October 27th, 2009
By:Michael McGuire, Sun Staff Writer
NORWICH – The choice to have a Constitutional Convention, and potentially make fundamental changes to state government, is put to voters by law every 20 years.
The next scheduled chance will be in 2017.
The “People’s Convention to Reform New York Act,” if passed, would put the question to voters in 2010.
Sponsors of the bill don’t think change can wait seven more years. They’re hoping for the people to approve a Constitutional Convention for 2011, with the intention of changing “how the state does business,” suggesting that limits on state taxes, caps on spending and restrictions on unfunded mandates be addressed.
Introduced last month by Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua), the bill would also prevent elected officials – unless they vacated their posts – and lobbyists from being delegates and having a hand in the reform.
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October 21st, 2009
Syracuse Post Standard
By Brian M. Kolb
129th Assembly District
“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
So goes the populist rallying cry of anchorman Howard Beale in the classic 1976 movie “Network,” as he implored viewers fed up with the country’s unemployment, stagflation and directional drift to yell out of their windows in sheer frustration.
More than 30 years after “Network” played in theaters, countless New Yorkers can relate to how Beale felt. Our state government has, sadly, morphed into a costly, impersonal and unresponsive bureaucracy. Our state’s high taxes and cost of living crush family budgets while chasing away employers and private sector jobs. Our economy, devastated by the recession, has left nearly one in 23 New Yorkers jobless.
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October 19th, 2009
The Evening Sun
By: Michael McGuire, Sun Staff Writer
NORWICH – A group of lawmakers are asking local municipalities to support a bill that would allow voters in 2010 to decide if the state’s constitution should be overhauled.
The “People’s Convention to Reform New York Act” suggests that a Constitutional Convention be held to change “how the state does business” and address setting limits on state taxes, caps on spending and restrictions on unfunded mandates.
Introduced last month by Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua), the bill would prevent elected officials and lobbyists from being delegates and having a hand in the reform.
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October 14th, 2009
City Journal
John P. Avlon
Most elections for New York City offices are effectively decided in Democratic primaries with very low turnouts. In New York’s vibrant first City Council district, which stretches from Soho to Battery Park and holds roughly 150,000 people, Chinatown community activist Margaret Chin beat incumbent councilman Alan Gerson by receiving 4,541 votes to Gerson’s 3,520—and that was one of the higher turnouts in the city-council primaries three weeks ago. Turnouts are even lower when no candidate in the primary receives 40 percent of the vote and a primary runoff must be held; the runoffs for public advocate and city comptroller two weeks ago were determined by just 7 percent of registered Democratic voters.
October 8th, 2009
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Brian M. Kolb
Guest essayist
Are you fed up with Albany? Do you really want reform in state government? Are you tired of all the partisan bickering in our state capitol? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then consider joining a growing, non-partisan grassroots effort to convene a “People’s Convention to Reform New York” and take back your government.
New York’s challenges are huge: Our citizens and businesses pay some of the nation’s highest property and personal income taxes, energy, transportation, workers’ compensation, pension and regulatory costs. Public confidence in state government — and those serving in it — is at an all-time low, while anger with Albany is at an all-time high and rightly so.
A People’s Convention could be New York’s last, best hope for the real reforms and positive changes that have been talked about for years: from a state spending and property tax cap, to term limits for legislative leaders and non-partisan redistricting.
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October 7th, 2009
Crain’s New York Business
Recent meetings on fixing the state budget involving executive and legislative staffers have included the minority conferences of both houses, which hasn’t always been the case. While this is encouraging to Republicans, the reason has more to do with politics than with good will, says Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb, R-Canandaigua: Democrats do not want to be solely responsible for more than $2 billion in service cuts, taxes and fees.
“They didn’t want us in the room before,” Kolb says. “Now that they’ve got a real problem, they want to share the pain.”
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October 2nd, 2009
Poughkeepsie Journal
By Joel Miller
The recent state Senate “coup” proved that each political party is willing to do everything it can to have total power.
We witnessed a short-lived power-grab in the Senate by the Republicans, who for decades controlled that house with fierce domination while never expressing any interest in government reform.
Then the newly elected Democrats, having run on a campaign of reform while delivering none, regained power. The power to control was gained when each party took turns aligning itself with the most ethically and morally challenged members of the Senate.
When the dust settled, there was some reform, but when the Democrats regained power, they rewarded defector Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. with a leadership position, kept Sen. Malcolm Smith in power and welcomed Sen. Hiram Monserrate back to the caucus.
The circus that visited the Senate was a disgrace to the state and an unmistakable demonstration of why we need a “People’s Constitutional Convention.”
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October 1st, 2009
Chosen by his colleagues as minority leader of the NYS Assembly this past April, Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua) has put a stake in the ground on reforming New York State government by calling for an early constitutional convention. In our interview we asked him about what a convention would cost and why he’s confident the outcome would be positive for NYS.
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