I am a parent, a tax payer, a resident of Walden, NY for over 50 years and a graduate of the Valley Central School District, the State University of New York and Villanova University.  I  believe that the greatest investment any of us in this room has made in our lives is the investment in our education.   First of all thank you for meeting with us today.  Two nights ago as our Board of Education struggled to decide the fate of an elementary school where children have been nurtured and educated for over 90 years due to an 8.1 million dollar shortfall, the Superintendent of our school district publicly referred to our belief that we may be heard in Albany as “the opiate for the masses.” This was no doubt a statement that reflects the frustration of watching a school district and a community taken apart by devastating cuts to programs and staff after ten years as Superintendent of Schools.  On January 2, 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his inauguration speech  “Too often government responds to the whispers of lobbyists before the cries of the people”.  We are here today in the hope that you will hear our cries and that you may respond to our voice.   New York State has a constitutional obligation to provide the funding for the opportunity for a sound basic education to every one of New York’s sons and daughters.  Three months ago Governor Cuomo proclaimed himself the children’s lobbyist announcing that he was taking on a second job.  He has arrogantly championed his program for education reform.  But since 2010 over 50 schools in New York State have closed – the vast majority under his governorship.  In addition, districts across the State have been stripped of offerings such as sports, music, language and art.  I am not sure whose children he is the lobbyist for but the reason I am here today is to inform you that I am firing him from that second job.  I am here as a parent to lobby for my own daughter because it is not acceptable to me that she will be offered an education of inferior quality when she begins school than I received from the same school district over 30 years ago and what’s more, my wife and I will not permit her to be placed at an educational disadvantage to help benefit the political aspirations of an ambitious governor.   You will not find a town named Valley Central on a map of New York State but it exists as a community as sure as any that can be found.  Fifty years ago, the villages of Maybrook, Walden and Montgomery and outlying area united forming Valley Central, a public school district that today is more than 4,500 students strong.   Historically we are a rural district and have prided ourselves on being conservative and fiscally responsible to tax payers. Although there have been additions, the newest of the seven buildings in our district was built in 1969.  For decades the school district advertised to voters that the cost per pupil was at or near the bottom of the list when compared to every school in the Mid Hudson Valley.  Travel within 30 minutes in any direction from our district and there are state of the art high schools and million dollar athletic complexes but other than a swimming pool made possible by large donations from the community,  our district looks pretty much the same as it did in 1969.     And what was the prize for fiscal responsibility?  Gap Elimination -  a formula that reduced our state aid somehow based on the assumption that the relative wealth of our community exceeds the amount of school tax needed to fund our programs.  The solution?  Raise taxes to reduce the Gap Elimination penalty.  But as you know this puts our district in a choke hold because Governor Cuomo has enacted a 2% tax cap that really isn’t 2%.   This cap cannot be pierced without a super majority vote, a regulation that may not have constitutional validity.  As a result, the Valley Central Board of Education is faced with closing at least one elementary school, cutting kindergarten, art, music, library, all sports and extra-curriculars, class sizes of over 30 students even at the elementary levels and cutting the jobs of talented teachers – some with 6 or more years of valued service.  And this still will not close the 8.1 million dollar shortfall without depleting the fund balance and/or raising taxes.     I have three basic requests that I ask today. The first is that you restore the Gap Elimination Aid Adjustment loses. This regulation that originally was proposed as a one year adjustment has continued for the past three years at a price to the Valley Central District of over 5 million dollars each year, directly contributing to our 8.1 million dollar shortfall.   If you are unwilling or unable to restore those loses and insist that the State is meeting its obligation to adequately fund our district, my second request is that you remove the handcuffs from our community and give us a fair and constitutional opportunity to fund our schools locally by suspending the super majority requirement until our tax rate can be incrementally raised to the point where you have determined is appropriate for the relative wealth of our community and reinstitute the cap at that time.     The third request is that you reduce the restrictions on the districts Employee Benefits Accrued Liability Reserve funds (EBALR) so that it can be accessed to help preserve these cuts that will cripple our schools and eventually destroy our district.     It has been said that the greatest of all evils is the destruction of hope.  If none of these options are viable I need to ask you today what hope are you willing to give to the children of the Valley Central School District?  Are you willing to promise anything other than a multi-million dollar short fall and more cuts in the years to come?  If that is the case, it is obvious that the Governor’s  real vision for educational reform is to have the line for the Principal’s office next to the line for the window for motor vehicle registration....

