Lyons, NY GOP Committee

08/17/2026

Albany has no shortage of grand plans. They have plans to transform the climate, transform education, transform transportation, and, if given enough time and taxpayer money, presumably transform everything else too.

So here is unconventional idea: start with seven things we might actually be able to accomplish.

Today, I’m announcing seven priorities for my first year in the State Assembly: energy affordability, third-grade reading, greater access to BOCES and career education, regulatory relief for family farms, accountability for repeat offenders, protecting and extending veterans’ benefits, and strengthening community banks.

These proposals don’t represent everything I want to accomplish. If given the opportunity, I’d happily swing for a home run or two.

For example, I would happily vote to repeal the entire CLCPA and replace Albany’s energy mandates with an affordable, reliable, all-of-the-above energy policy. There are similarly big reforms I support in education, public safety, gun rights, taxes, and economic development.

But there is a difference between knowing where you want to go and pretending you can get there by lunchtime.

So these proposals are intentionally narrow. They identify specific problems where a freshman Republican state legislator can realistically make a difference.

Some of these proposals have been tried before (like Senator Helming’s PROTECT Act). Some I wrote myself; and, admittedly, I am brand new at this.

There’s another reason for that approach: Albany already has thousands of bills floating around. If another Assemblymember has already introduced a good bill that does what I want to accomplish, I don’t need to introduce the “George Dobbins Version” just to put my name on it. I’d rather co-sponsor the good bill and help pass it.

Where gaps remain, however, we should fill them.

That means putting real affordability safeguards into energy policy. Getting kids reading by third grade. Removing financial and transportation barriers to BOCES, expanding earlier access to career and technical education, and helping more students find a path to the trades and good-paying jobs. Giving family farms relief from one-size-fits-all regulations. Giving judges more tools to deal with repeat and dangerous offenders. Extending existing state veterans’ benefits that are scheduled to sunset by ten years, while making sure veterans actually know about and can access the benefits they’ve earned. And keeping community banks strong enough to invest in the families, farms, and businesses that keep our towns alive.

That’s what being a Conservative Republican for Working People should mean: principles without empty promises, ambition tempered by reality, and government focused on things that actually matter back home.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll take each proposal individually. I’ll explain what the problem is, what I’m proposing, and why I think it can work.

Seven priorities. Realistic targets. And hopefully, a little less Albany nonsense.

……If you have read this far, here are some additional bills from last session that I would have supported:

* First-Time Homebuyers — A.7525: Provides qualifying first-time homebuyers with a state income-tax credit based on the property taxes paid on their primary residence, helping make homeownership more affordable.

* Homebuyer Renovations — A.7479: Provides property-tax relief for qualifying home improvements, encouraging families to purchase and rehabilitate New York’s existing housing stock.

* Housing Infrastructure — A.7478: Creates a tax credit for qualifying water, sewer, and other infrastructure costs needed to support new housing construction.

* Volunteer Firefighters & EMS — A.2029: Allows volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers to receive both the local property-tax exemption and state income-tax credit they earn through their service.

* Greater Volunteer Firefighter & EMS Tax Relief — A.3114: Increases the state income-tax credit for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for married volunteers filing jointly.

* Rural Healthcare — A.9137: Expands incentives to attract and retain healthcare professionals in rural communities while making important telehealth reimbursement protections permanent.

* Small-Business Tax Relief — A.8752: Provides meaningful tax relief to qualifying small businesses with 20 or fewer employees by exempting their first $50,000 from taxation.

* Support New York Small Businesses & Products — A.3221: Creates tax credits for qualifying small businesses that sell New York-produced goods, supporting local businesses, farmers, and New York-made products.

08/16/2026

Always great to visit with Wayne County SCOPE at the Wayne County Fair!

08/15/2026

Thanks to the Clyde-Galen Fire District, for organizing the Firemen’s Parade on Friday!

