Building a Better New York

8/9/2019 Building a Better New York

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BUILDING

NEW YORKA Policy Agenda

a better


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DEAR FELLOW NEW YORKERS,

All of us who are privileged to live here know that New York is a great state. It is full of hard-working,honest people. It is a state of rich history, of vibrant culture, and of big dreams.

But New York faces an economic emergency. In fact, we are a state on the brink of crisis.

Government spending in Albany is out-of-control. The state is broke and faces over $40 billion in deficitsover the next several years. Unemployment is 9%. Jobs are vanishing, particularly from Upstate, at anastonishing rate. Property and income taxes are increasing.

Part of this fiscal disaster is due to the recession. But a lot of it is due to Albanys high-spending, high-taxing culture. This is a culture we haveto change, and together we will rise to the challenge.

We can rebuild New York. First we need to elect men and women to public office who put the people ofthis great state ahead of special interests. I am running for Governor because I believe we all have aresponsibility to build a better New York. We want to make New York the world leader in business andinnovation it once was and can be again, an incubator of great ideas.

Thank you for letting me share with you my plan for building a better New York. This state means the worldto me. I was born in New York, brought up here by hard-working parents, represented the state in the U.S.Congress for eight years, and have raised my children here. This plan represents my highest priorities. Pleaseshare your ideas with me by sending them [email protected].

Today New York faces many challenges, but the spirit of innovation and the fire of the underdog burnbright in all New Yorkers. Our ancestors forged an Empire State out of the wilderness. Now the duty fallsto us to lead this state out of its years of aimless wandering to a bright future. I hope you will join me.

Sincerely,

Rick Lazio

A MESSAGEFROM RICKBUILDING A BETTER NEW YORK

Building a Better New York 2
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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A CLEAR EXPLANATION

OF NEW YORKS PROBLEMS

HIGH SPENDINGThe root of New Yorks problem is that government spending is out-of-control.

Since 2000, state spending has increased by nearly 70%. Few families spend 70% moretoday than a decade ago, yet thats just what New York state government is doing.

Why? Because spending other peoples money is easy. Because politicians win thesupport of special interest groups by giving away taxpayer dollars.

HIGH TAXESThis high spending leads directly to high taxes. By law, the governor must submit abalanced budget every year. So when government spending goes up, taxes go up inorder to pay for the spending. How bad is it? We have just suffered through a large

income tax increase in 2009, we have the second worst business tax climate in thecountry, and the ten highest property tax counties in the country are all in New York.

LOST JOBSHigh taxes mean that jobs --and people -- are leaving the state. New York has lost morejobs than all but four other states during the current recession. And more people have

moved out of New York than any other state since 2000. Neither businesses norfamilies can afford high taxes.

GETTING EVEN WORSENot only has spending been out-of-control until now, but it is about to get worse.

According to New Yorks Division of the Budget, State general fund spending is set toincrease from $54 billion in 2009 to approximately $70 billion in 2012.

The increase from $54 billion to $70 billion will force New York to raise an extra $15billion in taxes to pay for this spending. This means tax rates will have to go up

substantially. This is unacceptable, and will cause even more jobs and people to leave.



