined his Assembly Republican colleagues in calling on Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and associated committee leaders to provide them with copies of the required notices and justifications from the governor’s office regarding a modification to an executive order that mandates a 12 a.m. curfew on bars and restaurants.

The Assembly Minority also demanded to know why the curfew was simply pushed back an hour from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. instead of being done away with entirely.

Pursuant to Chapter 71 of the laws of 2021, the governor is now required to inform legislative leaders and relevant committee chairs of any extension, modification or alteration to existing executive orders related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hawley has been critical of this curfew for months, especially as similar restrictions were lifted on casinos, theaters and gyms.

The curfew has been in effect in some form since mid-November of last year and has placed great strain on family-owned businesses and small restaurants, forcing many of them to close on a temporary or permanent basis.

“Every day we wait to do away with this senseless curfew, the more real the fear of closure for restaurant owners becomes,” Hawley said. “It is ridiculous to think casinos can stay open all night while restaurants are forced to close, and I hope our legislative colleagues in the Majority will join us in standing with restaurant owners against this nonsensical and burdensome curfew.

"Many of the restaurants threatened by this mandate have been built and operated by several generations of family members and for us to let this mandate drive them out of business would be nothing short of tragic. COVID-19 doesn’t suddenly grow more aggressive after midnight, and it certainly isn’t more infectious in restaurants than it is in theaters and casinos.”

Press release from Assemblyman Steve Hawley:

“As families throughout the state have tightened their budgets throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to prepare for an uncertain future, the Majority has decided now is the time to become more cavalier than ever in their spending," Hawley said. "Worse yet, by increasing spending to historic levels, we may have less than ever to show for all of that spending in this incredible time of need for so many small businesses throughout New York. 

“In this second-largest budget in our nation that spends more than those of the large and populous states of Texas and Florida combined, and almost as large as California’s proposed executive budget for this year, a state with about twice as many people as ours, we will give $2.1 billion to illegal immigrants in stimulus and unemployment payments while only giving small businesses about $1 billion in assistance.

"These small businesses employ our neighbors, pay taxes that fund our municipal governments and emergency services and make our communities the unique places we know and love. The loss of these businesses would devastate the communities that rely on them and our state as a whole, and it should not be controversial to want to support businesses that families have worked to build for generations rather than people who disrespect our laws in order to enter our country.

“As unwise as this spending is, it’s also unsustainable in a very dangerous way. The Majority is treating the hefty federal stimulus we received this year like an incredibly irresponsible person would treat lottery winnings, spending it all rapidly to start living a lifestyle we won’t be able to sustain that will be financially ruinous for our state in the future.

"The money we’re spending now won’t be there this year, but it’s unlikely the people and agencies across the state it supports will plan for that. Instead, we will be forced in the future between painful tax increases or spending cuts, which will come with very real consequences for our economy and our communities."

“Those in the Majority would do well to look at how their constituents have ‘lived within their means’ in the last year as we pass this budget that’s 20-percent larger than last year’s. If New Yorkers managed their finances like their government did we would be in a very bad place, and I only hope the consequences of this budget do not bring about suffering in communities that have worked to be responsible with their resources.”

Press release:

“The budget the Majority is set to pass this year will increase our state’s spending by about 20 percent over last year’s budget, and it makes me think, has the average New York family increased their spending by that much over the last year?" says Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

"The answer is of course not. While New York families have pared back their spending and lived within their means, our state is poised to increase both spending and taxes in a way that will prove unsustainable, all while giving twice to illegal immigrants what it will distribute to small businesses as aid.

"I am nearly certain that by this time next year the Majority will be talking about the need to further increase our taxes to pay for the increased spending people will come to rely on, which is why I will be voting against this irresponsible budget.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley is vocalizing his opposition to the proposed establishment of an “excluded workers fund” in this year’s state budget, which advocates hope will provide more than $2.1 billion in new state aid to illegal immigrants.

The fund would allocate $2.1 billion in new spending to provide unemployment benefits, including benefits similar to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), for workers federally ineligible to receive traditional unemployment insurance benefits: illegal immigrants and convicted felons. 

Noncitizens and other cash-economy workers would be the primary beneficiaries of such funds, as they are ineligible to receive unemployment benefits under current federal Department of Labor regulations. Some beneficiaries would be eligible for payments of up to $27,000 under current Assembly Majority proposals.

