Andy Goodell
ALBANY – There are several key issues that still need to be addressed by lawmakers in the state capital.
That from assemblyman Andy Goodell, who returned to Albany earlier this week to begin the second half of the legislative session. Among the items to be considered is an increase the state minimum wage, which is already at $8.75 an hour and will jump up to $9 an hour at the end of this year. According to Goodell, he’s against raising the minimum wage anymore because he says it would prohibit job growth…
“I think that will hopefully be blocked because we’ve had three increases of minimum wage in the last three years<” Goodell said. “And every time you increase the minimum wage, the number of entry level jobs – which are the jobs that the working poor need – gets reduced.”
Goodell said his main focus will be on welfare reform to make it easier for people to get off of welfare and into the workforce.
“That includes random drug testing so that when someone applies for a job they can pass the pre-employment drug test requirements,” Goodell said. “It involves increasing the earned income tax credit so people can actually make more money as they go to work – the Earned Income Tax is really helpful for the working poor.”
Goodell said he’ll also introduce a bill to help increase graduation rates while also ensuring that graduates are equipped with the skills needed to enter the workforce.
As for legislation that has an impact locally, Goodell said he will push for support to increase the local sales tax to 8 percent – which county officials have said is necessary to provide property tax relief.
“When you look at our economy, that probably makes sense because we have a lot of agricultural interests in manufacturing, both of which are really affected by the property taxes and we have a significant number of senior citizens and the property taxes are a real burden,” Goodell said. “On the other hand, we also have a large tourism industry. So when you increase the sales tax, our guests from out of the area are paying more of our tax burden.”
Goodell said he thinks it’s likely he will be able to get the county’s request for a sales tax increase up for a vote in the Assembly. As for the Senate, Senator Cathy Young says that as long as the county can show that a sales tax increase will result in lower property taxes, it’s likely the Senate will approve the increase as well. situation.
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