Affordability:
Unaffordable State Income and Property Taxes:
-
Highest paid state legislature in the USA
Raised from $110,000 to $142,000 in 2022
Suggesting $180,000 in new budget
ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES: All new school buses purchased be electric by 2027
All school buses on the road to be electric by 2035
Cost $167,000 vs over $400,000
Cost Charging Stations
Battery technology lacking for longer routes/colder weather of rural NYS
Rising electrical costs
Electricity demand outpacing electricity production
ALL ELECTRIC BUILDINGS ACT: All new buildings 7 stories and lower by January 2026
All remaining buildings by January 2029
Exempt manufacturing, agriculture, hospitals, commercial Kitchens
Rising electrical costs
Electricity demand outpacing electricity production
Overhead power lines going down in storms - no heat - freezing pipes and humans
Battery technology lacking for long power outages to heat a home
Wood Stoves that use low cost or free local wood to heat
Pellet Stoves that use local manufactured wood pellets
LARGE SOLAR FARMS: ORES Permits over 25 Megawatts (typically above 125 acres)
ORES may override local codes if they find them too restrictive
Thousands of acres of prime farmland being lost to solar
Not concentrating on large commercial roof tops, parking lots, brown fields, landfills, etc.
HIGH ELECTICAL COSTS:
Delivery rates doubling since 2015
Electricity Supply rates quadrupling since 2015 (pass through)
Utility Companies no longer own power production they deliver to their customers
75% of NYS electricity is produced by Independent Electrical Producers
Independent Electrical Producer rates not controlled by PSC
NYS GOVERNMENT SPENDING:
Positions that require a certian set of skills are elected positions (clerks, treasurers, road supervisors, etc.)
Qualified individuals would prevent mismanagement, waste and fraud
Ban stock ownership and trading for NYS Governor, Senators, Assembly and families
Withhold pay from Governor, Senators, Assembly when budget is late
NYS Politicians to have portable 401K's they fund - not a part of NYS retirement system
Retired NYS Politicians to have the same health insurance as private employees (Medicare & Supplemental)
Term limits to give more opportunities for younger representatives and prevent stagnation
AGRICULTURE:
Elected Representatives from highly populated districts do not understand farming and push state wide laws that would unfairly restrict farming. While I believe small family farms are better, there are not enough small farms left to meet the increasing demands. CAFO's (Concentrated Animal Feed Operations) are already regulated by DEC and Ag & Markets in addition to local codes.
LARGE CAFO DEFINITION:
In animal husbandry, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is an intensive animal feeding operation (AFO) in which over 1,000 animal units are confined for over 45 days a year. An animal unit is the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of "live" animal weight.[1] A thousand animal units equates to 700 dairy cows, 1,000 meat cows, 2,500 pigs weighing more than 55 pounds (25 kg), 10,000 pigs weighing under 55 pounds, 10,000 sheep, 55,000 turkeys, 125,000 chickens, or 82,000 egg laying hens or pullets.[2]
he table below provides some examples of the size thresholds for CAFOs:
Animal SectorLarge CAFOsMedium CAFOsSmall CAFOs
Cattle or cow/calf pairs1,000 or more300–999Less than 300
Mature dairy cattle700 or more200–699Less than 200
Swine (weighing over 55 lb)2,500 or more750–2,499Less than 750
Turkeys55,000 or more16,500–54,999Less than 16,500
Laying hens or broilers (liquid manure handling systems)30,000 or more9,000–29,999Less than 9,000
Chickens other than laying hens (other than a liquid manure handling systems)125,000 or more37,500–124,999Less than 37,500
Laying hens (other than a liquid manure handling systems)82,000 or more25,000–81,999Less than 25,000
The categorization of CAFOs affects whether a facility is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA). EPA's 2008 rule specifies that "large CAFOs are automatically subject to EPA regulation; medium CAFOs must also meet one of two 'method of discharge' criteria to be defined as a CAFO (or may be designated as such); and small CAFOs can only be made subject to EPA regulations on a case-by-case basis."[9] A small CAFO will also be designated a CAFO for purposes of the CWA if it discharges pollutants into waterways of the United States through a man-made conveyance such as a road, ditch or pipe. Alternatively, a small CAFO may be designated an ordinary animal feeding operation (AFO) once its animal waste management system is certified at the site.