Andy Goodell
ALBANY – Chautauqua County’s representative in the state Assembly is reacting to the passage of the New York state budget late last week, saying that there were a few items he was pleased to see included in the budget – but in addition, there were a couple of items he was disappointed to see left out.
In a video posted on Youtube, Andy Goodell (R-Chautauqua) said that he was pleased to see local governments getting more highway funding and local districts getting more school aid.
“I appreciate the increase in funding in this budget for our Consolidated Highway Improvement Program – that’s up $75,000,000 and is a huge benefit for all of our local highways and bridges,” Goodell said. “The budget is also very positive in the fact that we have almost an additional billion dollars in school aid, of which over $9,000,000 increase in funding goes to Chautauqua County. Almost a 4 percent increase in funding, so that’s very positive.”
But while Goodell said he was pleased with the increase in funding for education and highways, he was upset that there will be a significant cut to programs for the developmentally disabled.
“On the other side, I’m very, very, very disappointed that this budget fails to restore full funding for those who are developmentally disabled. I think there are plenty of opportunities for us to come up with that funding. It’s not a big lift for the state but it is very important.”
Among the programs that will be impacted by the $180,000,000 reduction in funding for the developmentally disabled is The Resource Center.
In addition, Goodell said that he was against the states plan to borrow additional money, which totaled $5.5 Billion and which Goodell refers to as “backdoor borrowing.”
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