“In this unprecedented time of need, as thousands of families struggle to keep the lights on and put food on their tables, we shouldn’t be spending billions to help people who should not be here in the first place,” said Hawley.

“Rewarding those who ignore our laws will only further erode the rule of law in our state. In doing so, we would disrespect all who come to our nation legally, as well as those who otherwise live here lawfully but are still struggling to make ends meet.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley joined other members of the Assembly and Senate Minority Conferences on Wednesday in calling on Gov. Cuomo to release $1.3 billion in CARES Act housing assistance funding to aid tenants and landlords.

If the money were to go unused by the end of September, it is possible the federal government could take the funds back, leaving tenants and landlords without much-needed assistance. Tenants have struggled to pay rent due to the pandemic, causing many small landlords to face difficulty in paying their mortgages.      

“People need this money now more than ever, and to leave it sitting around during this time of great need is unconscionable,” Hawley said. “Helping every day New Yorkers should be our number-one priority during these times, and for most people their priority number one is keeping a roof over their heads.

"This money will go a long way toward keeping people’s rents and mortgages paid, and I see no reason we should wait any longer in getting it to those who need it most.”  

A statement from Assemblyman Steve Hawley:

“What passed in the Assembly today has no basis in justice or science, and I fear that the revenue this bill projects our legal marijuana program will bring in has blinded them to the real costs of this legislation.

"What we know is that in other states, driver impairment rates have risen nearly universally, and these factors have caused states like Colorado to pay about four dollars in damages for every dollar earned in revenue.

"The passage of this legislation will come with real consequences that we will be left to pay for in the years to come, both financially and in terms of human health and human lives. I feel this will be a decision we look back on, wishing we had given it more thought.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley is renewing his call for the governor’s impeachment following a bombshell report that the governor secured state-administered COVID-19 tests for himself, members of his family and those with close political and personal ties to him.

This was during a period in the coronavirus pandemic in which government labs only had the capacity to process several hundred tests each day. State police resources were also reportedly used to transport these tests to state labs for faster processing.

“It has become abundantly clear the governor is willing to take actions that benefit himself and those close to him at the public’s expense,” Hawley said. “Somebody with such misguided convictions has no place continuing as our governor, and we need to move forward with impeachment proceedings as quickly as possible. Of course, he could still do the right thing and resign.”         

A statement from Assemblyman Steve Hawley:

“Following an incredibly generous allocation of federal aid to the tune of approximately $100 billion that would, according to a member of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s staff, wipe out our state deficit for the year entirely, we have been presented a tremendous opportunity to overhaul our state’s business climate and bring our economy roaring back through this recovery like never before.

"We have been given a clean slate with which we could finally make New York a competitive place to do business and create economic opportunity but, unfortunately, our colleagues in the Majority seem to be more interested in burdening our state with billions in new taxes in their budget proposal, even as we have seen a mass exodus of New Yorkers in recent years.

“This proposal by the Majority is a clear sign of a shifting paradigm in Albany, as it goes far above what even the governor proposed this year under the assumption our state would receive only minimal aid, as opposed to the massive package headed our way.

"Clearly the governor has lost any effective leverage in the budget process and is being walked over by radical progressives, and this proposal shows exactly why he needs to step down. We need a leader in this budget process who can stand up to ideologues and do what’s best for everyday working people, and Gov. Cuomo is in no position to be that person.”

A statement from Assemblyman Steve Hawley:

“As we begin to work with our colleagues in the Majority to commence our impeachment investigation, I only hope it will move forward both swiftly and sincerely," Hawley said. "The large volume and grave nature of the allegations made against the governor have already made him incapable of leading our state, so this investigation is not one that should be prolonged in any way.

"New Yorkers need their duly elected Legislature more than ever, and the more time we waste with Andrew Cuomo biding his time in office, the more people around the state will hurt due to their inaction. After making an insincere attempt to remove the governor's emergency powers last week, I am hopeful the new information that has come to light about the governor's alleged wrongdoings will spur those in the Majority to join us in doing the right thing this time and move to cleanly and quickly impeach the governor.

"Of course, he has the option to resign as well.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley is reminding constituents that due to a new boating law passed last year, all motorboat operators, regardless of age, must have a boating safety certificate by 2025 in order to operate motorized watercrafts, including personal watercraft such as jet-skis.

Under the new law, all motorboat operators:

• Born on or after Jan. 1, 1993 needed a boating safety certificate beginning in 2020.

