Where’s the relief?

That’s what some lawmakers and others are asking about what they view as a lack of action this year on mandate relief in light of the state’s new 2 percent property and school tax cap.

Lawmakers at the urging of Gov. Andrew Cuomo passed the tax cap a year ago, which makes it harder for localities to raise property taxes beyond 2 percent.

But that came with the expectation that the Legislature would reform some mandates that localities must finance.

‘”We heard that the cap and mandate relief were going to go hand in hand, and now we are looking for the mandate relief,” said Barb Bradley, a spokeswoman for the New York State School Boards Association.

“It’s been very disappointing,” added Schenectady Republican Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, who like Bradley said the sweeping changes that are needed to cut government costs haven’t been enacted.

“We gave them the cap, but there doesn’t seem to be enough pressure here to give them mandate relief,” added Tedisco.

Cuomo disagreed….

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