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CLEARSOLUTIONS

ATTACK SPENDING Eliminate Agency Duplication and Waste

Reform Legislative Spending

Fix the Pension Problem

Freeze State Salaries and Shrink StateWorkforce

Reduce Medicaid Costs Encourage School Accountability and

Efficiency

Curb Borrowing and Give Voters More Say

Control Future Spending

Return Integrity to Government

BRING DOWN TAXES

Cap Property Taxes Phase Out the Corporate Tax, Starting

with Upstate & Small Business

Eliminate the Capital Gains Tax for NewBusinesses

Lower Personal Income Taxes & IndexTax Brackets to Inflation

Reduce Energy Taxes

CREATE JOBS Reduce Spending & Lower Taxes

Build on New Yorks Expertise byEstablishing Business Innovation Clusters

Create an Ombudsman for New Business

Allow Environmentally Responsible Natural

Gas Development Invest in Critical Infrastructure

Create a New Business Sales Team InGovernors Office

Partner with Centers of Higher Learning

Award Tax Credits For Job Creation

DEFEND NEW YORK Oppose Terrorist Trials in New York

Establish Rings of Steel

Build out Location-Aware WirelessNetworks

Secure Critical Infrastructure ThroughoutNew York

EDUCATE THE NEXT Establish Pilot Program for Early Childhood

Education

Remove the Charter School Cap

Empower Underperforming Kids

Give Universities the Freedom to Excel

Reward Outstanding Teachers with Merit Pay

End the Last-In-First-Out Rule

GENERATION



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For nearly fifty years, New Yorkstate government has lived far

beyond its means. When the

economy boomed, we spent everytax dollar and then borrowed some

more. Those years of reckless

spending now lay at our feet.

-Rick Lazio


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If State government is going

to reform New York, it must

lead by example and first endits own wasteful ways

- Rick Lazio

BBUUIILLDDIINNGG AABBEETTTTEERRNNEEWW YYOORRKK

ELIMINATE AGENCYDUPLICATION AND WASTE

New York has over 100 state agencies and thereare many ways to shrink the size of governmentwithout compromising services. For instance, theback office functions of some agencies should be

merged. It does not make economic sense tohave the same functions performed by multipleagencies.

REVIEW ALL AGENCIES IN FIRST 100 DAYS:Rick will order a comprehensive review of allagencies, asking which ones can be merged orclosed and, starting with the Legislature,which ones can be run more efficiently. Hewill require this assessment be completewithin 100 days of taking office.

ADOPT PERFORMANCE BASED BUDGETING:Rick will require that government agenciesadopt performance based budgeting. Thismeans that when they ask for money, they willbe required to identify goals which can bemonitored. For instance, will money be usedto make operations more efficient, or to reduceturn-around time for applications submitted tothe agency, or for another purpose? Only withperformance goals and data can agencies beheld accountable for results.

REQUIRE ONLINE REPORTING: Rick willrequire that government agencies post theirperformance results online. This will increasepublic transparency into the effectiveness of taxdollars, and will allow the public to put pressureon elected officials to make sure money is beingwell spent.

REFORM LEGISLATIVE SPENDING

New York spends almost $1 million to supporteach of its 212 legislators, more than twice whatthe average state spends. This huge level ofspending is driven by the 3,550 full-timeequivalent employees that work in the Senate andAssembly, and by the needless duplication ofservices. For instance, the Legislature has severalTV studios and photography operations to serveits members. New Yorks budget is also filledwith thousands of pork barrel items which cansave the state over $100 million if eliminated.

CUT LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT SPENDING:Rick will seek to significantly cut spending perlegislator to get closer to the national average.

We do not need 3,550 employees for 212legislators, and this bloated bureaucracy has tobe drained.

ELIMINATE MEMBER ITEMS: Member itemsare allocations by legislators to their petprojects. There is no room in New Yorksbudget for pork barrel spending, and Rick willaggressivelyuse the governors line-item vetoto eliminate these items.

ATTACKSPENDING



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FIX THE PENSION PROBLEM

New Yorks pension burden is crushing state andlocal budgets. The state pension contribution willexplode in the next three years. Rick will enactmeaningful state employee pension reform.

ELIMINATE PENSION PADDING: Some

government employees work overtime in theirlast years of employment just because theirpension payments are based on earnings inthese years. These employees use their lastyears of work to reap high pension paymentsfor the rest of their lives, at taxpayers expense.Rick will end the practice of including end-of-career overtime in pension calculations.

MOVE TO DEFINED-CONTRIBUTION: Rickwill move all politicians to a 401k-style

defined-contribution plan. He will alsorequire that all new state employees havedefined-contribution plans. Many privatesector plans are defined-contribution, andthere is no reason that those who are paid bytaxpayers should have a more privilegedarrangement than taxpayers themselves.