08/14/2026

07/29/2026

WHY WEDNESDAYS: WHY SOCIALIST POLICING POLICIES WILL HURT WORKING PEOPLE

“Democratic Socialists of America” (DSA)-backed candidates are on the rise in New York State. That is why I started a series called “Why Wednesdays.” Each week I take a closer look at a socialist policy, explain why it fails to solve the problem it promises to fix, and offer a conservative, common sense alternative that puts working people, families, and small businesses first.

This week we look at DSA-endorsed proposals on policing, including prison abolition, radical bail reform, and calls to abolish or defund the police.

We know what people expect from police. The average person wants safe streets, strong communities, and a justice system that holds criminals accountable while protecting the innocent. We want neighborhoods where people can work, raise families, and open businesses without fear.

DSA-backed plans promise to dismantle systems by emptying prisons, ending cash bail for many offenses, and slashing police budgets. But, in the real world, these policies have coincided with higher crime that burdens the very people least able to protect themselves.

New York’s 2019 bail reform eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. Statewide index crimes (the seven major categories tracked by the Division of Criminal Justice Services) hit a historic low of about 337,000 in 2019.

By 2023 they had increased to 440,305, a clear rise from the pre-bail-reform baseline. In New York City, felony assaults climbed roughly 44 percent since 2019, reaching nearly 30,000 in recent years, the highest levels in decades according to NYPD and Vital City analyses of CompStat data. Motor vehicle theft and certain property crimes also surged sharply after 2019.

Working people and small businesses feel the impact of high crime through theft, higher insurance, lost customers, and daily insecurity.

Higher crime does not hit everyone equally. Poor people and minorities are hurt the most by higher crime. NYPD’s 2024 Year-End Enforcement Report shows that Black New Yorkers accounted for 52.5 percent of murder victims and Hispanic New Yorkers 34.7 percent. Shooting victims follow the same pattern, with the large majority Black or Hispanic. National Bureau of Justice Statistics data confirm that people in poor households experience violent victimization at more than double the rate of those in high-income households. The burdens of high crime fall heaviest on the very communities DSA claims to champion.

New York needs practical, conservative solutions. We should restore judicial discretion for bail in cases involving repeat or high-risk offenders, support effective policing and officer recruitment, expand proven focused deterrence programs, clear case backlogs for serious crimes, and reject prison abolition that ignores the need to remove dangerous people from the streets.

DSA-style policing policies ignore basic realities of public safety. They risk more victims, more disorder, and less opportunity for working families. Upstate New York and every community need accountability and strong enforcement. We should reject these failed socialist ideas at the ballot box this November.

07/22/2026

WHY WEDNESDAYS: WHY SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE PROPOSALS WILL HURT WORKING PEOPLE

As I have reminded my audience in previous weeks, socialist candidates are on the rise in New York State. That is why I started a series called “Why Wednesdays.” Each week I take a closer look at a socialist policy, explain why it fails to solve the problem it promises to fix, and offer a conservative, common sense alternative that puts working people, families, and small businesses first.

This week we look at Democratic Socialists of America proposals for universal healthcare, including the New York Health Act.

Our goal should be simple. We want high quality, affordable healthcare that is available when people need it. We want care that does not bankrupt families or drive jobs and doctors away from Upstate New York. DSA-backed plans promise free coverage with no copays or deductibles. But government-run single payer systems often lead to longer wait times, fewer choices, and much higher taxes.

The New York Health Act would replace private insurance with a statewide single payer plan. Supporters say it would save money through efficiency. Yet the RAND Corporation estimated it would require about $139 billion in new state revenue in 2022. That was about a 156 percent increase over state tax collections at the time. Costs could rise even higher if more benefits are added. So will your taxes.

Higher spending does not guarantee better care. The Congressional Budget Office has warned that single payer systems with little or no cost sharing increase demand for healthcare. If the number of doctors and healthcare workers does not keep up, patients can face much longer waits for appointments, surgeries, and other treatment.

We have seen these problems in other countries. In Canada, patients often wait about 28 to 30 weeks between a specialist referral and treatment. Some wait even longer. The United Kingdom also struggles with long backlogs that delay crucial care.

