AMY PAULIN IN THE NEWS

Thursday, April 02, 2009
Some Assembly Democrats Rejected Budget

Politics on the Hudson [LoHud Blog]

The business group Unshackle Upstate today thanked the six Assembly Democrats who voted against against the state budget, saying it’s “an attempt to protect upstate business and citizen taxpayers.”

Buffalo-area Assemblymen Dennis Gabryszak, Robin Schimminger, Sam Hoyt and Bill Parment of Jamestown voted against the budget, along with Rochester-area Assemblymen Joseph Morelle and David Koon and Joan Christenson of Syracuse.

“We reinforce our call for the Upstate Senate Democratic Caucus to follow their peers, protect their constituents, and vote no on the proposed budget,” said the group’s executive director Brian Sampson.

Additionally, a number of suburban and upstate Democratic Assembly members voted against portions of the budget. Most Westchester County Assembly members, for example, voted against pieces of the budget.

For example, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, said she voted in favor of only three budget bills, including ones that dealt with the Rockefeller drug laws and the bottle bill.

“We need to scale back and we spent too much money,” Paulin said. “I’m worried about the economy of the future.”