Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is railing against the Assembly Majority after they tabled a bill he sponsored during a Ways and Means Committee meeting that would have exempted veterans over the age of 85 from paying state income taxes (A.5033). Notably, this bill was rejected even after the Majority passed a budget that gives over $2 billion in assistance to illegal immigrants in the form of direct payments. The cost to the state in lost revenue from excluding veterans over 85 years old from state income taxes is estimated to be about $6 million, just over one fourth of one percent (.0000283) of the state’s record high $212 billion budget.

“The decision by the Majority to refuse to take this small step to show appreciation for our most elderly veterans even after giving billions to people who broke the law to come to this country is shameful, and representative of our state’s misguided priorities as a whole,” said Hawley. “We are failing those who have risked their lives for our freedoms and helping those who have disrespected our nation’s rule of law. It seems, year after year, the Majority places the well-being of lawbreakers above that of working people, and apparently even our veterans, even when they need our help more than ever during these unprecedented times.”