• Born on or after Jan. 1, 1988 will need a boating safety certificate beginning in 2022.

• Born on or after Jan. 1, 1983 will need a boating safety certificate beginning in 2023.

• Born on or after Jan. 1, 1978 will need a boating safety certificate beginning in 2024.

• All motorboat operators regardless of age will need a boating safety certificate beginning in 2025.

Information on taking the boating safety course in-person or online can be found here.

“I encourage anyone who has even a mild interest in boating to take the state boating safety course, because it’s never been easier to get your certificate,” Hawley said. “Whether taking the course in-person or online, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon and ensure everyone stays safe in New York waters.”

From Assemblyman Steve Hawley:

“After ignoring the calls my colleagues and I have been making for him to resign, today we had no choice but to set into motion the introduction of an impeachment resolution against the governor.

"Our state is facing dire economic, public health and fiscal challenges that demand our full attention as a Legislature.

"The last thing we need is a prolonged political battle over removing the governor when everyday New Yorkers need our help more than ever, so I am hopeful we can move through this impeachment process quickly to get back to the people’s work.”

Submitted photo and press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley joined students from his Assembly District in celebrating Read Across America Week by virtually reading Dr. Seuss' "What Pet Should I Get?” to elementary school classes in Monroe, Orleans and Genesee counties on Friday, March 5.

The Assemblyman would normally join classes in person but, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Assemblyman joined classes virtually through Zoom instead.

“It was my pleasure to join students this year in celebrating reading by sharing a book from classic American children’s author Dr. Seuss,” Hawley said. “The passion they showed for reading and learning bodes well for our future, and I encourage everyone with children in their lives to join me in sharing the joy of books with our young ones.”

Classes participating included Mrs. Kristen Barber's first-grade class at Ginther Elementary School, Mr. Mark Skurzewski's second-grade class at Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School, Mrs. Stefanie Clark's first-grade class at Oakfield-Alabama Elementary School, and Mrs. Michelle Patnode's first-grade class at Wolcott Street School.

A statement from Assemblyman Steve Hawley:

“What passed today in the Assembly was no rescinding of power, no restoration of constitutional government and certainly nothing of consequence for our governor who has hurt so many New Yorkers," Hawley said. "This bill is characteristic of the worst elements of Albany politics; the backroom dealmaking, the dishonesty and the inability to follow through on a straightforward promise.

"What people expected of us today was simple—a clean ending of the governor’s emergency powers. What they got was a sham of a deal the governor himself had a say in that does nothing to rein in his power in a meaningful way, and instead preserves his emergency powers indefinitely.

"New Yorkers need a leader now more than ever that can serve them in an honest and dedicated manner, but what happened today was tantamount to extending the contract of an inept employee who has failed us all.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley is raising concerns over the distribution of vaccines at the newly opened Genesee Community College COVID-19 vaccination site.

Of the 3,500 vaccines allotted to the site, less than 25 percent of those vaccines were given to nearby residents living in Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming counties. Vaccination rates in these three counties collectively have lagged behind the 16.2 (percent) state average, as combined their vaccination rate is 13.8 percent.

“This statewide free-for-all for vaccines is leaving rural New Yorkers behind, and is causing people from all throughout the state to come to our community to use up the small allocation of vaccines our community desperately needs,” Hawley said.

“We need to be smarter about ensuring vaccines given to a community stay in that community, rather than allowing a statewide scramble for shots which keeps doses out of the arms of those who need them most in rural areas.”

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley wrote a letter Thursday to state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker requesting that he and the Cuomo Administration consider changing health guidelines to allow a 3-foot distance between students, as opposed to the current 6-foot standard. This would allow students to return to classrooms full time and end remote learning.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has acknowledged that many nations have been able to reopen schools with a 3-foot standard in place, without increasing the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Hawley believes that remote learning is in many ways harmful to the development of young students, as they are deprived of the opportunity to socialize with their peers and develop critical social skills. Hawley also raises the point that for many students, home is not an environment conducive to learning, and many students who face adverse circumstances at home rely on school as a place they know they can be kept safe and fed a nutritious meal.

“The safety of our children will always be our foremost priority, but it has become clear that remote learning is taking a toll on their development in a very concerning way,” Hawley said. “We have evidence to show that the 3-foot standard can be implemented safely, and should work quickly to get our kids back in schools full time to minimize the negative consequences remote learning will have on our children and help them become the best young citizens they can be.”