ALBANY – Legislation that
would have provided amnesty for clerical errors costing the Newburgh school
district a $13 million fine and the Chester district a $3 million fine
have been vetoed by Governor Cuomo and two area lawmakers are blasting
him.
Assemblyman and Senator-elect James Skoufis (D, Woodbury) said Cuomo’s
vetoes “demonstrated disturbing disregard for Orange County’s
students, including over one-third of children in the City of Newburgh
who live in poverty. He frequently accuses the president of lacking compassion
yet Governor Cuomo’s actions are nothing short of cold and calculating,
particularly heartless during the holiday season.”
Assemblyman-elect Colin Schmitt (R, New Windsor) called the vetoes “unconscionable…
punishing Chester and Newburgh when others with similar issues were given
a second chance.”
Schmitt called on the governor to “propose a solution to these fines
for Chester and Newburgh in his upcoming executive budget proposal.”
Skoufis urged the Senate to “quickly re-ass these two bills in early
2019 and take any and all actions necessary to see them enacted.”
