Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski held a town hall meeting at Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater.

GOWANDA – Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski held his fourth town hall meeting Tuesday at Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater.

“I was pleased with the active crowd, especially for a summer night,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said. “I want to thank everyone who did come to the town hall for spending some time with me to talk about what’s going on in Albany and for sharing their concerns and advice.”

Topics included the state budget, cashless bail and crime and the rise in utility costs that’s being driven by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the majority members of the Legislature’s support for the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Passed in 2019, the CLCPA requires school districts and municipalities adopt zero-emission vehicles to reduce carbon emissions.

“The EV school bus mandate comes up in every part of the district,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said. “By law, school districts will soon no longer be able to buy diesel buses. But EV buses are more expensive than diesel buses, they are less efficient than diesel buses and they lose their charge in cold weather.

“The governor has pledged $1 billion to help schools transition to EV buses, but it will cost $20 billion for every school in the state to go to EV buses. This is a massive, unnecessary $19 billion unfunded mandate from Albany. I’m all for protecting our environment but this is unaffordable and unworkable. New York’s taxpayers are already struggling. They can’t afford this.”

Assemblyman Sempolinski co-sponsors Assembly Bill A2005, which will allow school districts to opt-out of certain zero-emission school bus requirements.

“I’m going to keep working with my colleagues in the Republican minority conference to raise the alarm about the EV bus mandate and the CLCPA,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said. “We need to protect New York’s hard-working families from these inane policies that are making it unfordable to live and work in the once great state of New York.”

He said he’s been moving his town hall meetings around the district to make it easier for people to attend.

“We picked Gowanda for this town hall to give folks from northern Cattaraugus County a chance to attend,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said. “I held my first town hall in Olean, my second in Wellsville and my third in Canisteo in Steuben County. The 148th Assembly District is just a little smaller than the state of Delaware. In America, the people are sovereign, they are in charge. So it’s critically important for me to hear what the folks I represent think.”

He said another town hall will be held before winter, but he’s not sure of the location yet.