“John is the Voice of Struggling Taxpayers”

Kinderhook, NY — October 13, 2016 …Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino, a Republican who won 46 of New York’s 62 counties including all of the 19th Congressional District in the 2014 race against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, today endorsed John Faso in his Congressional run, the Faso campaign today announced.

In supporting Faso at an event at Begnal Motors in Kingston, Astorino cited Faso’s long standing record as a reformer who cut taxes and spending, balanced budgets and stood as check against big government and its bureaucracy. He called Faso the “voice of struggling taxpayers” who will focus on job growth and whose policy prescriptions would help grow the economy.

Astorino said Faso was the embodiment of the district, while Ms. Teachout, with her extreme views, would be an ideal candidate for Congress … in Brooklyn.

“If you’re as sick and tired of high taxes and smothering Washington overreach as I am, John Faso is your candidate for Congress,” Astorino said. “John is the voice of struggling taxpayers in this congressional district, and his policy solutions to get the economy kick-started are rock-solid.  It’s an easy choice: A vote for Faso is a vote for lower taxes and job growth; a vote for his opponent is a vote to raise your taxes and to hand control of every aspect of your life to bumbling Washington bureaucrats.”

Watch his remarks here.

As county executive, Astorino lowered Westchester County’s property tax levy — and has not raised it since taking office in 2010 — and has kept spending in check while ensuring that essential services are delivered. He has been a stalwart critic of the federal government’s consistent overreach, and the state government’s passing down of expensive mandates, such as massive Medicaid burdens that gobble up precious local resources.

Teachout, on the other hand, does not support the property tax cap, which saved taxpayers $2.5 billion in 2015 and she advocates for a new tax on energy, which would cost residents on average of $1,700 a year. “Teachout doesn’t get it; new taxes on home heating oil, propane, gas, diesel and electricity would be the final nail in the coffin for the upstate economy,” Faso said.

Faso is running on key reform principles to help small businesses, notably simplifying the tax code, ending corporate welfare, investing in small businesses and ending Washington’s regulatory madness.

If elected, Faso has a plan that would remove the Medicaid burden from local property taxpayers, fixing a 50-year old mistake originally made during the Rockefeller administration. (New York localities pay more Medicaid costs, $7.5 billion in 2013-14, than local governments in the other 49 states combined).

“Medicaid costs are properly the responsibility of federal and state governments, not local property taxpayers,” Faso continued. “My plan would amend federal law to eliminate Albany’s ability to impose this cost on county taxpayers and would force the state to finally reform its program.”

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.

“Much like County Executive Astorino, I believe we need to be laser-focused on serious issues affecting residents in this district such growing the economy, helping small businesses and keeping the size of federal government in check,” Faso said. “Washington and its bureaucrats have run amok and we need leaders who are willing to take on the madness and change it. I share County Executive Astorino’s concerns and I am grateful to have his support.”

Faso, who is running on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines, is running to fill the seat now held by Congressman Chris Gibson (R), who is not seeking re-election. 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.

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