Op Eds

Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay, Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, Assemblyman Michael Tannousis and Deputy Senate Republican Leader Andrew Lanza today introduced a constitutional amendment (S.9484) to establish recall elections for district attorneys who refuse to enforce the law and champion soft-on-crime policies that are exacerbating a rise in violent crime throughout New York state.

April 1st is the annual deadline to pass the State Budget. But with the Legislature ending its work week yesterday, the budget is once again late and One-Party Rule has failed to meet its most basic obligation.

The Assembly Minority Conference today submitted its Quick Start mid-year budget analysis to the state Division of the Budget, providing its forecast on state spending and revenue for Fiscal Year 2023 and Fiscal Year 2024.

The Oswego County Legislature approved the 2023 budget during its end of year meeting on Thursday night.

Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski), Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt (R-North Tonawanda), law enforcement officials and members of the Assembly and Senate Republican Conferences called on Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders to walk back failed criminal justice policies and strengthen public protection in the 2022-23 State Budget.

Today, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) and Assemblyman Kevin Byrne (R,C,I,SAM,ROS-Mahopac), the Ranking Minority member on the Assembly Health Committee, issued a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul and Dr. Mary Bassett, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, urging them to review the state’s response to COVID-19 and make the necessary changes to ensure another failure of this magnitude can be avoided in the future.

The heartbreaking death of Jordan Brooks has left our community reeling, and has raised serious questions about how services for the disability community are administered in Oswego County.

“For the better part of the past year, gas prices, rising inflation and violent crime have been among the major quality-of-life concerns keeping New Yorkers up at night.

Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, Assemblyman Phil Palmesano and Sen. Tom O’Mara, along with their colleagues in the Legislature and principal stakeholders, called for an increase in funding to the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS), Extreme Winter Recovery (EWR) program and other transportation-related programs in order to maintain and repair the state’s local roads, bridges and culverts.