Tagged: mark grisanti

State Assemblyman Sean Ryan was joined by State Senator Mark Grisanti on Saturday, as the pair announced legislation that would dissolve the bi-national entity that manages the Peace Bridge.

A state senator from Buffalo is demanding answers on hazardous materials found in Western New York.  Senator Mark Grisanti says the Buffalo News article, titled "Toxic legacy’s time bomb," has put the area's history of toxic waste back on the front burner.

State Senators are hoping this will be the year the State Assembly takes up a vote on legalizing professional Mixed Martial Arts events in New York.

The bipartisan coalition that came together earlier this week to take control the New York State Senate is drawing mixed reactions from some local members of the legislature.

Members of the region's state delegation are trying to derail plans to have New York's driver licenses made in Canada. The Department of Motor Vehicles is ready to give its business to the highest bidder, which would cost residents millions of dollars.

The candidates vying for the 60th State Senate seat debated issues Wednesday at St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore. 

It was a three-way debate between Republican incumbent Mark Grisanti, Democrat Mike Amodeo and Conservative Chuck Swanick. 

You can click the play button above to hear the entire debate. 

Students questions ranged from same-sex marriage, funding for public schools, the future of the Buffalo Bills' stadium, and proposed pay raises for state lawmakers. 

Given the sluggish economy, State Senator Mark Grisanti says this is no time for a legislative pay raise.

Legislators' salary is currently about $80,000 annually plus per-diem. The Buffalo Republican says when the issue was brought up, he and many of his colleagues pledged to vote against it.

"This job is a privilege, not a right. You should be happy to serve the public and have integrity while you're doing so. If you don't like the pay scale and you're in the position already, then leave the position and find something else to do," Grisanti said Friday.

A recent poll for the 60th State Senate District race has incumbent Republican Mark Grisanti with a sizable lead over his two opponents.  

Grisanti faces opponents Michael Amodeo, a Democrat,  and Chuck Swanick, a Conservative.

WBFO's Chris Jamele and Artvoice editor Geoff Kelly take a close look at this race as well as the Congressional campaign between Kathy Hochul and Chris Collins in this week's Press Pass discussion. 

Despite high-profile attacks on his support of same-sex marriage, Republican State Senator Mark Grisanti appears to be cruising to re-election.

A new Siena poll shows Grisanti leading with 47 percent, compared to 23 percent for Democrat Michael Amodeo and 17 percent for Conservative Party candidate Charles Swanick.

Amodeo defeated Swanick in the Democratic Primary, but the former Erie County Legislator continues to stay in the race.

Working Families Party candidate Gregory Davis drew six percent in the poll.

If you have a closet cluttered with all of that electronic gear you no longer use, you have a chance to legally dispose of them Saturday.

An e-waste recycling event runs from  9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Saint Amelia's School on Eggert Road in the Town of Tonawanda.

The number of these events has proliferated since Albany passed a law barring garbage collection firms from picking up most electronic gadgetry. Before that, the devices were routinely put out at the curb and hauled away to the landfill.

The nearly three-year-long dispute between Albany and the Seneca Nation of Indians, which has cost some area cities millions of dollars, should be resolved in the coming months.

The Senecas have withheld nearly $460 million in casino revenue sharing payments to the state and the Cities of Niagara Falls, Salamanca and Buffalo since 2009 because the Senecas claim the state violated its exclusivity agreement by allowing slot machines at local horse racing tracks. 

After talks went nowhere, both sides agreed to a three-member arbitration panel to settle the issue.   

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has announced his support for a program that would provide tuition aid to illegal immigrants.

That proposal is receiving harsh local criticism a from both sides of the aisle. Republican State Senator Mark Grisanti claimed the initiative would be unfair to legal residents of the state who struggle with tuition costs.

Two Democratic hopefuls in a challenge to Grisanti also panned the plan.

Al Coppola and Charles Swanick stated that the program would be an unfair challenge to legal residents and an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
 

New York's smallest breweries and some wineries are getting a tax break from Albany.

Governor Cuomo went to Utica yesterday and the family-owned Matt Brewing Company to sign a package of bills to help smaller brewers and the farmers supplying them.

In recent years, small breweries, brewpubs and farm breweries have become a tiny but vital part of the state's liquor industry, along with wineries and small distilleries.

The bills signed by the governor ease the tax and regulatory rules and will probably help the farms supplying essentials like hops.