CHANGE PENSION LIABILITY

CALCULATIONS: New York currently usesoverly optimistic assumptions when calculatinghow much it owes in future pension payments

(more technically, New York uses discountrates that are too high). This rosy accountingmakes us feel better today, but it simply pushesthe pension problem into the future. Rick willpush for the gradual use of more realisticassumptions.

FREEZE STATE SALARIES AND

SHRINK STATE WORKFORCE

During the current recession, when families havebeen losing jobs and cutting back, state employeesalaries have increased 10%. The average pay ofgovernment workers is now higher than private

sector employees in most regions of New York.And the number of government jobs has grownat more than twice the private sector rate.

Rick will freeze state wages as soon as he assumesoffice, to the extent allowed by law. He will alsoreduce the size of the state workforce, both bynot replacing workers who leave and by shrinkinggovernment where taxpayer money is beingwasted.

REDUCE MEDICAID COSTSNew Yorks Medicaid program is the most costly inthe nation. It is also the second largest item in NewYorks budget. Medicaid is a valuable programwhich provides medical care to those who cannotafford it. But we spend 73% more per recipientthan the country as a whole. And we spend 25%more than California, which covers twice as manypeople. This extra cost puts huge, unsustainablepressure on New Yorks budget. And studies

show our Medicaid recipients are not gettingbetter care than other states.

FACT:New Yorks Medicaid

program is larger than

the entire statebudgets of 42 states

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%14%

NY's Share of

Nation's

Population

NY's Share of

Medicaid

Enrollment

NY's Share of

Medicaid

Spending

6.4%8.7%

14.0%

Runaway Medicaid Spending



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Those who receive Medicaid

shouldnt have richer benefitsthan those who pay for

Medicaid - Rick Lazio

FIX PATIENT INCENTIVES: One reason costsin New York are so high is that Medicaidenrollees do not face an incentive to controlcosts. For instance, there is little incentive toavoid costly emergency room visits for non-emergencies. To change this, Rick will set upincentives that reward people for goodbehavior. Cutting edge incentive programs

such as patient spending accounts andpreventative care rewards have worked inIndiana and Florida, and similar programs willwork in New York.

FIX DOCTOR INCENTIVES WITH MANAGED

CARE: A second reason costs are high is thatone-third of Medicaid recipients are not inmanaged care. Risk-based managed caremeans that a hospital network gets a fixedamount to provide care for a patient, insteadof being paid per test. A fixed fee results inhospitals having an incentive to emphasizepreventative care, which is more cost effective.Rick will move New York towards greatermanaged care use, especially for high-costpatients.

IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE MEANS TESTING:New York does a poor job in determiningwhether recipients actually qualify forMedicaid. Rick will institute stricter means

testing to ensure that only those who qualifyfor Medicaid receive Medicaid.

PREVENT ABUSE AND FRAUD: Some peopleplay financial games with Medicaid. Forinstance, some shift assets to family membersin order to appear to have less money thanthey do and qualify for Medicaid home-careservices. Others cheat the system by reportingfalse procedures. Abuse and fraud have cost

tax-payers billions of dollars. Rick will pass alaw allowing the government broader authorityto look at a recipients financial history in orderto disqualify those who are manipulative. Hewill also test new technology, similar to thatused by the credit card industry, to detect fraud.

ENCOURAGE SCHOOLACCOUNTABILITY & EFFICIENCY

While most New Yorkers have been cutting back,teachers salaries have been rising 5% a year. Butdespite spending more per student than any other

state, New York only achieves average schoolperformance.

$57

Billion

$3 Billion

Voter Approved Debt $60 Billion

in debt

Debt incurred by Public

Authorities without voter

approval



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We need to make decisionsfor the next generation, not

the next election

- Rick Lazio

PROMOTE COMPETITION: By lifting the capon charter schools and ensuring merit pay,Rick will promote more competition in theschool system, holding down costs andincreasing performance.

