January 13, 2026
FROM SENATOR TOM O’MARA:
“The governor can’t preach ‘affordability’ at the same time she keeps looking to go on spending taxpayer dollars like there’s not a care in the world. You can’t keep trying to have it both ways and the governor knows it. Sooner or later the well runs dry and taxpayers can’t take it anymore. We’re already at that breaking point in New York State. We have the highest population losses in the nation. The continued decline of the state’s proud and vibrant manufacturing sector is alarming, including the recent announcement that Gunlocke in my legislative district, a manufacturing mainstay in the Southern Tier for over a century, is closing its doors and moving its high-quality, good-paying jobs out of Steuben County, out of the Southern Tier, and out of the state.
“The Democrat tax-and-spend approach isn’t working. There’s an old saying that if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. We need to stop spending in New York. Albany Democrats have been digging the hole deeper and deeper in this state over the past seven years with their out-of-control spending. It’s time to stop this irrational and irresponsible spending spree. We need to stop policies that make everything more expensive and then turning to the hard-working taxpayers of New York to take more money out of their pockets to pay for it.
“New York State is not stronger, safer, saner, or more affordable under Governor Hochul and a State Legislature under all-Democrat control. There’s no true turnaround in sight. Governor Hochul puts forth an ‘affordability agenda’ chock-full of giveaways and higher spending commitments that will only keep making New York a more expensive state in which to live, work, do business, raise a family, and pay taxes. There will be no let up for the middle class under all-Democrat, one-party control of New York government. The Albany Democrat bottom line ignores the middle class in favor of a politically driven, hard-left roadmap continuing to mandate huge state spending handouts. It will only keep driving this state into the ground economically, keep increasing costs across the board, keep killing jobs and economic opportunities, and keep chasing more and more New York taxpayers and families out of the state because they can’t afford to live here anymore.”
O’Mara stressed that he looks forward to joining his Senate Republican colleagues throughout the new legislative session to put forth strategies to ensure that upstate regions don’t get left behind. At the Capitol yesterday, Senate Republicans unveiled a “Save New York” legislative agenda to advance a range of policies focused on economic growth and job creation, tax relief and regulatory reform, commonsense energy policies, and other affordability initiatives.
O’Mara added that he would also work with his legislative colleagues across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions to keep attention focused on unfunded state mandates, job-killing state regulations, and a state and local tax burden that hurts family budgets and keeps New York’s business climate one of the worst in America for small businesses and manufacturers.
Hochul is scheduled to unveil her 2026-2027 proposed state budget next week after which O’Mara, the Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, and legislative colleagues will begin conducting public budget hearings on the governor’s spending plan.
FROM SENATOR GEORGE BORRELLO:
“New York State remains one of the highest-taxed and least affordable states in the nation, putting growing pressure on families, businesses, and communities. Too many people feel squeezed, and too many employers are questioning whether they can keep growing here. Governor Hochul’s State of the State rightly focused on affordability, and there are areas of agreement, including cracking down on car insurance fraud and joining the federal “no tax on tips” initiative. But we did not hear anything about the broad-based tax cuts or structural reforms needed to change the state’s direction or reverse the outmigration that is hollowing out our economy. Instead, we heard once again that the answer is to spend billions more of New Yorkers’ hard-earned dollars.
On energy and utility costs, I support the Governor’s focus on developing more nuclear power, but that is at least a decade away and will not help families today. If the Governor is serious about lowering costs and improving reliability, she should expand access to natural gas and dependable baseload energy instead of waging war against them. Proposals like scrutinizing executive pay or creating an “affordability monitor” are window dressing. Utility rates are soaring because of Albany Democrats’ failed energy policies: the CLCPA, the all-electric building mandate, and the push toward costly, unreliable wind and solar. Until the Governor turns away from these policies, utility costs will remain a relentless burden for New Yorkers.
These same policies are also driving New York’s housing affordability crisis. The Governor’s housing initiative will not reach its needed goals while the all-electric mandate remains in place and without restoring common sense rules like the 100-foot gas service standard. As long as Albany restricts access to natural gas, housing will remain more expensive to build, rent, and own. Period.
