Senator Rob Ortt, (R – North Tonawanda), who was re-elected to his leadership position on Tuesday, told Capital Tonight that he’s optimistic about the next session in spite of the Democrats achieving a super majority in that house. Ortt will have eight new members, including two who unseated incumbent Democrats.

Mitigating the damage that the COVID-19 recession has wrought on small businesses is Ortt’s number one priority for the next session.

“If you look at our economy right now, the overarching priority first and foremost, has to be to do whatever we can do to make sure that our economy can recover from the lockdowns from the pandemic,” Ortt said. 

He is planning to introduce regulatory reform as well as push to slow down the minimum wage hikes that are scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of the year. 

“If we don’t give businesses a break on their sales tax…give them a respite, so they can keep people hired. Small businesses, if they leave, they take jobs with them,” he said.

When asked if he was on board with his Assembly colleagues who are calling for passage of a bill (A.10546) which would limit Governor Cuomo’s powers and increase local authority in future emergencies, he answered enthusiastically in the affirmative.

“One hundred percent. And I know that there’s Democrats that have expressed similar sentiments,” Ortt said, referring to stripping the governor of his emergency powers. “I think we all agree that the time has come when we can govern our state. We can do the job that we’ve been elected to do. New Yorkers are ready to return to three branches of government.”