REPEAL THE TRIBOROUGH AMENDMENT:This law empowers unions by allowing

teacher salaries to continue to increase aftercontracts run out while new contracts arebeing negotiated. This gives teachers unionshuge negotiating power, resulting in higherand higher salaries even if schools are notperforming. Rick will repeal the law so thatteacher pay is a result of performance, notnegotiating power.

PROVIDE OUR CHILDREN WITH THE BEST

TEACHERS: Under current state law, once a

teacher has been teaching for three years, it isalmost impossible to fire them for poorperformance because it costs so much toconduct the required hearings. This hurts ourkids and our taxpayers and Rick will changethe system so that incompetent teachers canbe replaced.

OVERHAUL THE WICKS LAW: This law addshundreds of millions of dollars to schooldevelopment expenses. For instance, it

prohibits the use of money-saving generalcontractors during school construction. Rickwill change the law so that we can afford tomodernize our schools.

CURB BORROWING AND

GIVE VOTERS MORE SAY

Rick will rein in New Yorks debt binge. New York

State has the second highest debt-per-capita in thecountry, having racked up $60 billion in debt. Only$3 billion of this was general obligation debt andapproved by voters. The other $57 billion wastaken on by public authorities, which means it wasnot subject to voter approval. Rick will require thatdebt taken on by public authorities be subject to avoter referendum,ending the practice of back-door borrowing and curbing the growth of debt.

CONTROL FUTURE SPENDING

It is vital to not only get spending under control,but to make sure that it does not return towasteful levels in the future.

IMPLEMENT A SPENDING CAP: Rick willinstitute a spending cap to prevent futuregovernment spending from rising faster thanthe rate of inflation.

REQUIRE THE COMPTROLLER TO CERTIFY

AN HONEST BUDGET: Rick will require thecomptroller to certify that the budget balanceshonestly. This will prevent accountinggimmicks and unrealistic assumptions fromhiding a deficit when one exists.

IMPOUND FUNDS: Rick will enact a law toclarify the governors impoundment authority.This will allow him to simply prevent newspending if the state does not have the moneyto pay for it.

END UNFUNDED MANDATES ON LOCAL

GOVERNMENTS: Rick will use the governorsveto power to prevent additional unfundedmandates from being passed on to localgovernments and ultimately to taxpayers.

RETURN INTEGRITY TOGOVERNMENT

Reforms to control spending will only work if theculture of Albany changes and the interests of thepeople are put ahead of the interests of thepoliticians. An independent leader, Rick will putthe people first.



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HOLD A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION:Rick will push for a constitutional conventionso that we can have an open conversationabout reforming the structure of ourgovernment. Some of the policies in this planrequire constitutional measures, and our stategovernment is so flawed that we needfundamental reform.

ADOPT SUNSHINE LAWS: Rick will requirecomplete disclosure of all outside incomereceived by all government officials. NewYork politicians face conflicts of interestbecause of hidden income they receive inaddition to their government paychecks.Disclosure and transparency will ensure thatvoters are aware of any conflicts and are ableto hold politicians accountable for them.

ADOPT TERM LIMITS: Rick will support termlimits for New York state elected officials.This will ensure that Albany is constantly fullof new ideas. It will also result in morecitizen-politicians and fewer entrenched life-long politicians.

ESTABLISH AN INDEPENDENT

REDISTRICTING COMMISSION: In NewYork, incumbent legislators very, very rarelylose elections. Part of the reason for this isthat politicians re-draw district lines toeliminate competition and protect theirpolitical careers. In order to ensure thatpoliticians do not play games with the electoralprocess, Rick will establish an independentredistricting commission.

FINANCIAL FACTS

9%The current rate of

unemployment in New

York (over 10% in NYC)

10%The increase in public

employee wages during

the economic downturn

49Of the 50 states, New

York has the second

worst business climate

12%The increase in State

spending this year

The Real World


NY Government


12/24

High taxes mean that peopleand businesses leave the state.

This in turn leads to a smaller tax

base, increasing the tax burden onthe families that remain. We need

to break this cycle by lowering

taxes and attracting people andjobs to New York.

