Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning) joined Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square), his legislative colleagues and town supervisors from around the state in pushing against Gov. Hochul’s housing plan at a press conference on Monday. The governor’s plan, if adopted, would add 800,000 housing units across the state over the next 10 years. The problem is that the governor has pledged to override any local elected officials and zoning board members who refuse to go along with her plan. Bipartisan officials from around New York are advocating the plan be left out of the final budget due Saturday, April 1.

“The governor’s housing plan is misguided and shows a callous disregard for local home rule,” said Palmesano. “We have already seen her administration push solar and wind farms on our upstate rural communities with little to no input or approval from the impacted local communities. Her housing plan would destroy the suburbs by forcing high-rise buildings in areas that don’t suit them. Our local zoning board members and local officials are there for a reason; they know the needs of the community. No plan should be passed through the Legislature that would take local control away and hand it over to the Hochul administration. Local control, not Hochul control.”