Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb
Renews Call For Legislative Leaders' Meeting

With numerous legislative initiatives still needing resolution and worrisome news of a dramatic drop-off in state revenues, Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C-Canandaigua) today renewed his call for convening a public Leaders' meeting.

Kolb's push comes nearly one week after writing to Governor David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith and Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, urging them to join him for a public Leaders' meeting to deal with the backlog of unresolved legislation caused by the Senate leadership impasse.

With the impasse broken, Kolb's letter outlined several agenda items needing resolution, including the development of a comprehensive economic development strategy; enactment of a real property tax and state spending cap; implementation of the Suozzi Commission proposals, including a circuit breaker and unfunded mandate relief; adoption of a statewide energy plan; honoring existing contracts with Qualified Empire Zone Enterprises and strengthening Industrial Development Agencies.

"While the Assembly concluded session on June 23, the protracted Senate leadership struggle obviously sidetracked many critical measures. Now that the Senate has settled its internal issues, we need to convene a Leaders' meeting to get the stalled policy agenda back on track," Kolb stated.

"The longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to achieve real solutions that address New York's projected budget deficit, our rising unemployment and the state's uncompetitive business climate. Throughout this session, I called for public Leaders' meetings to set a bi-partisan tone and outline the policy agenda that should command our attention. I encourage my colleagues to join my call for convening a Leaders' meeting as soon as possible," Kolb concluded.

Click here to view a copy of Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb's letter calling for a public Leaders' meeting that was hand-delivered to Governor Paterson and the other Legislative Leaders last Friday, July 10.


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