-Rick Lazio


13/24


CAP PROPERTY TAXES

New Yorkers pay the highest property taxes in thecountry. If you look at property taxes relative to the

value of a home, the ten highest taxed counties inthe whole nation are all in Upstate New York.

Rick will cap the property tax at 2.5% of theassessed value of a home. He will also preventthe annual increase of property taxes from beingmore than 2.5% in any year. Much likeProposition 2 in Massachusetts, he will allowvoters to override these limits if they want toincrease local spending for a specific reason.

PHASE OUT THE CORPORATE TAX,

STARTING WITH UPSTATE

& SMALL BUSINESS

New Yorks high corporate tax causes businesses toleave the state, and discourages new businesses fromflourishing. Over a half million businesses in NewYork are burdened by the corporate tax, whichdrains billions of dollars from them and theiremployees.

Rick will phase out the corporate tax, again makingNew York a dynamic place to do business. He willstart by eliminating the tax Upstate and on smallbusinesses, and expand the phase-out as he bringsspending under control.

ELIMINATE THE CAPITAL GAINS

TAX FOR NEW BUSINESSES

Capital gains in New York are taxed as ordinary

income. Even our national government taxescapital gains less than ordinary income, and NewYorks high capital gains tax discourages newbusiness formation. Rick will eliminate the capitalgains tax for new businesses that launch in NewYork. Entrepreneurs will be much more likely topick New York to start their new ventures if wehave an attractive capital gains environment.

LOWER PERSONAL INCOME TAXES &

INDEX TAX BRACKETS TO INFLATION

Rick will reduce personal income tax rates. He will dothis in phases, so that rates can continuously movelower as spending comes under control. Rick will alsoindex personal income tax brackets to inflation. Foryears New Yorkers have been subject to a stealth tax.The income levels at which people move into highertax brackets have stayed fixed, so New Yorkers havebeen paying more taxes even if their incomes onlygrew with inflation.

REDUCE ENERGY TAXESNew Yorkers pay the third highest electricity rates inthe country and 66% more than the national average.This is partly because one-quarter of electric bills go topay state and local taxes. High energy bills discouragebusinesses from locating in New York, especiallynew economy firms, such as biotechnology firms,that need strict temperature controls. Rick will fightto lower electricity bills for all New Yorkers.

BRING DOWN TAXES

Lazio demonstrates that he understands the problemsof hard-working taxpayers nationwide, but

especially the taxpayers in New York. Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform



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Our leaders in Albanyhave

stood back and watched New

Yorkers leave to find work in

other states. Well invest in

infrastructure and work with

business leaders to bring our

jobs back.

-Rick Lazio



15/24


REDUCE SPENDING

& LOWER TAXES

Reducing spending and taxes according toParts A and B of the plan are the mostimportant things we can do to bring back jobs.

Businesses want to be based in low tax states.

BUILD ON NYS EXPERTISE BYESTABLISHING BUSINESS

INNOVATION CLUSTERS

New York is home to many strategic industries.Some regions have deep expertise in life sciences,others in transportation components,

information technology, nanotechnology, orgreen building products. Rick will work with theprivate sector to create pools of start-up capitalto attract similar businesses to these regions.This approach of creating business clusterswas pioneered at Harvard Business School andhas led to successful job creation in other states.Rick will adopt it in New York.

CREATE AN OMBUDSMAN

FOR NEW BUSINESS

Setting up a new business can require a lot ofpaperwork and regulatory approval. In order tomake New York business friendly, Rick willappoint a New Business Ombudsman to helpbusiness owners with this process, eliminate red-tape, and streamline the business formationbureaucracy.

ALLOW ENVIRONMENTALLY

RESPONSIBLE NATURAL

GAS DEVELOPMENT

Rick will support the development of natural gas

reserves in an environmentally friendly manner.These reserves, such as the Marcellus Shale,represent untapped economic potential in NewYork, new jobs, and a source of relatively cleanenergy. But an environmental study, to be carriedout within a specified time period, must determinehow development can proceed.

