While serving in New York state government, John Faso helped draft a new state budget that sought to close a $5 billion deficit while also cutting taxes. He helped pass Jenna’s Law, which ended parole for violent felons, over the objection of Sheldon Silver, the former New York Assembly Speaker who is currently serving time in prison on corruption charges. Faso was also one of first proponents of charter schools in New York’s 19th congressional district, where last month he clinched the Republican nomination for Congress.

Faso said the biggest problem facing his district is slow economic growth, which has resulted in population decline. He said tax and regulatory reform are the best ways to inspire more private sector economic growth.

“The top priority is definitely getting our economy back on track,” Faso toldOpportunity Lives. “National debt is $19 trillion and counting, and that doesn’t account for all of the unfunded liabilities we have for healthcare and retirement security. And what I think the key here is to restrain and reform spending, but again create more economic growth in the country.”

America’s statutory corporate tax rate of 35 percent is too high, Faso said; he’d like to cut it to somewhere between 22 and 25 percent. He also wants to reduce the complexity of the corporate tax code and eliminate some deductions that would be offset by the reduced topline rate. Faso said too often small businesses are hit the most by the tax code’s complexity, unlike larger firms, which have an army of accountants. Faso also called for repatriation of corporate funds.

“I think that we should have a simpler, less complex tax system, both individually and for the corporate side,” Faso said. “We’ve got to fix this situation where U.S. multinational corporations are double taxed when they build foreign earnings at home. And I think that’s why we’ve got such a signification number of some $2.7 trillion worth of foreign earnings that are stashed abroad because it’s a unitary and not a tax system.”

Faso said Dodd-Frank financial regulations created the unintended consequence of reducing the number of community or small and medium-sized banks, which are the predominant drivers of economic development in his district.

“None of them were the systemic risk,” he said, yet these small banks are the ones unable to bear the burden of “tens of thousands of dollars or more for compliance for employees to produce reports that nobody reads.”

Faso said many small businesses have told him they aren’t going to grow above 50 employees because of the Affordable Care Act, or are shifting toward more part-time employment.

“That’s not a desirable goal, either,” Faso said. “While most of the regulation springs from good intention, much of it in practice acts as a disadvantage to economic activity.”

Faso said that New York now ranks 50th in business climate, in part due to regulations on everything from housing to automobile lending imposed by a bevy of federal agencies. He’s also concerned about executive overreach on the Affordable Care Act and immigration.

“These are examples of regulatory overreach we’ve seen this in the Obama administration,” Faso said. “It’s something that I think the Congress needs to step in and assert its prerogative. It’s unfortunate that the president has attempted to dramatically expand his authority through executive action where I don’t think he has it. Unfortunately, the wheels of justice grind slow. Whoever the next president is, I really hope the next Congress will act as co-equals and act as a check to the balance of power.”

Faso called 2016, “a unique year politically,” given the historic unpopularity of both major parties’ presidential candidates. But he doesn’t think this will hurt his chances in winning a seat in Congress.

“I think voters are able to distinguish between the office that they’ll be voting on and the candidate that they’ll be voting on,” Faso said. “I don’t see the decision for the presidential race affecting the decision for Congress in this district. I’m certainly hoping that the voters will pay attention to what I’m saying as opposed to what somebody else is saying.”

Faso said the political climate and rhetoric this presidential cycle is responding to some legitimate concerns.

“We’ve got to get more economic growth because that will resolve much of this anxieties that people are feeling,” Faso said. “What they are tapping into in terms of that anxiety is real. Now what is often not reflected in a lot of their rhetoric, or not reflected at all, just manufacturing just like agriculture, only a fraction but we produce so much more in terms of agriculture commodities and product.”

Faso said he was concerned about much of the rhetoric this presidential election cycle around the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“We have to be really careful about that in New York,” Faso said of the anti-NAFTA sentiment. “If there are aspects that need to be addressed, we should also recognize that there are more than 600,000 jobs dependent on trade with Canada. A lot of the rhetoric we hear is focused on Mexico. It’s often ignored that Canada is our largest trading partner. We have a healthy interaction with Canada, and that means a lot of New York jobs. Because it’s a success story, by and large, it doesn’t get commented on.”

During the GOP primary, Faso won in a two-man race with 68 percent of vote. He’s also received the backing from the Conservative, Independent and Reform parties. Faso has has the endorsement of Rep. Chris Gibson, the popular incumbent congressman who is leaving after a self-imposed limit of three terms.

“Chris is a great model,” Faso said. “He shows that working across party lines we can solve the problems that this country faces. The country is polarized, and in order to get the economy going and to solve the Medicare and Medicaid crises, we have to work on a bi-partisan basis to ensure that those programs are protected for the current recipients but also that they are solvent in the future.”

