Opinion

With Governor Hochul and the Legislature’s Democrat majorities starting negotiations over a new state budget, the battle lines are drawn and alarms are sounding throughout the halls of the State Capitol.

YATES COUNTY – The Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers has endorsed Republican Mackenzie “Mac” Stutzman in this year’s election for Yates County Judge. This follows last month’s endorsement of Stutzman by the Yates County Law Enforcement Officers Union Local 1869 (also known as Yates County COPS).

In late January, when Governor Hochul unveiled her proposed 2023-2024 Executive Budget, the bottom line came in more than $5 billion higher than the current budget. I warned then to “Watch Out,” because that bottom line was before the all-Democrat leaders in the Senate and Assembly had their hands on it -- and that this year’s final budget was likely to go even higher.

Today, we voted on Assembly Democrats’ wish-list One-House Budget Proposal. Their proposal totals $233 billion, $6 billion higher than Gov.

If you have never needed an ambulance, consider yourself lucky. But when you need one, you want it to arrive quickly with well-trained and experienced staff on board.

Approaching final negotiations over a new state budget, it’s critical to begin stressing that this year’s budget must address the right priorities – and one of the top priorities, in my view, is the future of our local roads and bridges.

One message keeps ringing loud and clear throughout New York State: Far too many New Yorkers, in far too many places, do not feel safe where they live, work, go to school, and raise their families. Who do they blame? They blame the policies that keep flowing out of Albany -- from out of the halls of a New York government under one-party, all-Democrat control -- for emboldening society’s criminal element, for inspiring an increasingly pervasive “no consequences” attitude toward law and order, and for a widespread climate of lawlessness and violence.

While the next presidential election isn’t until 2024, this year — 2023 — is an important election year in Yates County, with a total of 53 local (county-wide and town) offices on the ballot. Registered voters will soon be approached by hopeful candidates seeking signatures on petitions, and by the end of the year, Yates County will have a new county judge-elect, sheriff-elect and clerk-elect.

My routine grocery shopping trip was progressing famously; floating from aisle to aisle, focused on just the items on my short list and ignoring the temptations beckoning me from all sides. But the progress came to a screeching halt when I faced a display of items that I found to be ultra confusing.

To kick off the 2023 session of the State Legislature – one that we believe finds New York at unprecedented crossroads in so many critical areas – the Senate Republican Conference put forth a comprehensive set of goals to help rebuild and strengthen local and state economies, focus on the affordability challenges facing everyday New Yorkers and their families, and make public safety a top priority.