An analysis of the bills sponsored by state Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown, shows the assemblyman has had 12.5 percent of the 29 individual pieces of legislation he has sponsored approved by the Assembly, with two passing the Senate and one signed and implemented by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Being in the majority certainly helps, at least in the state Senate, where State Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean saw 39.6 percent (69) of her 174 proposed bills be passed by the Senate.

Eleven of Young’s bills were passed by the Assembly and 10 were signed by Cuomo. The lone bill both Goodell and Young had vetoed by the governor was legislation that would have rescinded the rest of the state’s fine against the Panama Central School District. The piece of common legislation both Young and Goodell had signed into law by Cuomo grants authority to the Jamestown City Council to implement a residential real property tax exemption program to encourage the rehabilitation, construction and improvement of real property within the city.

Goodell and Young have also worked together to garner state legislative approval for Chautauqua County to continue its additional sales tax and bed tax through November 30, 2019, and for storm relief to repair infrastructure caused by a severe storm in 2015.

SWIMMING UPSTREAM TOGETHER

Much of the legislation the two have each sponsored in their respective chambers have had trouble receiving legislative approval — though much of their shared agenda is popular with constituents. Among common legislation, the Senate approved S. 514, which would create provide financial incentives to the City of New York and the counties to identify and prosecute Medicaid fraud, thereby helping eliminate fraud, waste and abuse. The legislation has not been approved by the Assembly. Both have proposed legislation (S. 533 and A. 7097) authorizing random drug testing of individuals on public assistance. Both Young and Goodell have also introduced legislation to require participation in education programs leading to a high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma for those seeking public assistance. Neither the Assembly or Senate has approved that piece of legislation.

Both Goodell and Young have also introduced legislation that would provide flexibility to local Social Services Departments to help those in the welfare-to-work system. The legislation, which has not been approved in either chamber, rewrites section 341 of the social services law. The law currently requires Social Services departments to send a 10-day written of a right to request conciliation in the event of the recipient fails to comply with employment or job training requirements. Sometimes the recipient has a reason for the failure to comply that can be resolved by the local Social Services district, such as lack of child care or transportation. Even if these issues can be resolved, however, the extensive delay inherent in the current process often results in the loss of the job training or employment opportunity because the job training classes or employment opportunities cannot wait for several days for these issues to be resolved. By allowing the local social services districts the right to immediately conduct conciliation efforts, the local social services district can maximize the likelihood that the underlying issues can be quickly resolved so that the participant can successful participate in the employment experience or job training program.

If the recipient does not have a reasonable basis for the failure to participate in employment or job training, then the social services district must provide the recipient with a ten day notice of the right to request a fair hearing. Unfortunately, it may take several weeks before the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance schedules the fairing hearing because of scheduling issues, during which time many recipients continue to receive welfare benefits. It is estimated that current delays in scheduling the hearings costs the state more than $10 million a year. In an effort to reduce this delay, this bill would enable the fair hearing to be held using video conference equipment, where all parties can see and hear each other.