Statement on 2022-23 State Budget

ALBANY, 04/09/22 -- State Senator Peter Oberacker (R/C – Schenevus) today commented on completion of the 2022-23 state budget.

“The ultimate in Albany double-dealing has just finished playing out at the Capitol.  A budget that spends at a record rate, checks in more than a week late, and was cobbled together in total secrecy is now complete.  Last minute additions, headlined by sham bail reform changes that fail to improve public safety and a multi-million-dollar football stadium handout, are prime examples of misplaced priorities.

“Education aid for our schools, an end to the fiber optic tax to boost rural broadband growth, and the partial gas tax suspension – about half of what I proposed – are all positives.  However, the negatives in this plan, coupled with the dysfunctional process, prove that real change is needed and it is time to end the status quo.

“New York is losing population at a record rate and this budget, which blows through our reserves and spends at an unsustainable rate, will only drive more people out because no one wants to be here when the bill comes due.”

Senator Oberacker voted against nine of the ten separate bills that comprise the state budget.

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