![Senator Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_small/public/02-10-15_official_hs_omara-hs-040_0.jpg?itok=gJ9N77KJ)
Pull the Plug on New Taxes
Thomas F. O'Mara
February 5, 2013
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Here's my take on one piece of Governor Cuomo's 2013-14 proposed state budget:
“This higher utility tax was one of the worst products of one-party control in New York State government in 2009. I voted against the increased assessment when it was first imposed on businesses and consumers four years ago. It was a bad move then, it’s worse now when New Yorkers find it even harder to make ends meet and the monthly utility bill continues to be sky high,” said O’Mara, who’s serving on the Senate’s budget subcommittee on economic development and taxes. “Governor Cuomo said ‘no new taxes’ in this budget and he should mean it. Higher taxes like this one are tough on consumers and make it harder and harder for New York’s businesses, farmers and manufacturers to stay competitive.”
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Go to Newsroom![In late September, Senator O'Mara, Assemblyman Phil Palmesano and a few of their legislative colleagues visited Mahany Farms in Arkport (Steuben County), where owner Gary Mahany (center, yellow shirt) and his employees grow Irish potatoes. “Cornell University's efforts over the past 70 years to contain the Golden Nematode, and to conduct the research and development that will always be the front line of protection for our growers and growers throughout America, have been remarkable," said Senator O'Mara, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/mahanyfarms_newweb.jpg?itok=RYhzeHvQ)
![Currently quarantined to eight counties in New York State, this potato pest first discovered in New York State in 1941 is so destructive and impossible to eradicate that, not controlled, it can lead to total crop failure.](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/goldennematode_newweb.jpg?itok=iKvZsFmU)
![In Senator O'Mara's district office in Elmira on Wednesday, the senator and Robin DeLong of GST BOCES present Amna Gafsi of Horsheads with a Legislative Proclamation commending her achievement.](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/nyacce_studentoftheyear_newweb_copy.jpg?itok=QENSkJ0P)