INVEST IN CRITICALINFRASTRUCTURE

Rick will create public / private partnerships toinvest in critical infrastructure. This will allow usto fix roads and bridges that are in disrepair, andwill create jobs in the near term.

CREATE JOBS

The late Jack Kemp used to say- youcant say you love jobs and hate the job

creators. Because thats where the privatesector jobs come from. Thats where the

growth comes from. Thats where theAmerican dream comes from.

Rick Lazio



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CREATE A NEW BUSINESS SALES

TEAM IN GOVERNORS OFFICE

Rick will form an Executive Branch sales teamthat will actively recruit businesses from aroundthe country to move to New York. The team willwork with the state and local governments to

create incentives to lure businesses to New York,and to match businesses with the mostappropriate communities within New York.

PARTNER WITH

CENTERS OF HIGHER LEARNING

New Yorks universities can help rejuvenate manyof our struggling cities. Rick will create innovativeprograms to encourage our centers of higher

learning to partner with the private sector andserve as engines of growth.

AWARD TAX CREDITS FOR

JOB CREATION

Rick will use tax credits to encourage thedevelopment of dynamic businesses in New York.Rick will specifically target emerging technologycompanies that have completed research and

development and are looking to move into themanufacturing phase. These businesses have thepotential to create a lot of jobs, but New Yorkshigh tax rates dissuade them from locating theirmanufacturing efforts here.

Rick will also award tax credits to those who fundcertain new and small businesses, in order toencourage job growth and innovation in NewYork. North Carolina uses a similar program, andtax credits will work in New York too.

We will create a climate in whichbusinesses expand and jobs

grow. We will face this challengehead on and make New York

great once again

Rick Lazio



17/24

Sustained growth

does not come fromgovernment, it comes

from businesses

small and large

-Rick Lazio


18/24

Nothing is more important than

keeping our citizens safe. Under my

watch, the National Guard and State

Police will get what they need to

defend New York

-Rick Lazio


19/24


OPPOSE TERRORISTTRIALS IN NEW YORK STATE

Rick stands with the vast majority of NewYorkers and Americans in objecting to treatingterrorists as if they have the rights and privileges

of American citizens, and will strongly opposeholding terrorist trials in New York. Forcing theanguish of a civilian trial on the people of thiscountry, and particularly the families of those welost on September 11th, must be avoided.

ESTABLISH RINGS OF STEEL

Following the September 11 attack, New Yorkestablished a ring of steel in Lower Manhattan,

comprised of security cameras and other measures.The same should be done in Midtown Manhattanand throughout the subway system. Of the 4,313cameras in the NewYork Citys subway system,news reports indicate that almost half arecurrently broken. We must learn a lesson fromterrorist attacks that have occurred on subwaysand trains in other major capitals like Tokyo,London, Madrid, and Moscow, and make suresecurity is on the cutting edge, not the choppingblock.

BUILD OUT LOCATION-AWAREWIRELESS NETWORKS

The ability of police to respond to suspiciousactivity in subways depends on the ease withwhich citizens can alert the police from within the

subway system. Through a public-privatepartnership with a leading wireless company, NYshould deploy a location aware wireless networkwith easy 911 texting capability that can helppolice quickly respond to potential terroristthreats. The same approach could be used toimprove security in tunnels.

SECURE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURETHROUGHOUT NEW YORK

New York infrastructure, located throughout thestate, remains vulnerable. This infrastructure,such as reservoirs and energy plants, must besecured. Rick will order a review of securitymeasures at these facilities, and act quickly toaddress any shortcomings.

DEFEND NEW YORK

New York has the best police and

counter-terrorism units in theworld. We need a no-nonsense

security strategy that will

stop criminals and terroristsbefore they hurt New York.

-Rick Lazio



20/24

Were blessed to have some of

the best teachers in the world, yet

the state has let our children

down time and again. Fixing New

York means fixing our schools.

-Rick Lazio



21/24


ESTABLISH PILOT PROGRAM FOREARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Rick will establish a pilot program focused onearly childhood education. Such programs haveshown a lot of promise in positively shapingchildrens development, and New York should be

on the leading edge of this effort.