Start@ 6:00 mark

Part 2

(Airs 7/21/16) Host Dr. Alan Chartock is joined by John Faso, Former New York State Assembly Minority Leader and Republican Candidate for the 19th Congressional District seat.

Implores Regulators to Listen to Local Stakeholders 

KINDERHOOK, NY … July 21, 2016 — John Faso implored environmental and health officials in New York to listen to local stakeholders and address arbitrary and burdensome watershed regulations that are hurting property owners and small businesses while maintaining proven and cost-effective programs that protect the Catskill watershed and its water supply.

Watch his remarks here.

In speaking before New York State Department of Health officials at a public hearing Wednesday night in New York City, Faso said it was imperative to strike an appropriate balance between local concerns and imposed city regulations, some of which have proven to be ineffective, when renewing — and potentially modifying — New York City’s Filtration Avoidance Determination agreement, more commonly known as FAD. The New York State Department of Health is the agency in charge of issuing the FAD.

Faso, a Kinderhook resident who is running for the 19th Congressional District on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines, cited several successful programs — often community-led efforts that are incentive-based and funded by the Department of Environmental Protection — and pointed to overly onerous rules that do little to improve water quality yet alienate communities and stifle economic development opportunities throughout the district.

“My time spent in these communities listening to local stakeholders suggests that a little flexibility could go a long way and contribute to overall water quality and pollution control while scaling back some arbitrary and economically damaging regulations in (west of Hudson) towns, villages and hamlets,” Faso said in his remarks. (A full transcript is below).

Faso made his remarks at a public hearing pertaining to a waiver granted by the federal Environmental Protection Agency that allows New York City to avoid filtering surface water from its watershed in areas west of the Hudson (WOH). New York’s City’s waiver, or FAD, was issued in 1997 and is renewed every 10 years.
The western watershed provides 90 percent of the city’s water and serves millions of people. The remaining water comes from areas where no such waiver was granted and where water is filtered through a treatment facility.
The city first obtained its waiver by persuading federal regulators that water quality could be maintained through rules that limit land use in the region and provide some funding in exchange to offset local costs.
Such funding has gone toward upgrades to local wastewater treatment plants, new facilities, replacement of residential septic tanks and land acquisition.
“If we do nothing to address the legitimate concerns of our Upstate watershed towns, represented by such groups as the Coalition of Watershed Towns (CWT), recognized as an official party to the MOA (Memorandum of Agreement), then we risk losing access to a high-quality freshwater supply while further alienating Upstate communities in Delaware, Ulster, Greene, Schoharie, and Sullivan counties,” Faso said.

As a member of the New York Assembly, Faso developed and pushed proposals that led to real balanced budgets – including the first reduction in state spending in decades while closing a $5 billion deficit. He championed legislation that made a difference for tens of thousands of families such as the STAR program and education and real property tax reform. A former board member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Faso also served for three years as a member of the Control Board that worked to fix the financial and managerial issues of the City of Buffalo and its school system.
Mr. Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, a registered nurse, are the proud parents of two children. They have lived in Kinderhook, New York, for more than three decades.

Remarks Below:
The New York City watershed is correctly considered the gold standard of urban water supply. Stretching across eight counties, the watershed collects and directs approximately a billion gallons of fresh drinking water into the metropolitan area each day. The story of how the city accomplishes this is as much about good neighbors as it is good engineering. 

The Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) long-term watershed protection plan, authorized in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and implemented according to the 1997 Watershed Rules and Regulations (WRR), is at risk of breaking down. If we do nothing to address the legitimate concerns of our Upstate watershed towns, represented by such groups as the Coalition of Watershed Towns (CWT), recognized as an official party to the MOA, then we risk losing access to a high-quality freshwater supply while further alienating Upstate communities in Delaware, Ulster, Greene, Schoharie, and Sullivan counties.

With the issuance of a new Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD) approaching next year, now is the time to revisit many of the issues left unaddressed by the revised FAD in 2007. Specifically, I would like to address the unique circumstances of those watershed communities west of the Hudson (WOH) and how the current regulatory regime enforced by DEP dramatically reduces necessary development and squeezes the economic vitality of our small towns and villages within the watershed. 

