Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C – Batavia) is touting the recent announcement that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will review Western New York’s gas prices as a major victory for our local drivers. Hawley has previously called on the attorney general’s office to investigate the pricing disparity among localities within his district and is pleased to see his constituents’ needs being addressed at the highest levels of state government. “Despite a decrease in the price of oil worldwide, gas prices in Western New York continue to be higher than the national average and have ballooned more than a dollar per gallon in the last year alone,” said Hawley. “Reviewing industry practices will allow Western New Yorkers to see exactly where their money is going and will permit the state to take action if it is found that wrongdoing is leading to staggering prices. I applaud Attorney General Schneiderman for heeding the call of our overburdened drivers and reviewing this issue in a timely and transparent fashion.” Hawley has spent two years working on this issue with both the current attorney general and the former officeholder, Governor Andrew Cuomo. According to AAA, gas prices have risen over the last year in Western New York by 38 percent. Levies are particularly high in the counties of Genesee and Orleans, as well as the Town of Batavia, where Hawley cited prices costing as much as $0.35 cents per gallon more than other areas of the state. It is this county-by-county discrepancy that warrants further investigation into pricing. A copy of letter sent to Attorney General Schneiderman this past January on the issue of gas prices in western New York is below.