The overwhelming majority of this year’s budget was forced through the Legislature without any input from the minority conferences and without any input from the people of this state. This budget was crafted behind closed doors and left members of the...

“Today’s decision by Gov. Cuomo to ban non-essential state travel to Indiana because of the decision to reinforce individual religious liberty through its version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) is highly hypocritical. This governor...

Assemblyman Christopher S. Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) voted in opposition to the debt services budget bill (A.3002-A) that came before the Assembly today. Friend contends that the bill violates the state constitution because all new debt on behalf of the...

“The resolution the Assembly Majority brought to the floor today commemorating Gov. Cuomo for his upcoming trip to Cuba is a tacit endorsement of the human rights violations the Castros have been committing for over 55 years. The governor meeting with...

“Yesterday’s video released by Project Veritas regarding Cornell Assistant Dean of Students for Student Activities, Joseph Scaffido, and his willingness to allow a certain organization on campus is very troubling. The Islamic State and Hamas are very...

Assemblyman Christopher S. Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) is calling for all settlement funds awarded to the state be used to benefit ailing local and state infrastructure, be used to pay debt services, and have the state assume full control of the Medicaid...

Assemblyman Christopher S. Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) is a sponsor of Assembly Bill 4788, which passed the Assembly today. The bill would require New York State Authorities to webcast their meetings for the public. While many in the chamber were applauding...

Today, after two years of holding the bill hostage for political posturing, the Assembly Majority finally brought legislation to the floor to protect the victims of human trafficking and bring its perpetrators to justice. I am proud to have...

Today, I stood in opposition to the Assembly Budget Resolution, which outlined the Majority’s vision for New York. This vision included funding for the unconstitutional SAFE Act, funding cuts for our roads and bridges in the CHIPS program, a draconian...

Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats), the Ranking Minority Member of the Local Governments Committee, is taking issue with Gov. Cuomo’s property tax proposal in his 2015 Executive Budget. Assemblyman Friend says the proposal doesn’t...

Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats) will be fighting to include the executive branch and Gov. Andrew Cuomo into whatever ethics reform package the Legislature takes up this year. We have a governor who is within the purview of United...

Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats) is calling on Gov. Cuomo to release his school aid runs to the public. The governor has refused to release the school aid runs ahead of the budget, using them instead as political leverage for his controversial...

Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats) today joined his colleagues and members of the organization Blue Lives Matter NYC to raise awareness of the group’s mission. Blue Lives Matter works with the families of fallen officers around the...

Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats) is calling on Gov. Cuomo and the two houses of the Legislature to remove the DREAM Act from the proposed budget for the state. In a 30-day amendment filed by the governor, the future of the Tuition...

Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats) has signed on to Assembly Bill A.3134, legislation that would bar convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, childcare services, and parks. Recently, the New York Court of Appeals...

We heard a lot of promises last week when Assemblyman Heastie assumed his role as Speaker of the Assembly, including an assurance of a new focus on ethics reform. In his first week as Speaker, the legislature considered no ethics reforms. We have the...

Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats) has renewed his insistency on adopting ethics reforms following the news that over $500,000 in taxpayer funds will be paid to the Assembly staffers sexually harassed by former Assemblyman Vito Lopez....

Assemblyman Chris Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats), who had been a vocal critic of former Speaker Sheldon Silver, is calling on his Assembly colleagues to not squander this opportunity to reform the Chamber. “This is the first change in...

The initial pressure members of the Majority have faced in regard to removing Speaker Silver has finally taken hold. As Speaker, Silver fostered a dangerous environment for the women of New York. His former Chief of Staff, Michael Boxley, was arrested...

I would like to thank Gov. Cuomo for his continued attention to the economic distress of Upstate New York. Unfortunately, the joint State of the State and Budget Address was just the same failed strategy of politically picking winners and losers. The...