Finally, on public safety, it was disappointing that the Governor did not address the state’s disastrous bail and discovery “reforms” and other pro-criminal laws that continue to harm public safety and deny justice to victims. The high car insurance rates the Governor wants to fix are due, in large part, to soaring motor vehicle thefts, which rose more than 180 percent between 2019 and 2023, and to the state’s failure to close glaring loopholes in its drugged driving laws. In addition, most categories of crime remain higher than they were before the bail and discovery changes, yet the Governor and legislative Democrats seem content to normalize that reality rather than fix it, while continuing to push the same misguided approach of restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Yorkers. On top of that, it was troubling to hear the Governor’s anti-law enforcement rhetoric and her insistence on a policy of “non-cooperation” with federal authorities, an approach that does nothing to make our communities safer.
Yesterday, our conference released our Save New York agenda. It offers the real prescription for turning this state around: a comprehensive, commonsense plan to cut taxes, lower energy, housing, and childcare costs, roll back costly mandates, restore public safety, and make New York affordable and livable again for hardworking families, seniors, and small businesses.
In the coming days, we’ll take a closer look at Governor Hochul’s proposals, and especially her Executive Budget, which will be the real blueprint for what she wants to achieve. I agree with the Governor when she says ‘government should be a force for good.’ However, we disagree on what is truly ‘good’ for New York.”
FROM ASSEMBLYMAN PHIL PALMESANO:
“Gov. Hochul delivered her annual State of the State Address today and outlined her priorities for the upcoming legislative session. I look forward to hearing more specific details about her agenda when she presents her Executive Budget Proposal next week.
“It is no secret New York is facing not only an affordability crisis, but a quality-of-life crisis as well. We cannot afford yet another year of the bloated spending, high taxes, bureaucratic red tape and rising energy costs that are being pushed forward in Albany.
“I, along with my Assembly Republican colleagues, will continue to push back against these policies as well as advocate for fiscal responsibility and common-sense public safety policies.
“If Gov. Hochul is serious about reversing the affordability, public safety and quality-of-life crisis facing our state, she will present a budget that is not only responsible but works for all New Yorkers, not just progressive elites. I urge the governor and legislative leaders to work across the aisle to achieve this goal.”
FROM ASSEMBLYMAN JOE SEMPOLINSKI:
“Negotiating a new gaming compact with the Seneca Nation is critical for the WNY economy,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said. “Seneca Gaming and Entertainment generates more than $2 billion in economic activity for the region and the Seneca Nation employs more than 4,000 people, most of them non-native. A new gaming compact is essential to the economic well-being of the 148th District and all of Western New York.”
The original gaming compact between the Seneca Nation and New York State expired in December of 2023. The Seneca Nation and state have signed a series of extensions to keep operations running while negotiations continue. Local municipalities depend on fees supported by the agreement to fund essential services like police and fire protection.
“It’s beyond time for the Governor to sit down with Seneca Nation President J.C. Seneca and negotiate a fair and equitable gaming compact that protects the interests of the Seneca Nation and New York State,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.
Assemblyman Sempolinski also noted that while the governor talked about making life more affordable for New Yorkers, she didn’t explain how she would do that while at the same time paying for the new programs she outlined during her speech.
“New Yorkers suffer under one of the highest tax burdens in the country and its driving people out of New York to lower-cost states,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said. “The best way to address the high cost of living is to get government out of the way, cut spending and lower taxes. I didn’t hear anything from the governor to make me believe she’s serious about cutting spending and making life more affordable for New York’s taxpayers.”
The state budget has ballooned from $177 billion in 2021, when Gov. Hochul became governor, to $254.3 billion now.
“We have a serious spending problem in New York that the governor seems incapable of addressing. The state budget is more than a quarter of a trillion dollars. That’s irresponsible and indefensible. New York has no future as the tax and spending capital of America,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.
