92nd District Candidate Responds

In a previous post, we discussed some of 92nd District Candidate Mike Duffy's Campaign platform. A reader posed a few questions and Mr Duffy's response is below:

Unfunded Mandates
With regards to unfunded mandates in general, I will propose legislation that mandates if the state passes the law mandating local and/or county compliance, the state pays for it. It would not be allowed to pass the costs down to county or local governments.

Medicaid
Medicaid is a federal program foisted on the states. The states' issue with Medicaid is that the 62 counties administer the program - this is unnecessary! The state should administer the program, allowing for uniform administration and a freeing up of county resources. A secondary major issue regarding Medicaid is that there is a tremendous amount of fraud in the system. Fraud raises the cost of Medicaid exponentially. Again, if the state administered the program, it would be in a better position to investigate and combat fraud. Most counties in NY have relatively small governments and the administration of Medicaid is a costly burden that needs to end.

Pensions
Public pensions are tied to collective bargaining agreements. However, often the high cost of pensions occurs due to the padding of overtime. Legislation could be enacted that would comport with the cba's (collective bargaining agreements), and fight overtime abuse.

Valhalla & the Kensico Dam
The roadway to the Kensico Dam is administered by the county, and the dam infrastructure belongs to the NYC DEP. You also have the towns of Mount Pleasant and North Castle involved. Having said all that, I would contact all the parties involved and work towards opening the dam by being persistent with all necessary individuals. I'm not saying it would be easy. What I am saying is that sitting back and nothing will accomplish nothing. I believe that intelligent persistence will result in the roadway bring opened, thus allowing a quicker commute, and relief to the traffic choked village of Valhalla.