“When voting on the budget, I kept the needs of my constituents in mind. I voted to save and support many programs that improve education and the economy, and opposed measures that abuse public dollars.

“Education, which impacts nearly every New Yorker, is one of the most important issues facing our state. I voted to increase school aid by $1.1 billion and return more of the school aid taken from schools in the 2011-12 budget. It’s a start, but we can and must do more. I supported measures to reform Common Core, and I pledge to continue to push for passage of the Achieving Pupil Preparedness and Launching Excellence (APPLE) plan. I also believe education should be a lifelong pursuit for all New Yorkers, so I voted to increase library funding and college tuition assistance.

“The upstate economy is based largely on agriculture. I am very proud to have worked to increase funding to over $27 million for agriculture, especially the Maple Producers, the New York Farm Viability Institute, the Wine and Grape Foundation, and Northern New York Agricultural Development, among others.

“While there were many positive aspects of this budget, I voted against the use of public dollars to fund political campaigns. We should be focusing our time and energy on giving hardworking families and communities more relief.”