Andy Goodell
LAKEWOOD – Chautauqua County Assemblyman Andy Goodell says welfare reform remains at the top of his list of priorities for the remainder of this year.
Goodell, who joined Senator Cathy Young for the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce’s annual legislative breakfast this past Friday, said he’s sponsoring several bills in the Assembly that could help to reduce local government costs if enacted.
“There are a series of bills that I have introduced on Welfare Reform, that are designed to make it easier for people to get off welfare by eliminating some of the inadvertent hurdles they have to cross and by streamlining the process that we can utilize for those who are not willing to help themselves,” Goodell explained to the audience. “That’s a huge driver in the county tax levy.”
Goodell said that in addition to changing the way the state provides social service benefits to residents, he’s also focusing on health insurance reform. “I’m pushing legislation, it’s bipartisan legislation as well as my own, to allow many more options to be offered in New York State, so you can tailor design your own health insurance to cover the needs of your own people or yourself, at a substantial savings in cost.”
And Goodell said his third priority is changing the unemployment and workers compensation program, removing some of the cost for business owners across the start. He said that combined, his priorities are focused on making New York a more business-friendly environment by reducing costs and fees for business owners.
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