Senator Mark Grisanti (R, I-60) announced passage of Senate bill S. 1710 which would provide green development home tax exemptions. Grisanti’s bill would allow a tax exemption of 35 percent for real property for a period of no longer than 20 years if authorized by the local municipality.

According to Senator Grisanti, the legislation will help to incentivize builders to invest in green homes, which are typically more expensive to build.

We are currently celebrating National Women’s Health Week.

With this in mind, I’m pleased to report that I’ve just voted to approve two critically important bills that are designed to improve women’s health care throughout our state. These measures include the following:

Breast Cancer Mapping — Few New York families haven’t been touched in some way by the great pain, suffering and loss that can be caused by breast cancer. Fortunately, both the Senate and Assembly have now taken action on legislation allowing funds from the Breast Cancer Research and Education Fund to be used for breast cancer mapping initiatives, and to generate innovative proposals that can help identify why some areas are more prone to breast cancer than others. We’ve made great strides in identifying the incidences of breast cancer statewide, but more can and should be done to isolate clusters and areas of the state where this insidious disease is more common than others.

The garment trade has been the focus in recent months due to its lack of worker safety standards. The fire that killed over 100 people and the recent collapse of a illegally built factory that killed over 700 is turning the focus on the millions of women and children working in the garment industry. The European Union is well aware of the issue surrounding these conditions with 60% of the clothes going to Europe its a billion dollar industry which comes with duty free access and low wages. Bangladesh garment exports rose 10% and makes up close to 80% of its exports and has totaled close to $20 Billion this year alone.