122nd District Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R,C-Black River) says that efforts to repair infrastructure and aid agriculture reflected in the budget approved by the state Legislature are good, and that the process of building the budget is improved, more needs to be done about mandate relief and cutting taxes.

He issued a statement on the budget Friday afternoon, and it follows:

Today, we’ve passed the first early budget in nearly 30 years, while keeping spending low and enacting some important reforms. I am pleased by how open and transparent the process has been for legislators and the public. Most importantly, during these difficult times when families are working hard to make ends meet, we were able to avoid new taxes and invest nearly $4.6 billion wisely to repair crumbling roads and bridges and economic development programs to make our state stronger and able to produce new jobs.

Agriculture is finally being given the recognition it deserves as an important part of a healthy economy, with roughly $21 million in investments in agricultural programs. I am especially proud to announce that we not only restored our Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, but we were able to add $200,000 to this critical program. Additionally, we enacted the new Agricultural Economic Development – Farm Viability Program, a $3 million investment.

While this budget did many good things, it’s clear that we have much work to do in terms of full unfunded mandate relief, enacting a real state spending cap and cutting taxes for all New Yorkers. We offered these items up as amendments to the budget, but they were rejected by Assembly Democrats. I intend to keep working on these matters to finally realize true taxpayer savings throughout the state