REMOVE THE CHARTER SCHOOL CAP

Charter schools give parents more choice bycreating an alternative to traditional public schools.And a recent Stanford University study confirmsthat most charter schools do a better job educatingour children. They also cost taxpayers less. Butright now, the number of charter schools is cappedbecause some teachers unions see them as a threat.

Giving parents choice and introducing competitionis in the interest of our kids, and Rick will removethe charter school cap.

EMPOWER UNDERPERFORMING KIDS

Rick will establish a pilot program of refundabletax credits for after-school tutoring in schooldistricts with high dropout rates and at risk kids.Poor kids should have the same opportunity toget help with school work or college entrance

exams that the better-off do.

GIVE UNIVERSITIESTHE FREEDOM TO EXCEL

SUNY and CUNY are full of motivated studentsand teachers. But we must give these institutionsthe flexibility to adjust tuition, make land usedecisions, and hire professors. By providing them

the freedom to act as they think best, we willallow those who are closest to the students todetermine what is best for students.

REWARD OUTSTANDINGTEACHERS WITH MERIT PAY

Unlike most employment sectors, today teachersget raises simply based on seniority and thenumber of degrees they have. This does not serve

our children well, nor does it give teachers anincentive to excel. Rick will tie school aidpayments to districts adopting merit-based payand give teachers the opportunity to excel basedon success in the classroom, not just years ofemployment.

END THE LAST-IN-FIRST-OUT RULE

Unlike the private sector, when it comes time to

make difficult downsizing choices, schools areforced to let go of the most recently hiredteachers first. In order to best serve our kids,schools should be able to let go of the leasteffective teachers first, and Rick will fight for thischange.

EDUCATETHE NEXT GENERATION

We need a system that puts kids first,not government bureaucrats and

union contracts. Only an independentleader can stand up to the powerful

interests and red tape that haltinnovation and hurt our schools.

-Rick Lazio



22/24



23/24

Rick Lazio was born in West Islip, New York on March 13, 1958 the son of two World War II veterans,

Olive and the late Anthony Lazio.

After graduation from West Islip High School, Rick earned a degree in political science from Vassar

College and a law degree from the American University Washington College of Law in Washington,

D.C. During law school, Rick met his wife, the former Patricia Moriarty, who was working at the

George Washington University Hospital while pursuing her degree in nursing.

Returning home to New York after law school, Rick entered public service as a prosecutor in the

Suffolk County District Attorneys office. Working in the District Court Bureau, Special Investigations

and Forfeiture Unit, and Rackets Bureau, he prosecuted the full range of criminal cases including

organized crime, public corruption, and fraud.

In 1989 Rick was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature, where despite heavy pressure to support a

proposed sales tax increase, he voted against the bill. Rick has a strong record of opposing tax increases

at every level of government that he has served throughout his legislative career.

In 1992 Rick upset an 18-year incumbent to win election to the United States House of Representatives.

He represented New Yorks Second Congressional district for four terms in Congress, from 1993 to

2000, winning re-election by the largest margin in the history of the district.

In Congress Rick was selected for leadership positions by his peers, becoming Deputy Majority Whip

and Assistant Majority Leader. Rick earned a reputation on both sides of the aisle as a hard working,

pragmatic, results-oriented member who could build bi-partisan coalitions to pass important legislation

and see it enacted. A leader, Rick helped write the first balanced budget in a generation, lowered taxes,

reformed welfare, and strengthened our national defense.

Since leaving Congress, Rick has developed valuable private sector leadership experience. Among other

positions, he has served as President and CEO of the Financial Services Forum and as a member of theexecutive committee of J.P. Morgan Chase.

Rick lives in New York City and Brightwaters, Long Island with his wife Patricia, and their daughters

Molly and Kelsey.

ABOUT RICK



24/24

New York is to the nation what the whitespire is to the village - the visible symbol of

aspiration and faith, the white plume saying

the way is up!

- E.B. White

Documents

Building a Better New York