Lt. Governor Duffy Brings Mandate Relief Message

Lieutenant Governor Bob Duffy delivers a message of relief today in Utica. The message is part of Governor Cuomo's executive budget plan. The proposed relief could save Oneida County tax payers more than 11 million dollars in the next five years. The LT. Governor's message was just what many officials have been waiting to hear. "Most importantly the budget invests in the state of New York in order to create jobs, provide the much needed mandate relief for local governments and puts the state on the path towards growth." The budget calls for pension reform that could save 700 million dollars over the next thirty years. "You talk about a legacy issue this is like putting money away for our kids for college this is having executives and having a Governor make decisions that really ends up easing the burdens down the road of government. In my estimation in my current position but also as a former mayor I think it's crucial, anytime you can save money and money that can be used for schools, for infrastructure, to lower taxes." The governor's budget proposes a gradual takeover of Medicaid - that's where the savings kick in. "This is the first step and as it was said we would love for it all to be taken over but we know the states in dire straits as many other governments are but the hard cap on the growth is something that we've been clamoring for for the last four or five years and so this Governors taken the steps to go forward with that." In the first year of Medicaid take over, the county would save nearly half a million dollars. And as the LT. Governor says its real dollars that we need.