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Assembly challenger and Lt. Gov. candidate want to eliminate the legislative blockage that has New York on life support
WHITE PLAINS, NY – Joined by Scott Vanderhoef, the Rockland county executive and candidate for Lt. Governor, Jim Coleman, a prominent African American businessman and the Republican Candidate for Assembly in the 88th district stood in front of the Emergency Room Entrance of the White Plains Hospital Center Monday morning calling for a legislative quadruple bypass in order to save New York.
“Shortness of breath, pain in the limbs, overall fatigue – when your body is telling you that something is wrong you pay attention, you heed the warning signs. You find out what’s wrong and you do something about it. But that’s not the case here in New York.” said Coleman, comparing a severe blockage of the human heart to the blockage in the legislative heart of New York.
“Over the last 12 years more than 1.6 million New Yorkers have said enough is enough. They’ve left the state because New York leads America in all the wrong ways.” Coleman explained, “New York’s property taxes are 74% higher than any other state in the country. We rank number one in pork barrel spending at $200 million per year; we have the most uninsured citizens at 5.7 million and we squander more than $18 million in Medicaid fraud and waste.”
Coleman went on to explains that because “the Assembly is run by the simple rule of ‘Sheldon Says’ the legislative heart of New York is clogged with more than 20,000 pending bills.”
Official records show that of these 20,000 bills only about 200 will become law and it is the agenda of that one man, Speaker Sheldon Silver that determines what is and is not brought to the floor for a vote.
Coleman continued, “We can’t even get legislation to protect our schools, hospitals and churches from sexual predators or stop the flooding on the Bronx River Parkway because in Albany, Sheldon Silver’s voice is louder and more appreciated by the status quo than the voice of the people.”
Scott Vanderhoef agrees that New York’s legislature is in need of some real change.
Coleman went on to cite more troubling examples as to why we must steer New York’s ship of state in a new direction, “It is pitiful that hard working families are using their home equity lines of credit to pay their property taxes and record numbers of senior citizens are not receiving the benefits they spent a lifetime paying for, because elected representatives follow one man on a mission to wreck our state.” said Coleman, “New York is in Critical Condition and we must act now before it’s too late, we need to give New York a legislative quadruple bypass to restore health to our State.”
According to Coleman, in order to save New York, the State Assembly must:
Enact term limits for leadership positions
Enact the 90/90 Rule
Give all proposed legislation an up or down vote within 90 days
Restore the People’s Voice within the Assembly
Choosing an appropriate and simple quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jim Coleman closed his remarks by saying, “‘The time is always right to do what is right.’ Now is the time to once again make New York the Empire State.”
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