Ever since eminent domain was used in the middle part of the last century to flood low-lying Upstate farmland and create the vast reservoirs draining into New York City, watershed communities west of the Hudson have accommodated the land-use rules imposed on them, provided they were administered fairly and with local control in mind. We have seen the fruits of this partnership in the Septic Rehabilitation Program administered by the MOA’s Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) and funded through DEP. This has been a cost-effective water-quality program that recognizes the flexibility needed for rural communities such as those found in Delaware County and elsewhere to comply with the sewage-upgrade requirements of the WRR. Consider if the expedience and cost-effectiveness of the Rehabilitation Program had not been in place: Delaware County property owners, where the median household income is approximately $44,183 a year, would have been required to upgrade to new septic systems at a cost of $35,000-$45,000, with no city or state funding to offset the incremental costs. The conditions would have been untenable. 

Another success story is the slate of the programs administered by the Watershed Agricultural Council. These programs are locally led, voluntary, incentive-based and funded by the DEP. Low-density land use in the agricultural and forestry industries are preferred land uses for watershed protection and it is essential these programs remain adequately funded via the FAD as they are cost-effective and are working. 

Water quality in WOH watershed communities has been stable or improving since the MOA was signed in 1997. It is not clear, however, that the DEP’s stormwater regulations have materially contributed to this progress or that these rules are administered in a manner sensitive to the character of rural communities as opposed to their urban and suburban counterparts. What has been clear, though, is the priority given to the DEP’s own rigid interpretation of the Storm Water Manual in implementing the stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP). Unlike septic issues, the DEP has displayed little interest in local concerns, and continues to force individual permit requirements — rather than statewide generic permit — on Upstate properties. The result has been that stormwater management is considerably more expensive within these watershed communities than it might otherwise be with a more collaborative approach through the CWC or some other local entity.

The DEP is attempting to preserve water quality by stabilizing development in WOH communities where decades of depopulation and deindustrialization have made such development rare. According to the Delaware County Economic Development Department, 95 percent of the county’s businesses have five or fewer employees, with gross business incomes of perhaps $400,000 per year. The costs — both monetary and opportunity — are too high for these commercial property owners to pay the engineering and legal fees associated with new stormwater permits or septic systems for small businesses. The DEP is regulating a development boom which simply does not exist in the western half of this watershed. 

Another central issue that concerns many people in the WOH watershed is the flood-mitigation programs that DEP and other governmental bodies are responsible for. The devastating flooding of August 2011 from Hurricane Irene is still very fresh in the minds of many residents, and though some good steps have been taken to help with future flood mitigation, there remains much more to be done. Many local leaders in the watershed would like to see more action taken to reduce the risk of future flooding, including reasonable year-round water levels in the DEP reservoirs.

On behalf of the communities represented in the WOH watershed, I strongly encourage the DEP to revisit its commitments in the MOA and subsequent revisions before a new FAD is issued. My time spent in these communities listening to local stakeholders suggests that a little flexibility could go a long way and contribute to overall water quality and pollution control while scaling back some arbitrary and economically damaging regulations in WOH towns, villages and hamlets.

John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.

###

Cites Faso’s Integrity, Record of Service to Community 

KINDERHOOK, NY … July 18, 2016 — Incumbent Congressman Chris Gibson (R-NY19) has endorsed John Faso in his run for the 19th Congressional District at an event in their hometown of Kinderhook, the Faso campaign today announced.

In backing Faso (R-Kinderhook), who won the June 28 GOP Primary with 68 percent of the vote across the 11-county district, Gibson cited Faso’s record, integrity and his distinguished dedication to the communities he has served throughout his 33 years living and working in the district.

“I know my neighbor John as a man of integrity and a person of character, and I know he is the right person to represent the people of the 19th Congressional District,” Gibson said. “We have delivered for the people of this district because my representation is rooted in an understanding of our area and always putting the needs of my constituents first. John will continue this tradition – he knows our communities and the challenges we need to overcome, and will put our district first in every decision he makes. I’m confident he can deliver results for all of us, and I’m proud to support my friend and colleague John Faso.”

As part of Gibson’s endorsement, both he and Faso announced a joint tour of the district beginning with stops at the opening of the Ulster County Fair (August 3), Rhinebeck Jewish Center Breakfast (August 7), and Veterans Outreach Center in Oneonta (August 12). More events and stops will be added over the coming weeks and months.

Gibson, who served three terms and is not seeking re-election because of self-imposed term limits, joins more than 60 other local and state leaders, committees and organizations who have endorsed Faso in the race, including state and local GOP and Conservative party leaders, elected officials from the 11-county district, CNBC television host Larry Kudlow, noted political science professor Dr. Gerald Benjamin and the state Conservative Party, among others.
Faso is running on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines in November’s general election.