Working people and small businesses would also feel the impact. Higher taxes raise the cost of doing business and can make it harder to hire workers. Lower salaries for doctors could discourage students from entering medicine and encourage experienced doctors to leave New York or retire early. That would make healthcare shortages even worse, especially in rural Upstate communities.

New York needs practical, conservative solutions. We should expand health savings accounts, promote price transparency, encourage competition, reduce the influence of Pharmacy Benefit Managers, expand telemedicine, reform outdated regulations, and make it easier to train more healthcare workers.

DSA-style universal healthcare ignores basic economic realities. It risks longer waits, fewer choices, and higher taxes. Upstate New York needs more competition, innovation, and patient-choice. We should reject these failed socialist ideas at the ballot box this November.

07/15/2026

WHY WEDNESDAYS: WHY RADICAL MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES HURT THE WORKING CLASS

“Democratic Socialist” candidates are on the rise in New York State. That is why I am starting a new series called “Why Wednesdays.” Each week, I will take a closer look at a socialist policy, explain why that policy fails to solve the problem it promises to fix, and share a conservative, common-sense alternative that puts working people, families, and small businesses first.

This week, we look at minimum wage increases.

Our goal should be obvious: more good jobs that let families thrive and keep young people in Upstate New York. New York Democrats and socialists say raising the minimum wage will help working families. But minimum wage increases do not create the well-paying jobs Upstate New York needs. Increased wage hikes will have distorting effects on our already-struggling local economy.

Right now, New York’s minimum wage is $17.00 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester. It is $16.00 per hour in the rest of the state. Democrat-backed legislation will mandate additional automatic raises tied to inflation.

These hikes may sound like the right thing to do, but they actually hurt many workers. To demonstrate what happens when the minimum wage is increased, we can look at a study done by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO study found that a universal minimum wage increase to $15.00 per hour would cost about 1.4 million jobs nationwide. With that in mind, take a moment to consider how badly New York State’s minimum wage legislation must have hurt us locally.

Democratic socialists claim they want to fight “big corporations,” but small companies suffer the most when wages are artificially raised. Many small businesses reduce shifts or raise prices, which is a double whammy for working-class families.

Young people and minorities get hit the hardest. These are two groups democratic socialists claim they want to help, but minimum wage hikes effectively pull up the ladder on them. Businesses hire fewer workers, cut hours, or replace jobs with machines instead.

In Upstate New York, we need real solutions. Albany should cut payroll taxes and overregulation to lower costs for small employers. We need to reduce unnecessary rules that make it too expensive to hire. We have to direct resources to expand job training, vocational schools, and apprenticeships so that our young people can develop skills for better pay. By growing our local economy, we will create more jobs and cause wages to rise naturally.

Extreme minimum wage increases ignore basic facts of economics. They block new jobs instead of creating them. Upstate New York needs more well-paying jobs to bring back young families and build a stronger future. We must reject these failing ideas at the ballot box and choose policies that reward work and growth.

– George

07/09/2026

WHY WEDNESDAYS: WHY SOCIALIST POLICIES WILL RUIN UPSTATE HOUSING

Recent election results in New York and across America show that socialist ideas are gaining ground. That is why I am starting a new series called “Why Wednesdays.” Each week, I will take a closer look at a socialist policy, explain why that policy fails to solve the problem it promises to fix, and share conservative, common-sense alternatives that put working people, families, and small businesses first.

This week, we look at housing.

When it comes to housing, our goal for Upstate New York should be simple: build more single-family homes to attract and keep young families in the region. Owning your own home is a key part of the American Dream. Unfortunately, that dream is becoming less affordable for large numbers of working people.

New York’s democratic socialists claim their housing policies will fix affordability problems. In truth, however, their ideas will not increase housing supply, will not lower rents, and will make shortages worse.

