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Audio Feature: This week in News for Rep. John Faso: 20170701

Jul 01, 2017 11:00 am
Here's the week in the news for Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook), the District 19 Congressman for the WGXC listening area. Click here to download or play an audio version of this report.

Kyle Hughes reports in The Daily Freeman that the war of words between New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) heated up June 26. Cuomo said that Faso's amendment to a bill in Washington D.C. that would cut taxes and healthcare to millions, “amounts to nothing more than a political Ponzi scheme." Faso's amendment would shift the cost of Medicare from New York counties to the state, with a promised tax cut for property owners. Cuomo has said that tax cut will be offset by the state having to hike taxes to cover the difference. "The Faso-Collins shell game cuts $2.3 billion in federal funding to New York and will force every resident of this state to pay a ‘Faso-Collins Federal Tax’ added onto local property taxes to make up the difference to avoid decimation of our healthcare system," Cuomo said. Faso answered back with his own press release, “While the Governor turns a blind eye to the repercussions of the property tax burden, Congressman Faso recognizes this burden is a critical factor in forcing many New Yorkers to flee our state.” Folks that do not own property get no tax cut, under the amendment, but will have access to less healthcare. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

• U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she was pleased June 27 when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled the Republican tax cut and health cut bill from a possible vote this week. “Health care in America should be a right, not a privilege. The decision to pull back a vote on the disastrous GOP health care bill was the right one. But make no mistake, just like the House of Representatives did after their initial failure, I take Majority Leader McConnell at his word that he will bring the bill back to the floor.... Obamacare is not perfect and it is far too expensive for many in our state. I stand ready to work in a bipartisan manner to make improvements to the law that would benefit New Yorkers. Specifically, I believe that all New Yorkers should be able to buy into Medicare at a price they can afford," Gillibrand's statement read.

Paul Kirby is reporting in the Daily Freeman Woodstock-based attorney David Clegg is the eighth Democrat to eye the 19th Congressional District seat. The trial lawyer, church deacon and former public defender will formally announce his intention to challenge first-term Republican U.S. Rep. John Faso at an event July 9 in Kingston. “I believe that we are fighting for the soul of our country,” Clegg said in a phone interview Mon., Jun. 26. “The Republican agenda is going to hurt a tremendous amount of people in our community.” Clegg said the health care bill currently before the Senate is “a tax break for the rich. It is sacrificing people who are vulnerable,” he said. “... It is going to harm a catastrophic number of people.” Clegg is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and the University of Buffalo Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review. After law school, he served as a VISTA volunteer representing Native Americans in western Nebraska and South Dakota. Clegg served as an assistant Ulster County public defender for nine years in the 1980s and 1990s. He is currently chairman of the Ulster County Human Rights Commission. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) voted June 29 to punish Hudson, Kingston, and other so-called "sanctuary cities" in his district by voting for H.R. 3003. The bill passed 228-195 and would require cities to work closer with federal immigrant enforcement officials, and allows federal law enforcement funds to be withheld from cities that do not comply. Locally, Hudson, New Paltz, Newburgh, Bethlehem, and Kingston are some of the towns that have adopted resolutions saying they will not support efforts to deport local workers. CNN predicts the bill may not pass in the Senate.
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