“People know what is at stake in this election: Our country faces a crisis and is desperate for real reform. If elected to Congress, I will fight to balance the budget, reduce the national debt, ensure a strong national defense, and eliminate burdensome regulations on small businesses,” Faso said. “I will work to break through the gridlock in Washington and repair the damage that has been done under President Obama. This strong show of support from Chris Gibson is incredibly gratifying.”

As a member of the New York Assembly, Faso developed and pushed proposals that led to real balanced budgets – including the first reduction in state spending in decades while closing a $5 billion deficit. He championed legislation that made a difference for tens of thousands of families such as the STAR program and education and real property tax reform. A former board member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Faso also served for three years as a member of the Control Board that worked to fix the financial and managerial issues of the City of Buffalo and its school system.
Mr. Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, a registered nurse, are the proud parents of two children. They have lived in Kinderhook, New York, for more than three decades.

John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.

###

KINDERHOOK – July 18, 2016 … John Faso, the 19th Congressional District’s Republican nominee, will announce Congressman Chris Gibson’s endorsement of his campaign at noon today (Monday, July 18.)
The endorsement will take place at the Gibson residence in Kinderhook. Faso won the Republican primary on June 28 with nearly 68 percent of the vote after earning endorsements from the state Conservative, Independence and Reform parties.
Rep. Gibson is retiring this year after serving three terms in Congress.

What: Endorsement announcement from Rep. Chris Gibson (R-Kinderhook) for 19th Congressional District candidate John Faso
Who: Representative Chris Gibson and Congressional candidate John Faso
Where: 25 Hudson Street, Kinderhook, NY 12106
When: July 18, 12 p.m.

Faso is running to fill the seat now held by Congressman Gibson, who is not seeking re-election. As a member of the New York Assembly, Faso developed and pushed proposals that led to real balanced budgets – including the first reduction in state spending in decades while closing a $5 billion deficit. He championed legislation that made a difference for tens of thousands of families such as the STAR program and education and real property tax reform. A former board member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Faso also served for three years as a member of the Control Board that worked to fix the financial and managerial issues of the City of Buffalo and its school system.
Mr. Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, a registered nurse, are the proud parents of two children. They have lived in Kinderhook, New York, for more than three decades.
John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.

###

KINDERHOOK – July 15, 2016 … John Faso, the 19th Congressional District’s Republican nominee, will announce Congressman Chris Gibson’s endorsement of his campaign at noon on Monday, July 18.
The endorsement will take place at the Gibson residence in Kinderhook. Faso won the Republican primary on June 28 with nearly 68 percent of the vote after earning endorsements from the state Conservative, Independence and Reform parties.
Rep. Gibson previously campaigned with Faso over the July 4th weekend in Ulster and Greene counties. He is retiring this year after serving three terms in Congress.

What: Endorsement announcement from Rep. Chris Gibson (R-Kinderhook) for 19th Congressional District candidate John Faso
Who: Representative Chris Gibson, Congressional candidate John Faso, local and county officials
Where: 25 Hudson Street, Kinderhook, NY 12106
When: July 18, 12 p.m.

Faso is running to fill the seat now held by Congressman Gibson, who is not seeking re-election. As a member of the New York Assembly, Faso developed and pushed proposals that led to real balanced budgets – including the first reduction in state spending in decades while closing a $5 billion deficit. He championed legislation that made a difference for tens of thousands of families such as the STAR program and education and real property tax reform. A former board member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Faso also served for three years as a member of the Control Board that worked to fix the financial and managerial issues of the City of Buffalo and its school system.
Mr. Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, a registered nurse, are the proud parents of two children. They have lived in Kinderhook, New York, for more than three decades.
John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.

###

Kinderhook, NY — July 15, 2016 …The campaign for John Faso, who recently won the June 28th GOP Primary with approximately 68 percent of the vote across 11 counties in his bid for the 19th Congressional District, today announced that it has raised more than $1.4 million since entering the race. The NY-19 race “Leans Republican” according to the latest Rothenberg Political Report analysis.

Faso, who is running on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines, will report having $147,952 cash on hand, according to the campaign’s most recent filing that will soon be available online.

The Faso campaign has raised $178,874 since its last filing, which covers June 9 – June 30, 2016, bringing the total raised to $1,400,525 since Faso announced his candidacy. During this short filing period, the campaign received more than 295 donations ranging from $10 to $2,700, the maximum allowable per election cycle. (Donors may give $2,700 toward a primary and $2,700 toward a general election fund.) The median contribution was $200.

“Our reform message is resonating with voters and supporters and I remain humbled and grateful that people have shown so much faith and support for my candidacy,” Faso said. “With our primary win behind us, the next phase begins and it’s one that must be won if we are to change the terrible trajectory that the progressive left elitists and ivory tower intellectuals are taking this country. We must change the direction in Washington and enact common-sense reforms for everyday Americans.”

