A statement from Senator Farley about the State-of-the-State Address:

Each year, we kick off the new Legislative Session with the Governor’s State-of-the-State Address. This speech is basically an outline of what the Governor would like to accomplish in the upcoming year.

While I agree with him that we must have fiscal restraint, I am concerned with how we go about accomplishing that task. In the last State budget, taxes were raised, fees were increased, and spending also increased significantly. That is why I voted "no" on that budget and I intend to do the same this year if the same path is taken. New Yorkers just can’t afford this tax and spend approach.

In addition to opposing all tax increases, my colleagues and I in the New York State Senate Minority intend to push for capping State spending and enacting stronger laws to fight Medicaid fraud and abuse which will help recover billions in taxpayer dollars. Passing the costs on to the schools and local governments is also not an option in my opinion. All that does is force the local municipalities to raise property taxes that will, in turn, hurt New Yorkers.

We have seen what happens when one party controls every level of state government. The result was more wasteful spending, higher taxes, and no accountability. That has to change and I am going to do my part to work in a bipartisan manner to protect taxpayers and make sure that we move forward in 2010 to a better future.