Lazio Claims He Can Create 1 Million Jobs

Gubernatorial candidate Rick A. Lazio said he feels that if his campaign promises fall in line, New York could see another million jobs created over the next five years.

The Republican candidate, who will face Carl Paladino of Buffalo in a GOP primary this month, said during a visit Thursday to Watertown that his plans to cut state spending and lower taxes will help keep jobs in New York.

"I believe we can create a million jobs over five years if we can get all these things enacted: To get a budget that is balanced in a predictable and sustainable way and show businesses that there is a constancy in the approach, lower taxes for energy and for property taxes and for businesses and a sort of sense that the government is going to be a better partner," he said during an hourlong meeting with the Times editorial board.

Mr. Lazio said commercial traffic to the north country from Canada should be allowed to cross in a "responsible but quick way."

"This is a different relationship that we have historically had," he said. "I understand the importance of Canadian commercial activity in the area."

Mr. Lazio said the state should be proactive about courting Canadians to visit the north country by placing economic development professionals in Montreal and Toronto.

The state also should pitch the education expertise of students graduating from north country colleges to Canadian businesses planning to expand to New York.

"There's a pipeline of talent these businesses have to rely on, and they need a constant replenishment of talent," he said. "They need to know that if they expand, there are people here to do the job."

The talent pool from Fort Drum dependents, he said, also should be tapped.

"There's a lot of talent in this area for aerospace and defense," he said. "The state has done a poor job, I would argue, courting defense-related businesses."

The state, Mr. Lazio said, also needs to focus on cutting spending.

"Look at the budget of New York state at $135 billion or so, you don't close a $10 billion budget gap - next year is projected another $10 billion gap - you don't close it by shutting a couple of parks, or as offensive as member items are, by getting rid of just them," he said.

Two-thirds of the state budget is made up of health care, Medicaid, school aid, debt service and employee compensation, which includes pensions and benefits.

"That's where the money is," Mr. Lazio said. "And I think people are tapped out. We're slowly destroying our tax base and people are leaving the state. It's a failing strategy."

Pension abuse among state workers is helping drive up those costs, he said.

"We cannot justify six-figure pensions and people who milk overtime or the system, so in the last couple of years they have these breathtaking pensions for the rest of their life," he said. "The only way to fix that is to have a defined-contribution plan, a fair one, a good one."

Mr. Lazio will visit Oswego and Penn Yan in the next few days echoing his campaign promises.

"The governor has to be the pitchman and the chief for the state," he said.