December 28th, 2009

Kolb says legislation has been introduced to move up the date from 2017 by putting the issue on the ballot next November. He says the legislation needs to be passed by both the Senate and Assembly by the end of the Legislative session next June. Kolb says a “People’s Convention” would put the abllity to reform state government in citizens’ hands and deliver the real change New York needs, including a property tax cap, a state spending cap and term limits for Legislative Leaders. For more information, you can log onto reformNY.org. Kolb was a guest on this morning’s First Look Program.

December 27th, 2009

Capital Tonight

Time Warner Cable – interview with Erin Billups

http://legacy.news10now.com/shared/videolists/default.asp?VLID=1048&destlist=2637&current=2637

Assembly Minority Leader Kolb discusses the recent town hall meetings in Queensbury and Plattsburgh and his call for a People’s Convention to Reform New York.

December 22nd, 2009

More than 1,700 people have signed an online petition supporting the bill

December 21st, 2009

Q: What is the “People’s Convention to Reform New York?”

A: The People’s Convention to Reform New York is a nonpartisan, grass roots effort to bring positive change and chart a new direction for New York state. The question of whether New York should convene a People’s Convention will automatically go before voters in 2017. The “People’s Convention to Reform New York Act,” (Assembly Bill A.9157) would move the opportunity for reform up by seven years by placing it on the ballot for the 2010 elections.

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December 21st, 2009

There are a lot of good arguments not to have a state constitutional convention.

* It will be costly, as much as $12 million to $20 million. The 1997 convention rejected by voters was projected to cost $50 million.

* The delegation could easily end up being stacked with puppets for powerful legislators and special interest groups, no matter how many safeguards they put in.

* Membership will be heavily skewed to New York City and Long Island, where the bulk of the state’s population lives.

* The Legislature already has the power to make many of the improvements that supporters of a convention are hollering about, including ethics reform, mandate relief, and tax and spending caps.

* You could be worse off than you are now, if the convention produces amendments that result in changes that increase the cost of government.

* And realistically, it’s possible it won’t accomplish much, if anything. The last constitutional convention, held in 1967, was considered a bust. Every single one of the recommendations made during the five-month convention was eventually rejected by voters, even though some of the amendments would have improved life for many New Yorkers. So when the proposal for holding a convention came up for a vote in 1977 and again in 1997, citizens decided they didn’t want to bother.

There you have it. Six solid reasons why the state shouldn’t hold a constitutional convention.

They should hold one anyway. Here’s why.

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December 17th, 2009

By PAUL POST, The Saratogian

QUEENSBURY — More than 100 frustrated, angry residents turned out Wednesday to learn about plans for a so-called People’s Convention to reform state government.

The initiative is being spearheaded by Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, who was joined by local Assembly members Tony Jordan, R-Greenwich, and Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro, who also represent parts of Saratoga County.

The state constitution makes provisions for a People’s Convention every 20 years, where delegates gather to propose changes in state government, apart from the Legislature. Issues could run the gamut from term limits to redistricting or spending and tax caps.
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December 17th, 2009

By: Melissa Stagnaro, Sun Staff Writer

Earlier this week, I attended an information session hosted by Commerce Chenango. For roughly an hour, a group of local business people, elected officials and I listened to Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb talk about the need for reform of our state government.

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December 17th, 2009

The top Republican in the State Assembly came to the North Country Wednesday night with local Assemblywoman Janet Duprey.

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December 17th, 2009

By JOE LoTEMPLIO
Staff Writer

PLATTSBURGH — Wednesday night’s town hall meeting in Plattsburgh did not elicit the anger that a similar session in Glens Falls did earlier in the day.

But the message about state government reform was just as clear.
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December 17th, 2009

By MAURY THOMPSON thompson@poststar.com 

QUEENSBURY – State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb said he wants to channel the frustration of ordinary people to reform state government, where, in his words, change moves slower than “a pile of molasses.”

“Albany as a conglomerate — the institution — has really lost its way,” Kolb, R-Canandaigua, said at a forum at the West Glens Falls fire station in Queensbury, where he called for conducting a “People’s Convention” that would meet to recommend changes to the state Constitution.

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