A signature socialist policy is expanding rent control across New York State. Whether it be a single room, a two-bedroom apartment, or a whole home, at some point during their lives, most working people will rent a place to live. The socialists’ purported goal is to make housing more affordable by capping rents so working families can pay less. But evidence shows that rent control does not achieve this goal for most people.

Rent control limits what landlords can charge, which eliminates the incentive to build new apartments and maintain existing ones. This is why in New York City about 57,000 rent-stabilized apartments now sit empty. Landlords cannot cover rising costs for repairs, taxes, and insurance. Studies show rent control reduces the overall supply of rental housing by 15% or more.

Further, buildings under rent control are statistically more likely to have code violations, leaks, and poor maintenance than unregulated ones. Instead of lowering rents long term, rent control creates shortages that drive prices higher in the rest of the market.

A second set of policies that New York democratic socialists aggressively push are zoning changes to force “higher density.” Their goal is to create more “affordable” rental housing by allowing apartments and multifamily buildings almost everywhere. This is often done against the wishes of the surrounding communities.

This approach will hurt Upstate too. Attacking single-family-zoned neighborhoods discourages the exact type of housing young families want. Single-family homes help regular people build wealth, raise their children, and strengthen communities. Single-family homes give people skin in the game.

Upstate New York has already lost too many young adults. Restrictive zoning policies limit new construction all across the Northeast, where we face one of the worst housing supply shortages compared to household growth. Forcing density does not solve housing shortages. In reality, it reduces the kind of housing that attracts good families and stable homeowners.

Whatever their good intentions, socialist policies ignore basic economics. Rent control and anti-single-family zoning reduce new supply and hurt housing quality. They do not achieve the socialist promise of abundant, affordable housing. Instead, they create scarcity and decline.

Conservative principles point to better solutions. Protect single-family zoning. Cut excessive building regulations and high taxes that block construction. Lower barriers so private builders can respond to what Upstate working families actually want. Less regulated areas show that increasing supply through market-friendly policies effectively moderates prices and supports community growth.

New York’s socialist housing agenda puts government control over proven results. Upstate New York needs more single-family homes to reverse population loss and build a stronger future. If we really want to help working families, we need to reject the far left’s ill-conceived housing policies at the ballot box.

– George

06/30/2026

These aren’t your parents’ Democrats.

Upstate New Yorkers should pay close attention to the rise of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates winning primaries across the state. For years, “establishment” Democrats like Kathy Hochul and Chuck Schumer believed they could harness the DSA’s radical energy to maintain their own power. That calculation has backfired. The DSA is now actively displacing the old guard, and their plan is to pull the Democratic Party and New York state further and further left.

This trend is not limited to New York City. In Syracuse, DSA-backed Mo Brown appears to have defeated 14-term Democratic Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli in last Tuesday’s primary (absentee ballots were still being counted as of June 30). The socialist wave is spreading to Upstate.

Whatever their intentions, the radical policies these DSA Democrats push will not help because they do not work.

—Experiments in “defunding the police” and “abolishing prisons” will leave our most vulnerable in jeopardy, particularly those in poor and working-class communities;

—Expansive rent controls and housing policies will deter new construction and worsen housing quality and housing shortages;

—Heavy taxation on businesses will accelerate the outflow of jobs, residents, and investment from our state.

This November, the 130th Assembly District must reject the false promises of the new left. If this is the new generation of Democrat, then we need to send a new generation of Republican!! Vote for George Dobbins on November 3rd!

https://nypost.com/2026/06/24/us-news/mamdanis-red-wedding-sweep-in-nyc-congressional-races-came-from-small-sliver-of-dem-voters

Wayne County Republican Committee, NY Wayne County Conservative Party Webster Republican Committee

06/26/2026

The next generation of Republican and Conservative leaders must wage a fearless battle of ideas.

Recent elections across New York State reveal that an old specter has once again possessed our political opponents. For the sake of our working families and our quality of life, we must confront it boldly.

Wayne County Republican Committee, NY Wayne County Conservative PartyWebster Republican Committee