By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
State Sen. George Borrello said last week that the 2026 legislative session was one of the least productive in years.
“Each year it gets worse,” the Sunset Bay Republican stated.
The $277 billion budget was approved two months later and includes new taxes on corporations and energy, Borrello told the Olean Star.
Borrello was most upset over the state’s failure to negotiate a gaming compact with the Seneca Nation. It impacts not only the Senecas, but Western New York municipalities — including Cattaraugus County and the City of Salamanca.
The county and city rely on their share of the revenue the Senecas give to New York state to make up for the loss of property taxes on homes sold to tax-exempt Senecas.
Another bill would eliminate the independent Redistricting Commission and allow the state legislature to draw congressional district lines. The bill needs to be approved again next year to get on the November 2027 ballot and take effect for the 2028 congressional elections.
Borrello thinks New York Democrats’ legislation to move all local elections — except New York City — to even years will mean more Democrats would be voting on the redistricting measure.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic state leaders say they are responding to President Trump‘s call for Republican-controlled state legislatures to redistrict congressional districts to elect more Republicans.
New York Republican leaders respond by saying state Democrats have been trying to create more Democratic districts for years.
Borrello noted that in the last week before the Senate and Assembly adjourned June 5, they passed 600 bills. It’s hard to be transparent when passing more than 100 bills a day, he explained.
Borrello noted that a number of controversial bills pushed to the end of the session were derailed by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, as damaging to Democrats.
The governor was responsible for the late budget, Borrello said. She held up budget negotiations over proposed changes in the state’s auto insurance laws. Hochul has never had an on time budget, he added.
“From what I can tell, nobody won,” Borrello said. “They watered it down so much to try to appease the trial lawyers that we’re not going to get any meaningful improvement to our auto insurance rates. New York pays the highest rates in the nation because of unlimited awards for damages.”
Regarding the Seneca gaming pact, which expired three years ago and has been extended several times on the same terms, Borrello said the Senecas are trying to bring the governor back to the table to negotiate in good faith.
“This impacts every municipality that gets gaming revenue from the Senecas,” Borrello said. Hochul sponsored a 17% increase in gaming revenue to municipalities at the same time that gaming revenues are decreasing “because the state has saturated the gaming market. It’s the worst compact in the nation.”
The state is going to have to reduce its 25% take of slot machine revenues, he said. “It’s shameful what she has done to the Seneca Nation.”
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