State Senator Tom O’Mara is sounding the alarm over what he calls “last-minute surprises” emerging from the final days of the legislative session in Albany.
In a column released for the week of June 2, O’Mara warned that pending legislation such as the NY HEAT Act could impose steep costs on New Yorkers, particularly middle-class homeowners and ratepayers. “It would have disastrous consequences,” he wrote, adding that the measure would “drive up already high utility costs,” force costly home retrofits, and strip consumers of their ability to choose how they heat their homes.
O’Mara cited data from the Empire Center, a policy think tank, that claims the HEAT Act would mandate electricity for home heating and could even lead to ratepayers footing the cost of neighbors’ utility bills. He argued the act would raise rates for at least 75 percent of New Yorkers and cost homeowners up to $50,000 to transition away from natural gas.
The senator said the act follows years of state-mandated energy changes under the 2019 Community Leadership and Climate Protection Act (CLCPA), which he said has already caused utility rates to rise by nearly 10 percent. “New Yorkers already struggle to pay high utility bills,” he said. “My office and the offices of many of my colleagues…have been inundated with ratepayer complaints of exorbitant bill increases.”
O’Mara also criticized the recent passage of the “Extended Producer Responsibility Act” by the state Senate, calling it another costly mandate that could raise prices on all packaged goods due to new recycling regulations on producers.
Adding to his concerns, O’Mara pointed to a proposal from two New York City legislators that would limit the size of new dairy farms to 700 cows. He warned the move would threaten a critical part of the upstate economy. “It’s the latest in a longstanding tradition of ill-informed, misguided, outrageous, and ridiculous proposals,” he wrote, saying the plan revealed “a complete lack of understanding” of rural industries.
O’Mara accused Albany Democrats of claiming to address affordability while advancing legislation that increases the cost of living. “They keep reaching deeper and deeper into the pockets of middle-class taxpayers,” he wrote.
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