Even under the best economic conditions, back-to-school shopping can be financially challenging. In today’s times of historic inflation and economic uncertainty, it’s an even bigger hill to climb. Unfortunately, this is the reality facing many New York families as September rapidly approaches. And for this reason, the Assembly Minority Conference has offered proposals to help ease the burden for families facing mounting education-related costs as well as for teachers who will inevitably wind up spending personal funds on their classroom and student needs.

“The cost of living in New York has been too high for too long and something needs to be done about it.”

To put the issue in context, the U.S. Department of Labor recently released new consumer price figures showing inflation continues to linger at a near-four-decade high. Inflation rose 8.5 percent in July [on a year-over-year basis], indicating we are still far off from any sort of normalcy.

 To that end, the Assembly Minority Conference is advocating, as we have broadly for months, for consumer relief measures as the new school year approaches. Specifically, Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning) and I are calling on legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul to consider two important pieces of legislation to help both families and teachers in the coming weeks. Those bills are the:

• Teacher Tax Credit: Provides a $500 tax credit to teachers who contribute and/or purchase supplies, pay for field-trip costs, and help with student expenses (A.4977, Palmesano); and the

• College Supplies Tax Deduction: Establishes college supplies as a tax-deductible expense (A.5301, Barclay).

 We have also introduced legislation and called upon our Democratic colleagues to reduce the cost of everyday items like household items, food purchases and gasoline. We’ve also supported across-the-board tax and spending cuts. The cost of living in New York has been too high for too long and something needs to be done about it. Now, as many in the state prepare to take on the added financial strain of a new school year, is a particularly opportune time to mitigate as much of these costs as we can.

Whether it is educators, college students, families, or individuals simply trying to get by, we must provide relief from the harsh, overwhelming economic conditions suppressing our state. Right now, that is simply not happening, and I am calling on all of my colleagues across the state to take the steps needed to address these concerns as students, teachers, and parents get ready to head back to school.                             

William (Will) A. Barclay, 53, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. 

The worst impulse of career politicians in Washington, D.C. is to throw money at a problem without having any idea of how to fix it. 

Last year, the Democrats rushed through a $1.9 trillion boondoggle spending bill, one of the largest in U.S. history, without any Republican support or input. Earlier this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the bill contributed to the record-high inflation Americans are experiencing now. Unfortunately, the Democrats, driven by far-left socialist authoritarians, have not learned their lesson.

The Democrats’ solution to the nightmare we are suffering under today, which was caused by out-of-control government spending and a war on reliable energy production, is even more inflationary spending and increased barriers to affordable American energy. With energy prices already at record highs, the [legislation, which Democrats are calling the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022] will raise taxes on American energy production by $12 billion and will harm access to reliable energy — a necessity for growth, prosperity, and to emerge from today’s stagflation.

As Americans are already struggling to make ends meet, this misguided [new law that passed on Aug. 12] will raise taxes on earners making less than $400,000 by $16 billion, breaking yet another one of Biden’s promises. With small businesses pinching every penny just to keep their doors open, this [legislation] will raise taxes by billions of dollars on nearly 5 million of America’s small businesses, harming job creation and productivity. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities across America, especially in upstate New York, where entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, and family farms dominate the landscape.

At a time when Americans are rightly worried about the weaponization of the federal government against a former president, this [new law] will hire 87,000 new IRS agents to target 710,000 Americans making less than $75,000 per year. This is not “progress.” This new politically charged Democrat “militia,” which will make the IRS roughly the size of the U.S. Marine Corps, will not only be armed to intimidate and undermine the rights of already beleaguered taxpayers, but it will also exacerbate the economic disaster that Biden and the Democrats have thrust upon American citizens with their extreme tax and spend policies.

Some of the other worst provisions in the Democrats’ law [which I am calling the Inflation and Recession Act] include the following:

• Reduces Medicare spending by more than $200 billion to pay for [green policies];

• Gives $80 billion to the IRS, allowing the agency to hire 87,000 new agents;

• Destroys retirement security by instituting a stock-buybacks tax that will harm seniors and other savers who invest in a 401(k) the most;

• Institutes a drug-pricing scheme that will crush American innovation, leading to the development of as many as 342 fewer new drugs….; and

• Budgetary gimmicks to hide the true $248 billion cost of permanently extending Obamacare subsidies.                 

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R–New Hartford), 61, currently represents the 22nd Congressional District of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district encompasses all of Oneida, Madison, Chenango, and Cortland counties, most of Broome County, and portions of Herkimer, Oswego, and Tioga counties. This article is drawn and edited from a statement that Tenney issued on Aug. 12.