New Plates and Early Voting
by Doug la Rocque
The issue of early voting, both where and who pays for it, will again be before the Rensselaer County Legislature when it meets on Tuesday, September 10. The Republican Majority has introduced legislation that calls upon New York State to pay for these early voting times and sites.
In the press release, the Republican Majority said the State recently notified all of the county boards of elections that New York would be cutting nearly 80% of the funding promised to pay for some of the mandated costs associated with the new early voting requirements established by the State.
“We were promised over $80,000 to pay for the costs of early voting sites, labor and equipment. Now we are told that we are only budgeted to receive $30,000,” said Chairman of the Legislature Michael Stammel.
The six Democratic members of the legislature’s minority caucus are once again introducing a bill to add a third early voting site for the City of Troy. The previous bill failed to make it out of committee for a vote. At the time, the majority lawmakers said one of their objections was that the legislation failed to name a proposed site. The new bill identifies the Rensselaer County Office Building on 7th Avenue as its proposed location. That location has met with opposition from some GOP lawmakers, who site parking and a possible hindrance on county operations.
Governor Andrew Cuomo recently introduced a series of new automotive license plates he is asking New Yorkers to vote on. The governor stating at the time, it is because the EZ Pass system has a problem reading the current gold plates. The new plates are scheduled to roll out in April of 2020 and would carry a mandatory replacement fee of $25. The majority of the legislators are joining County Clerk Frank Merola in his opposition to the new plates. In a press release, Mr. Merola says “This is nothing but a NYS money grab, pure and simple. I am surprised that the Governor can keep a straight face in defending this ridiculous replacement program. As a clerk who spends a portion of every working day in DMV, I have yet to hear of anyone having a problem with utilizing the EZ Pass system with their current plates. The state needs money and the Governor figured that this would be the easiest way to raise it, the people be damned.”
The new plates are not sitting well with some members of the Governor’s own party. Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, a Democrat who represents Montgomery as well as portions of Schenectady and Albany counties, has introduced legislation in the Assembly to stop the rollout.