"Last year, my colleagues and I in the Assembly provided a record amount of funding to our school districts. Despite this, in her 2025 Executive Budget, Governor Hochul unfortunately proposed reversing this and cutting funding for our schools. Under no circumstances will I support a budget that will make cuts to the 14 public schools in my district.

“Right now, the Rome School District, the largest school district in the 119^th Assembly District, is facing a budget shortfall. If New York State does not fully fund the Rome Schools, they will be forced to lay off teachers. At a time when our children's test scores have decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot, under any circumstances, lay off our teachers.

“In our Assembly One House Budget, my colleagues and I rejected these disastrous education cuts and increased school aid by $1.3 billion. In addition to providing more funding to our schools, we reinstated the “Hold Harmless Provision” that will prevent future reductions in school aid.

“Over the past few weeks, I have been in constant contact with the Rome School District and have pledged to them that I will do everything in my power to prevent teacher layoffs. I have also heard from the other school districts in our community about how these budget cuts will impact them. It would be inexcusable if we cut our schools but provide funding to deal with the Federal Government's inaction on immigration.

"As we enter the final stretch of budget negotiations, I call on my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to stand firm in our opposition to Governor Hochul's proposed budget cuts.