October 31, 2013

There are six proposed Constitutional Amendments that voters will decide on Tuesday November 5th. Some make sense and others are bad for New York.  The first will allow gambling with seven casinos. New York created the Lottery to fund education and to offset school taxes, yet New York pays $22,000 per pupil and has the highest school taxes in the nation. There is a finite number of gamblers and with competition from other states, the casinos will not yield significant revenue and jobs that the Governor is promising. Gambling also brings other problems such as crime and other addictions. We urge a no vote.

The second amendment will give a credit to a disabled veterans on civil service tests. Credits are already given for one's veteran status and this would recognize the sacrifice of our veterans who have gone above the call of duty. We recommend a yes vote. Amendment three would continue to allow municipalities and counties to exclude debt for sewage treatment plants construction or renovation from their constitutional allowed limits. New York has more public debt then California (if including public authorities). It is no longer viable to continue to increase the public debt. We urge a no vote. Amendment four and five deal with land swaps in State Park which will benefit our state forests. We recommend a yes vote on both.

The last amendment would increase the retirement age of Supreme Court and Appeals Court justices. While this amendment is not necessarily egregious, the People should have the right to elect all judges in New York State. This is not currently the case with Appeal Court Judges. We therefore lean toward a no vote as this does nothing to empower the People.