Archive: News

Continuing his efforts to protect the Town of Lansing taxpayers, New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio today announced his efforts to include a $30 million Electric Generation Facility Cessation Mitigation Fund in the newly enacted 2016-2017 State Budget were successful. The Fund was created to aid communities that lose property tax revenue due to an electric generating plant closure. This funding will be critically important to the Lansing community, which will be hurt financially by the closure of the Cayuga Power Plant.

"The Cayuga Operating Plant is the single largest taxpayer in the Town of Lansing. As a direct result of the power plant's closure, the average Lansing property taxpayer will pay significantly more school, town and county property taxes. The closure of the Cayuga Power Plant will make Lansing the highest taxed, non-city school district in Tompkins County, a fact that makes the Electric Generation Facility Cessation Mitigation Fund, all the more important," said Nozzolio.

An agreement to purchase solar-generated electricity for the Lansing schools will not save as much money as originally hoped, and may not come to be at all.  A 20 year agreement that was anticipated to represent over a million dollars in savings may end up being a 25 year agreement saving the district less than half of that.  But a snag in negotiations may mean the end of what would have been a groundbreaking solar project.

"Suddenly we were starting to hear that they wanted to change other terms of the power purchase agreement," School Business Administrator Mary June King told the Board of Education almost two weeks ago.   "At that point our attorneys were saying this is probably a no.  I wouldn't have recommended it to the Board with those changes, because things like the non-appropriations clause, which we feel strongly we should have according to the law, things like that."

Tom Reed, co-chair of the House Manufacturing Caucus and sponsor of the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act (RAMI), applauded the recent opening of the second high tech manufacturing hub under his bill.

"We care about creating the quality, family-sustaining jobs of today and tomorrow right here in the United States. We were able to start that process with the passage of the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act in 2014, and it's great to see this concept take off. It's only right we continue developing our high needs manufacturing industries, which will help bring those jobs back to our shores."

As New York State begins Common Core-aligned testing, Tom Reed is leading a letter to the Department of Education reasserting parents and students' right to opt-out of high stakes federal testing. Eighteen additional Members of Congress signed the letter. "We care about helping our kids achieve their greatest potential. That is why the process of educating our kids should be left up to parents, local governments and teachers," said Reed. "It's only right that we get Washington bureaucrats out of our classrooms and that I what I am fighting to do."

The move comes after the Department of Education sent a letter to states warning of financial penalties for states and school districts that fail to meet certain testing targets. The recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which Reed supported, empowers parents and gives states increased flexibility in student opt-out. Reed's letter clarifies congressional intent, including the expectation that the Department of Education support states in implementing ESSA.

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WFP-125AD, Tompkins/Cortland) praised the passage of Paid Family Leave as part of the 2016-2017 New York State budget agreement. Under the proposal approved by the Governor and state legislature, New York workers will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave from work to care for a newborn or an ailing family member.

"This is critical legislation that is long overdue," said Lifton. "New Yorkers shouldn't have to choose between their jobs and their loved ones, but increasingly families are being forced to make this decision. I've championed Paid Family Leave in the Assembly repeatedly over the years, and the Assembly has voted for it many times. We are very happy that the Governor and the Senate have joined with us in enacting this historic law that is so important to working families."

Local firefighters responded to a fire at the Cayuga Power Plant Wednesday morning when a fire broke out during routine maintenance.  The Lansing, Cayuga Heights, and Ithaca Fire Departments had the fire under control within 90 minutes.  There were no injuries.

The fire reportedly started around 10am on or near the tenth floor of the plant when a machine caught fire.  Dark smoke billowed above the plant.

Tom Reed renewed his push for reliable, affordable energy by calling for the repowering of the power plants in Lansing, Dresden and Dunkirk, New York.  The move comes as the parent company of the Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego County announced it would be closing the plant.  The closure would result in a statewide electricity deficiency by 2019 according to a new report released by the New York State Independent Systems Operator.

"We care about ensuring our families and small businesses have access to the affordable electricity they need to go about their everyday lives.  Closing these massive power providers throughout our state is harmful to these families, businesses and our overall economy because it will cause utility costs to rise, or worse, rolling blackouts.  Its only right that we bring sites back online to compensate for this closure and bring affordable energy to all," said Reed.

Lansing School Board members gave an unofficial nod to a $28,047,000 budget that adds two AIS (Academic Intervention Services) teacher positions, increasing next school year's budget by an estimated $160,000 over an alternative budget that does not include the positions.  But School Administrator Mary June King told the Board Of Education Tuesday that the positions will have no impact on how much property owners are taxed this year.

"The property tax cap levy remains the same in both of these projections," King said.  "The levy can not be higher than that amount because we are right at the property tax cap.  The tax levy increase, therefore, is the same as the tax cap.  The tax rate will actually be a decrease.  Our appropriated fund balance is the one thing that changes from budget to budget.  I am projecting we will have to appropriate some fund balance just to make this budget work.  We'll have to appropriate a little more if you give us the opportunity to bring in those two extra faculty members."

In a landmark announcement Tuesday Governors Andrew Cuomo (D, New York) and Rick Snyder (R, Michigan) announced that the Town and Village of Lansing will be relocated to a 65 square mile parcel west of the Michigan capital.  Residents and businesses will be given property equivalent to their property in Lansing, New York, and Snyder says that to attract the fast growing township the State of Michigan plans to dig a small lake to be called 'Cayuga II" so that Lansing's 14 miles of lakefront will be preserved.

"Since the sons of Thomas North moved from their home in New York to the great state of Michigan 1836 to lend the name of their birthplace to our Michigan State Capital, this state has wanted more of their kind here," Snyder said.  "These people's grit and determination in the face of daunting challenges they face in the State of New York has been an inspiration for us all.  We have big plans to build a new lake, a power plant and salt mine, infrastructure including free water and sewer for all residents, including agricultural residents in the north of the township, and provide an unlimited supply of natural gas to anyone who wants it.  We want our newest communities to feel at home."

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Senator Mike Nozzolio, Chairman of the New York State Codes Committee, who also served for over a decade as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections, today was joined by other advocates against domestic violence in voicing sharp criticism of a memo from the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NYSCADV) for their opposition to the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, also known as 'Brittany's Law'.

Dale Driscoll, whose daughter, Helen and granddaughter Brittany were brutally and savagely murdered by an individual with a history of domestic violence, has worked with Nozzolio to create the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.

The TCAT Board of Directors at its regularly scheduled meeting Thurs, March 24, agreed to an emergency measure directing staff to seek public input on proposed service cuts for the agency's summer service period, which begins May 22 and ends Aug. 20.

TCAT normally reduces service in the summer as most college students, many of whom are TCAT riders, leave the area for summer break. Nonetheless, TCAT is considering making additional cuts this summer to level with the number of drivers it has to fulfill service.

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WFP-125AD, Tompkins/Cortland) announced that the Assembly's one-house budget proposal invests $92.4 million to support new child care subsidies, afterschool care, facilitated enrollment and child care centers at SUNY and CUNY campuses. This follows the Assembly's passage in February of paid family leave legislation that would allow employees to take paid time off from work to care for a newborn or a sick relative.

"One of the biggest worries facing New York families is the exorbitant cost of child care," said Lifton. "Studies show that the cost of raising a child has become significantly more expensive over the last three decades, and this is especially true for working families. New Yorkers shouldn't be forced to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for their families."