With campaign season here, it’s easy for candidates to make all sorts of promises. Yet I look forward to a campaign focused solely on results!
We have accomplished great things this past legislative term and I was the Prime Sponsor of 37 bills and the Co-Sponsor of 62 bills that were passed in the Senate that reduced income taxes, capped property taxes, capped state spending and spurred economic development and job creation. I also passed several bills that support small businesses, veterans, first responders, working families, women, children, the environment and pets.
Statewide, we created 139,400 new private sector jobs, and 13,900 new jobs in the Hudson Valley. We enacted a $3.3 billion middle class tax cut, saving taxpayers $4.4 billion dollars and bringing the middle class tax rates to the lowest level in 58 years. We rolled back the horrific MTA Payroll tax for 290,000 small businesses and 410,000 self-employed people. Our new Property Tax Cap is forcing school districts to end their double digit annual increases, and will offer property tax payers in the 40th Senate District nearly $34 million in annual savings!
A big step towards delivering positive unfunded mandate relief, our Pension Reform package will provide taxpayers in Putnam, Westchester and Dutchess $110 million in savings over the next five years. Last year, I restored $3.8 million in funding for local schools and secured a $13.3 million increase (5% increasevs.2011) in funding for schools in the 40th Senate District. Focused on results, I also secured $3 million in Capital Grants for local municipalities and not for profit organizations and $1.2 million in specialized school aid to schools in the 40th Senate District.
Following up on unfunded mandate relief, we took over millions in Medicaid expenses from the counties providing taxpayers in the 40th Senate District $42 million in savings over the next five years. We passed a new Cyber-bullying Law that will crack down on this serious epidemic facing our youth. We also closed a dangerous Child Porn loophole, and have eased the process facilitating increased child porn prosecutions. Our important new Autism Insurance Reform law expands insurance coverage for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of autism.
The past two years have been remarkably productive; however there is much more work to be done.
During a second term as your State Senator, I will be committed to discovering new ways to spur economic development and job creation by establishing enhanced partnerships with the private sector to finance, construct and manage public infrastructure projects. I will also fight to freeze school taxes for seniors, pass comprehensive unfunded mandate relief, cut job killing taxes on small business owners and pass commonsense laws to protect our families and our environment from the potential dangers of hydro-fracking.
As your State Senator, I will continue to fight for you and our community and I will continue to work with Governor Cuomo and my colleagues in the legislature, to continue to move New York State in the right direction!
Sincerely,
Greg Ball
State Senator, 40th District
