“It is an honor to be named to the Circle of Friends this year, as the agricultural industry plays a significant role in New York State’s economy,” said Jordan. “Here in the 112th Assembly District, we take great pride in our local farms and farmers as they significantly contribute to our economic well being and provide fresh foods to our communities. I will continue to advocate for the industry and will work with the Farm Bureau to ensure that New York’s agricultural community is always represented fairly in Albany.”

The New York Farm Bureau is a non-partisan volunteer organization financed and controlled by member families who strive to solve the economic and public policy issues challenging the agricultural industry. Those offered a Circle of Friends award have demonstrated that they understand the importance of agriculture in their community and how the industry impacts the economy and the future of New York State.

If you have any questions, concerns or ideas to improve the quality of life in the 112th Assembly District, please contact Assemblyman Jordan’s Fort Edward office at 518-747-7098 or his Albany office at 518-455-5404.

Governor Andrew Cuomo Deal Skelos Sheldon Silver
Executive Chamber Senate Majority Leader Assembly Speaker
State Capitol State Capitol Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12224 Albany, NY 12224 Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo,

I am writing to my concerns on behalf of the Elections Commissioners in the 112th Assembly District and throughout New York State, concerning the uncertainty for the 2012 election calendar. Specifically, the lack of clarity and uniformity between the state and federal election calendars has made it impossible for the election commissions to plan and adequately prepare. While I understand this may be a delicate process, the people of this state need to have a date set as soon as possible to ensure a smooth and seamless election process.

As you know some favor a mid-August date while others prefer the June date. There is no perfect choice, however, a choice must be made as we are running out of time. I think it is important for you as our Chief Executive Officer to weigh in to protect the integrity of our election process.

We must avoid the added costs of three primary dates. To help alleviate the concerns of our election commissions, I ask that you work with the Legislative Leaders to set a date now, and I offer my assistance in any efforts to resolve this important matter. As always, if you have any questions about this issue, please contact me directly at 518-747-7098.

Sincerely,

Tony Jordan
Member of the Assembly
112th District

Governor Andrew Cuomo
The Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo,

I am writing to you regarding the distribution of school aid throughout New York State. The school aid formula is broken. I wrote to you at this time last year with severe concerns over the manner in which education funding was being provided to rural schools. While you had returned statewide school funding to 2007-2008 budget levels, many school systems within my district received funding that was far below that which they received in the 2007-2008 budget. This continues today.

This discrepancy is caused by systematic flaws in the way we distribute State Aid to rural schools across New York. Again this year, schools within my district and across Upstate are facing budget shortfalls and considering eliminating teaching positions and valuable educational programming. Our economy continues to struggle, and in the era of the Tax Cap, local governments at all levels must learn to live within their means. I also feel that allowing schools to provide the best possible education they can to our students while minimizing the burden to our tax payers is impossible without providing a fair distribution of State Aid to all areas of the State through a formula that accurately represents the unique and significant challenges faced by our rural schools.

The education of our children is one of the most important tasks that government fulfills and perhaps the role that has the most profound impact on the future of our state and communities. Without a comprehensive examination and overhaul of the State Aid Formula, our rural school districts, and the students they strive so hard to serve, will be permanently disadvantaged. This will effect not only the students, but the entire community.

I urge you to work with the legislature to reconsider and reexamine the State Aid formula prior to the passage of the 2012-2013 budget. This is a critical juncture for rural education in New York, and now is the time for the leaders of this state to act in a responsible manner and ensure that the rural students of this state are not left behind their urban and suburban counterparts. The quality of a student’s education should not be determined by where they live.

As always, I stand ready and willing to work with you and your staff to come to an equitable solution to this problem. If I can be of any assistance or provide you with any additional information regarding this pressing matter, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Tony Jordan
Member of the Assembly
112th District

Governor Andrew Cuomo
The Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo,

I am writing to you regarding the impending implementation of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) of 2006. As part of the enacted 2011-2012 NYS Budget, the implementation deadline for the retrofit of heavy-duty diesel vehicles owned by State agencies, public authorities or by companies working on public job sites was postponed to December 31, 2012. As you are aware, the costs of implementing this Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) are significant to both government and private companies.

I am writing to urge you to consider repealing DERA either independently or as part of the 2012-2013 NYS Budget. The economic cost of this legislation to the State government, and to our economy is staggering, and in the current economic climate, continuing on the path toward implementation is not sound fiscal policy. If you should feel that the repeal of DERA is not currently a workable solution, I would urge you to once again consider postponing the implementation deadline. By allowing more time prior to implementation, we can utilize the normal turnover of fleet vehicles to accomplish the goals of this legislation without requiring expensive and onerous retrofits on existing fleet vehicles.

This is an extremely important issue both for the State government and for our private businesses. I urge you to consider altering the course of the implementation of this legislation in light of the severe fiscal impacts it will have. As always, I am ready and willing to work with you to craft a workable solution to this problem. If I can be of any assistance, or offer any further information with regard to the importance of this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Tony Jordan
Member of the Assembly
112th District

Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Executive Chamber
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Re: Member Items

Dear Governor Cuomo:

We were pleased to see that member items were once again not included in your proposed Executive Budget or in your 21 day amendments. In these difficult economic times, we encourage you to resist any pressure you may receive from the Legislative Leaders or others to add member items to the budget during the ongoing negotiations.

Historically, if Members refused member items, these funds were merely reallocated to other Members, doing nothing to reduce the State Budget. If you feel compelled to add in member items, we request that you include legislative language enabling individual Legislators to direct their member items toward reduction of state debt, or a circuit breaker rebate fund.

As always, we stand ready to assist you in any way to accomplish the above.

Sincerely, Sincerely,

Tony Jordan Teresa Sayward
Member of Assembly Member of the Assembly
112th District 113th District

Governor Andrew Cuomo
The Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo,

I am writing to you regarding the uncertainty that Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County have faced in recent years regarding the VLT aid for host communities. The City and County have experienced a decrease in VLT aid in excess of 50% since the 2008-2009 budget while their costs for hosting these revenue generating attractions has not decreased.

A predictable source of revenue from VLT hosting would allow the City and County to better plan for the funding of services which are vital to their communities and help to make these attractions successful and lucrative for the State. Host community benefits, including VLT aid, should correlate more closely to the cost-to-revenue ratio for the major host community. The lack of certainty in VLT funding each year provides for no predictability or stability and often does not reflect accurately the cost of the host communities

I stand ready to work with you on this very important issue for Saratoga County and Saratoga Springs to develop and implement an objective, predictable, and measurable funding formula for VLT aid to the City and County. If you have any questions with regard to this matter, or if I can provide you with any additional information, please contact me directly at 518-747-7098.

Sincerely,

Tony Jordan
Member of the Assembly
112th District