County Legilator Mike Kaplowitz Announces Candidacy in SD-40

Apr 20, 2010

My name is Mike Kaplowitz. I'm running for State Senate because New York State and our local governments are in a financial emergency and I can help make New York work again.

I’m announcing for State Senate in Carmel because the county property tax levy here in Putnam County is up by 79 percent in the last five years, one of the highest increases in New York State. And the state legislature has caused much of that by shifting the tax burden onto local property taxpayers. I want to be your next State Senator because Albany has mismanaged our finances, spending $9.2 billion dollars more than they take in and running out of cash to pay the bills, even threatening to delay our tax refunds and local school aid.

New York State has insane property taxes, a bankrupt government, and an irresponsible legislature. We’re in a state of emergency, and our legislature has neither the ability nor the will to get us out of it. But it does not have to be that way.

I'm a budget expert, a fiscal conservative, a small business owner and a local legislator. I'm a Certified Financial Planning Practitioner. What I do for a living is to show people how to get more for their money. I saved Westchester County over $110 million dollars in wasteful spending, and I helped preserve the county’s AAA bond rating, saving millions more in higher interest costs. As a State Senator, I will save money for Putnam and Dutchess taxpayers as well.

I am a Democrat, but I voted against the former Democratic County Executive's tax increases and voted against pay raises for myself and the other legislators, including the Board Chairman. I voted against a bloated legislative budget. I even refused to accept the $3,000 stipend for chairing a committee, refused to take a government-paid cell phone, and voluntarily agreed to pay towards my health insurance. Because of my independence, I lost my Vice Chairmanship and had my office cut in half, but I won’t be silenced.

New York must focus on creating and saving jobs. By helping to save the Westchester Medical Center from bankruptcy, I helped to preserve jobs while taking a money-losing hospital that was costing taxpayers $35 million per year and making it viable and independent. There is no taxpayer subsidy this year.

By promoting tourism in the Hudson Valley, I created new jobs. By preventing large tax increases, I helped the local businesses that drive our economy. I want to create more jobs by attracting clean energy industries here, building a new Tappan Zee Bridge and other infrastructure projects, and making our State University a magnet to draw businesses to New York. As a small business owner myself, I know we must help small businesses survive and thrive; state tax credits for hiring new workers can put many New Yorkers back to work. Bringing jobs to our district is something I've done before and will be the focus of my work in the State Senate.

My other focus will be to reduce spending and reduce property taxes. I will fight to finally put caps on property taxes and to restore and strengthen the STAR program. I will fight to revise the school aid formula to get our Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester schools their fair share of state funding. I will fight to stop Medicaid Fraud. Medicaid costs are out of control in New York State. We spend more on Medicaid than California and Texas combined.

To save money, I have proposed sweeping pension reforms including an end to the use of overtime to inflate the pensions of new employees. I will push for a hiring freeze. Each year, 16,000 employees retire or leave state government. If we don’t replace many of them, we can save $800 million dollars. I will help to repeal the ridiculous laws that require unnecessary contracting rules and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

I will fight to reduce the State’s more than $115 billion mountain of public debt. Albany has allowed billions in borrowing without taxpayer approval through more than 500 public authorities. It's time to hold authorities and departments accountable, consolidate and downsize them, and establish an independent fiscal watchdog.

The mess in Albany is bipartisan and the system is fundamentally broken. In the legislature, Democrats and Republicans are equally responsible for over-spending, over-taxing, and over-borrowing. They spend lavishly on themselves while leaving the rest of us with intolerable taxes. When they pour our tax dollars down the drain, they rob our families of the money we need to feed, clothe and educate our kids.

The task we face is not easy. But the election of a new governor and a new legislature this year is the opportunity to turn our state in a new direction. To make New York work, we need a citizens' revolution at the polls, a taxpayers' revolt to elect truly independent leaders. This is my hope, and this is why I'm running.

I am optimistic that our problems can be solved. Our state needs new leaders. Independent leaders. Better leaders. It will take all of us, working together, to turn our state around and make New York work again! My name is Mike Kaplowitz, and I’m running for New York State Senate.