Faso is running to fill the seat now held by Congressman Chris Gibson (R), who is not seeking re-election. As a member of the New York Assembly, Faso developed and pushed proposals that led to real balanced budgets – including the first reduction in state spending in decades while closing a $5 billion deficit. He championed legislation that made a difference for tens of thousands of families such as the STAR program and education and real property tax reform. A former board member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Faso also served for three years as a member of the Control Board that worked to fix the financial and managerial issues of the City of Buffalo and its school system.

Mr. Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, a registered nurse, are the proud parents of two children. They have lived in Kinderhook, New York, for more than three decades.

John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.

###

Abandons all Pretenses of Principle;
Dives Headfirst into Cuomo and Hillary World

NY-19, July 14…Vermont-native-turned-New York City-professor-turned Hudson-Valley weekender-turned-NY-19-congressional-candidate Professor Zephyr Teachout has dived headfirst into the transactional worlds of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and presumptive Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in order to enlist their financial and material support in her run for congress, the campaign of congressional candidate and 30-plus year upstate resident John Faso today noted.

“Professor Zephyr Teachout got herself famous in left-wing circles by calling out Andrew Cuomo and Hillary Clinton as corrupt shills for monied interests in Albany and Washington and on Wall Street, and now she’s hitched up with both of them because it’s politically advantageous to her,” said Faso spokesman Dain Pascocello. “This shouldn’t come as a great surprise when you consider that Professor Teachout has a habit of relocating to wherever there’s an office to run for, but for those who genuinely believed what she said about Cuomo and Clinton this has to be dismaying. In joining the Cuomo and Clinton fold, Professor Teachout is demonstrating the very type of self-interest that she railed against to make a name for herself in her adopted state.”
In 2014, Professor Teachout went to State Supreme Court to prove that she was a New York City resident so that she could run in a Democratic Party primary against Cuomo. Governor Cuomo’s campaign maintained that the Professor was a Vermonter who had not yet established residency in New York State.

“What Professor Teachout wants is a platform to become a national figure; she has zero interest in the day-to-day concerns of this district because she simply doesn’t know it,” Mr. Pascocello continued. “After parachuting in, the Professor now asserts she is one of us and qualified to represent us. Just like with Sean Eldridge, the people of this district can sense a phony.”

###

John Faso’s decisive victory in the Republican primary gives voters in New York’s 19th Congressional district a clear general election choice between Faso and far-left New York City professor Zephyr Teachout.

The contrast between Faso and Teachout in the race to succeed Rep. Chris Gibson could not be more clear.

For John and his wife, Mary Frances, the 19th District is home. They’ve lived in this community for 33 years. They started their careers here. They raised their families here. And they’ve been serving their community in ways large and small since the day they set down their roots here.

In the New York Assembly, John developed a reputation as responsible and intelligent, drawing attention to wasteful spending and fiscal gimmicks. John developed and pushed proposals that led to real balanced budgets – including the first reduction in state spending in decades while closing a $5 billion deficit. John championed legislation that made a difference for tens of thousands of families, such as the STAR program and education and property tax reform.

Teachout, in contrast, joins a long list of New York City carpetbaggers who have moved Upstate, shopping for a congressional district. (See: Eldridge, Sean) Teachout follows the same pattern – moving to a rental property in the district from New York City just a few months ago, after Chris Gibson announced his retirement from Congress. Teachout only registered to vote here in January. (Ironically, Teachout went to state supreme court in 2014 to prove that she was a Brooklyn resident — rather than a Vermonter — so that she could run for governor of New York!) Teachout has reportedly told Fordham University that she’ll be returning to campus if she loses this year’s race.

Professor Teachout has a radical “progressive” agenda that has nothing in common with the values of the 19th Congressional District. She is simply looking for a perch to launch a national crusade for taxpayer-subsidized elections and other left-wing causes. In fact, she’s already called for higher taxes on individuals and small businesses; she supports an energy plan that would increase our electricity costs; she promises a single-payer health care system that would further destroy our health care and economy; and she wants to force federal gun restrictions that would take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

In short, Professor Teachout is a leftist elitist who thinks she knows better than we do.

Teachout also supports the disastrous Iran nuclear deal and has supported the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. The professor’s views come directly from the ivory towers of the academic elite — far outside the mainstream views of 19th district voters.
This is a race between a transient and hard-left-wing academic elitist shopping for a congressional seat, and a smart, passionate, and common-sense conservative with a deep record of service to his community.

John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.