I own a repair shop in Myrtle Beach, SC for 14 years. There are too many severely, unsafe vehicles on our roads. The automobile owners pay a meager Property Tax, therefore, they have no accountability for causing pollution or when an accident occurs due their unsafe vehicle.

After a Public Hearing, the Planning & Zoning Commission, 6 people decide this issue. This is too important to be left in the hands of a few officials.

At first glance you may be telling yourself that “This issue doesn’t apply to me.” However it affects ALL tax paying citizens! There are billions of dollars of uncollected child support owed in this country and those costs are passed on to you, the tax payer. For example, if a parent who is not receiving child support is forced to get State assistance YOU are paying for that. You as a tax payer are in essence paying that person’s child support! This is a very important issue that has yet to gain national focus. We routinely hear about making sure our children get a good education, good health care and safe schools (which all SHOULD be at the very top of the list) however somewhere on that list we need to also have a conversation about making sure these children receive the financial support that they need and are entitled to which gives them the much needed stability at home before they even get to school. So this is not an issue for parents, grandparents or guardians that are providing for these children, it’s an issue for all Americans! “National alarm bells should be ringing over the shocking fact that ONLY 41 percent of custodial parents receive their full allotment of child support”. (According to America’s Child Support Scandal at http://blogs.lawyers.com) YOU/WE are paying for the rest! This petition is to demand that State and Federal Child Support Enforcement Agencies be required to uphold and enforce their own policies and procedures. Even if you still feel that you are not directly affected by this issue I am sure that you have a friend or family member who is. Lets close the loop-holes for the evaders of child support AND close our pockets! If you or someone you know is not receiving the proper support from your Child Support Enforcement Agency or you would just like to voice your opinion to support hard working families and their children and to support good use of your tax dollars, please sign this petition today! Let’s request a national overhaul of the child support system. Sign this petition so that the voices of the many children of parents who are “making-do” can be heard! Let them know that we are not satisfied with “making- do” and we want you to “Make it Happen NOW!” Please read on AND SIGN THIS VERY IMPORTANT PETITION!

On March 1st, due to Congress' refusal to act in the interest of the citizens, a series of automatic cuts took effect. These cuts threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs, vital children and senior citizen services, services for citizens with mental illnesses, and our armed forces. This disaster could be averted if all members of Congress truly work together on behalf of the people who sent them there.

As a social worker and native of South Carolina, I have seen first hand the consequences of our under-funded health and mental health systems. The entire state will be harmed by failing to accept funds available under the Affordable Care Act to extend services to more poor citizens, especially in light of cuts in the state budget over the past few years.

taxpayers need to stop paying non working government officials.

Michael R. Bloomberg and Raymond W. Kelly have established practices, and policies which have been deemed a threat to Civil Rights Legislature. More than 700,000 New Yorker residents have been victimized and abused. This petition holds these individuals accountable.

Senator Rob Portman could be a key vote this year on legislation to fix our broken immigration system, but we don't know where he stands on the issue. We need Senator Portman to publicly support a pathway to citizenship for ALL immigrants currently living in the United States without papers. Most of these immigrants have lived in this country for more than a decade and have come to America to seek a better life for their families. They are Americans-in-waiting who are ready to fulfill the requirements of our citizenship process - to study English, pay taxes, maintain a good record and be of good moral character. Instead of focusing only on the border, we need a new approach to immigration reform that includes families and helps the economy too.

Big polluters are using the budget process to attack environmental protections that are critical for our air, water, and climate. We urge the Senate to stand up to these attacks on our environment and keep our budget clean. Over the next three days, a variety of amendments to the Senate Budget that reduce or eliminate environmental protections will come up for a vote. Especially critical amendments include: •An attack on the Clean Air Act that would prohibit the EPA from issuing new regulations protecting our environment from the most polluting coal-fired power plants in the country; •An attack on the Clean Water Act that would leave over 20 percent of our waterways unprotected; •An amendment forcing construction of the Keystone pipeline, which would deepen our dependence on the dirtiest oil on the planet, oil from tar sands; •An attack on the President’s ability to protect key parks and monuments from development.

Trans rights are human rights. The gender-nonconforming individuals of New York deserve the same rights & protections as any other New Yorker. Let’s send a message to the Governor Cuomo & Senator Skelos that we stand for equality and ask them to bring GENDA—the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act—to a vote now!

I believe this should be acceptable in any state, but I think we need to allow people to get married, no matter what gender is in love. I have family who is gay and I'm sure they want it to matter that they may be in love.