League of Women Voters of New York State Education Foundation, Inc.
	Onondaga County, NY November 2, 2010 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Member of the State Assembly; District 119

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of New York State and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Economy, Budget, Campaign Finance, Redistricting, Education Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What measures do you support to save existing jobs and create new jobs in New York State? Answer from Sam Roberts: We need to make the Power for Jobs program permanent so that businesses do not need to guess every year whether or not they will receive low-cost energy. This program is extremely beneficial to Central NY businesses. I also support Andrew Cuomo's NY Works plan, which includes tax credits for businesses hiring workers and the belief that to create a better business climate we need to make sure small businesses can secure capital to keep afloat and grow. 2. How do you think New York can best deal with upcoming unsustainable deficit budgets? Answer from Sam Roberts: The state must cut costs because revenue has not kept pace with spending. Consolidation of state agencies must be continued and efforts to uncover waste and duplicative services must stay on course. I have a record of working to consolidate on my days in the county legislature; I sponsored a measure to consolidate city and county economic development agencies. We also need to implement GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Practices to reform the state budget process as a whole and implement stronger accountability measures. 3. What reforms would you propose to address inadequate campaign finance rules and enforcement in New York? Answer from Sam Roberts: There are those elected officials and those running for office in the state who abuse the system and try to hide where their campaign contributions come from and skirt the rules; more bodies are needed to enforce the rules that exist so no crooked politician can slip through the cracks. 4. What reforms would you support for the redistricting process? Answer from Sam Roberts: Politics needs to be taken out of redistricting and I support reform measures proposed by Andrew Cuomo and included in the NY Uprising pledge creating an independent commission to draw district lines instead of legislators. 5. Would you support a cap on property taxes and, if so, how do you think school districts can deal with the decrease in revenue? Answer from Sam Roberts: I do support a property tax cap, but only if it is specifically tied to mandate relief for school districts and local governments. We need to relieve school districts of unfunded mandates so more money goes where it belongs - into the classrooms. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.