Hudson Valley News

Republican House Speaker John Boehner Tuesday called on the president to stop using the military as a campaign prop to demand more tax hikes and start working with his own Democratic-controlled Senate to act on a credible plan to avert sequestration. Meanwhile, a Democratic Congressman from the Hudson Valley visited with officials from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and spoke about the impending damage of sequestration on West Point.  

WAPPINGERS FALLS – Republican State Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor announced Tuesday that he will introduce legislation to cap tax on gasoline at the national average. While standing at a Wappingers Falls gas station, the freshman lawmaker also urged residents to call Governor Cuomo’s price gouging hotline to demand Albany “stop the tax gouging at the pump.”

Lalor said a gas tax cap would save motorists 20 cents per gallon.

A hearing began earlier today in New York City to examine how insurance claims were settled during Superstorm Sandy, and how they should be handled during future disasters.

Democratic Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, of Kingston, chairs the Assembly’s Insurance Committee.

Ellen Melchionni is the president of the New York Insurance Association, and is testifying at the hearing. She says her association has drawn up a disaster preparedness agenda, a list of suggestions for policymakers to improve the insurance-claims process. Here is one of the items.

Legislators in one of New York’s Hudson Valley counties say they plan to extend a measure that guarantees that county employees who are serving on active duty are held harmless on their pay.

Orange County, New York Legislator Roxanne Donnery has officially thrown her hat into the ring as the Democratic candidate for county executive.

Donnery addressed a room of over 170 supporters in Highland Mills about what she believes to be the state of county government.

“My God, what has happened to this county? Where is the trust?” she said.

The shuttered Orange County Government Center and Valley View nursing home were key issues Donnery addressed.

“You want your government back and I’m going to give it to you,” Donnery said.