New York State has become known for its anti-business, anti-jobs attitude. We have to change that perception and let the world know that New York is business-friendly again. Here are a few of the things Juan Reyes will fight for as our new State Senator:
  • Pro-Growth tax policy. Higher taxes kill jobs and discourage investment and add to your consumer costs. Juan Reyes will lead the fight against tax increases in Albany.
  • Lower costs. Juan Reyes will fight for Wicks Law reform to cut the cost of public projects, lowering our states oppressive tax burden. Reyes will eliminate laws that add to the cost of public projects drive up state expenses and burden taxpayers. As a public official in the Giuliani administration, Juan helped cut red tape to lower costs and get projects moving.
  • Stop job-killing minimum wage increases. Juan’s opponent in the Republican Primary sides with the Democrats and supports a minimum wage increase that would cost New York State 43,489 jobs. According to the respected Employment Policies Institute, those jobs would disappear because small businesses would be forced to lay people off to cover the increased payroll costs mandated by such a minimum wage increase. As someone with private sector experience, Juan Reyes knows that New York government needs to get out of the way and stop tinkering with our local economy.
  • Encourage investment. Reyes will fight to extend J-51 and to restore 421(a) tax incentives that encourage owners to invest in existing properties and promote new construction creating new housing, revitalizing communities and creating much needed permanent and construction jobs. Too often the legislature has burdened these programs with its liberal social agenda instead of focusing on job growth. That’s a huge mistake, and as our new conservative Republican State Senator, Juan Reyes will work to repeal these anti-growth measures.
  • Exempt Mom & Pop businesses from the Family Medical Leave Act. As a husband and father of three daughters, Juan appreciates the value of the FMLA in preserving employee rights in large corporations and government agencies, but Reyes will fight against local, state and federal laws that would expand the FMLA and force cause small businesses and small contractors to cut their workforce and increase unemployment.
Crime is starting to rise again, and Juan Reyes supports policies that will move crime back to Giuliani-era levels and keep us safe.
  • Keep Stop-and-Frisk. Juan strongly supports Police Commissioner Kelly’s Stop-and-Frisk policy because it saves lives and keeps all neighborhoods safer and more secure.
  • Restore the Death Penalty. Reyes believes that the recent surge in NYC murders makes the death penalty more important than ever before.
Juan and Meaghan have three young daughters, and education is a very deep and personal concern for them.
  • Literacy. Juan knows that if schools succeed in only one thing — teaching our kids to read well — it will make all the difference in the world.
  • English proficiency. All students must be able to read, write and speak English. Liberal social engineering has no place in our public schools.
Owning a home or finding an affordable apartment here in Queens is more difficult because of liberal policies that hurt middle class families and young people.
  • Encourage investment. Juan Reyes supports an elimination of the mortgage recording tax and real estate transfer tax on the first $500,000 of a property’s value. Juan will fight to exempt new developments and new renovations that cover 50% of a property.
New York made great strides during the Giuliani and Pataki years in moving people from dependency to self-sufficiency, but today we see liberals from City Hall to Albany and Washington who are backsliding, watering down the welfare reforms that were so successful.
  • A job, not a handout. Juan will fight to prevent the return of the welfare mentality that kept entire families dependent for generations. People who are down and out need jobs, not an eternal handout from the taxpayers.
  •  Keep the system honest. Anyone who needs short-term help for themselves or their families should get it. But taxpayers have a right to demand that people who do accept such assistance be fingerprinted to eliminate any potential fraud.