League of Women Voters of New York State Education Foundation, Inc.
	Onondaga County, NY November 2, 2010 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues State Senator; District 50

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of New York State and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Economy, Budget, Campaign Finance, Redistricting, Education Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What measures do you support to save existing jobs and create new jobs in New York State? Answer from Kathleen Joy: Focusing on businesses which both create and utilize green technologies will maintain existing jobs and expand small businesses to create new jobs. We can combine our resources and talents here in Central New York with our colleges and universities, our environmental engineering firms and our strong work force to continue to be on the cutting edge in this field. I would provide tax incentives for those small companys to train and employ our unemployed work force and encourage the private and public sector to contract with those small businesses for their services or products. I would advocate for more green infrastructure projects across the State. 2. How do you think New York can best deal with upcoming unsustainable deficit budgets? Answer from Kathleen Joy: We must focus on both reductions in wasteful spending and ways to increase revenues. I would work within the Legislature to trim the Governors and Legislators budget, then carefully study other areas to cut spending. We must address the escalating cost of Medicaid in the State. I support creative ways to generate revenues such as authorizing the sale of wine in grocery stores while allowing liquor stores to sell non-alcoholic items. 3. What reforms would you propose to address inadequate campaign finance rules and enforcement in New York? Answer from Kathleen Joy: Limits should be placed on both campaign contributions and campaign spending. A reasonable amount of public funds could also be used to finance campaigns to create a level playing field for all candidates. 4. What reforms would you support for the redistricting process? Answer from Kathleen Joy: An independent commission must be created to redistrict based on common interest, geography and demographics. The districts cannot split municipalities nor disenfranchise certain voting groups. 5. Would you support a cap on property taxes and, if so, how do you think school districts can deal with the decrease in revenue? Answer from Kathleen Joy: Property tax caps lessen the burden on property owners provided that other measures are also taken. Some unfunded mandates must be eliminated from school district programs, overrides must be in place to allow the voters in school districts to decide themselves if tax increases should exceed the cap and tax relief "circuit breaker" based on income limits must also be explored. Outside of the school tax issue, we must enforce the Campaign for Fiscal Equity which requires that the State providing funding to our schools. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.