Senator Mattera's Statement on State Budget

The New York State Budget approved last night – without any substantive input or review by our residents even though it was a month late – falls overwhelmingly short of making life better for our residents. This $229 billion budget, crafted solely behind closed doors by Governor Hochul and Democrat-leaders, is weak on assistance for our residents and heavy on mandates and spending.

Our residents are concerned about crime following years of illogical “public safety” policies enacted through one-party control. From the cashless bail fiasco to hamstringing our police to pushing to release hard-core criminals, the Democrats continually tell residents that the rights of criminals are more important than theirs.

This budget did nothing to help allay those thoughts. We should repeal cashless bail, stop enabling criminals and give our men and women in blue back the tools they need to protect our communities so our families have the peace of mind they deserve.

Our residents are also deeply concerned with the high cost of living and now will be burdened with the cost associated with the ideologically driven all-electric mandate.  This fuel choice ban will increase the cost of energy for every single family and its implementation will cost trillions. That is due to the ban’s unrealistic timeframe and the lack of understanding of the significant issues associated with this fiasco.

Instead of listening to the energy experts’ concerns about our antiquated grid, to labor experts who understand how this will cost hardworking men and women of labor their jobs and to residents, they have chosen to put ideology above practicality. They should work with all stakeholders to come up with a plan that works instead of an unworkable ban that will cost our state jobs and increase costs on New Yorkers while doing very little for the environment.

Just as we saw throughout the COVID crisis, it is Albany that knows best and they will tell those who elected them what is right and wrong. This lead from on-high mentality is why New York State has the unfortunate distinction of leading the country in population loss with over 180,000 residents leaving between July 2021 and July 2022 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Highlighting this is the fact that a New York Post story from this past April about how, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety, over 10,000 New Yorkers became registered drivers in the state. That is one state taking over 10,000 of our residents – in a one-quarter of a year.

Unfortunately, for $230 billion, all this budget did was provide our residents with more reasons to leave and fewer reasons to stay. The alarm bells are ringing but they are falling on deaf ears in Albany.

But now we must make sure these warning bells are heard and that we work to find solutions to keep our residents here where they belong. I am constantly speaking to leaders in energy, labor and public safety to work and together we are working on the next steps to take to protect New York residents from government overreach.

I invite everyone to be part of the fight to bring a new future to our state. We must not give up on New York State and I welcome the input of our residents. If anyone wants to provide their thoughts on important state issues and offer solutions, I invite them to email me at mattera@nysenate.gov or call my office at 631-361-2154 so that we all have a say in our future.

While the problems created through one-party control are troubling, this budget should serve as the beginning of a new era where our elected officials start listening to those they serve, our residents stop being dictated to and real New Yorkers take their state back.

New York belongs to New Yorkers and it is time that we worked together to take it back.