by Staff
State Sen. Betty Holzendorf told the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee this week that the upcoming legislative session may be the most contentious in years.
“We have a very real budget problem,” she said, “and it’s time for reapportionment, too. That will get in the way. Every politician wants his or her district lines in a certain way.
“Sadly, some people think that’s more important than taking care of the needs of the state.”
Holzendorf said that Gov. Jeb Bush’s warning about a deficit, mostly due to the drop in sales tax because of the slowdown in the tourism industry, should be heeded.
“The question now is what do we cut?” she said. “Unfortunately, some people want to cut the services that people need. We can help take care of people in New York City, and now we need to take care of the people who need state services.
“Sometimes, the governor doesn’t turn on his hearing aid. He doesn’t hear the people’s voices.
“We have too much politics when reapportionment happened. Children aren’t Democrats or Republicans; they’re children. Sick people aren’t Democrats or Republicans; they’re sick. We need to make sure we take care of our own, and that won’t happen unless we work hard on the budget.”