Higher Fuel Costs, Colder Temperatures and Energy Tax Too Much for Taxpayers

KINDERHOOK, NY … October 21, 2016 — When Professor Zephyr Teachout’s energy tax is combined with forecasts of higher energy costs and a much colder winter, it could very well be the death knell for many businesses and homeowners in Upstate New York, the campaign for John Faso today noted.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is predicting a 20 percent spike in gas and home heating oil this winter, and forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say people in the Northeast can expect a much colder winter — about 17 percent colder in the Northeast. When these factors are coupled with Professor Teachout’s proposed energy tax, which could cost Upstate New Yorkers upwards of $1,700, the results will be like a dose of frigid water on many struggling small businesses and homeowners.

“Professor Teachout just doesn’t get it. Her ivory-tower vision and distorted views on energy would destroy small businesses and property owners who are hanging on by thread,” Faso said. “We need jobs in this district and we need to reverse Washington’s tax and spend and regulatory culture so that we can add jobs and spur Upstate’s fragile economy.”

Faso, a longtime fiscal hawk, has long maintained that his campaign is about growing the economy, curbing government spending and streamlining Washington’s regulatory mess that cripples businesses and stifles innovation. Teachout, on the other hand, is opposed to the property tax cap, which saved New Yorkers $4.5 billion in 2015, and favors an energy tax that would cost residents every time they use propane, home heating oil, fill up the gas tank or flip on the light switch.

Faso has lived in the district for more than 33 years. He has raised his family here, grown a business, and represented it as minority leader in the Assembly.  While in the Assembly, he worked with both sides of the political aisle 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.

Faso is running on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines in November’s general election.

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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