Bill Weber Candidate Profile

Senator Bill Weber (R, NY 38) is seeking reelection. The Republican incumbent is a Pearl River native who worked as the Chief Financial Officer for a small family business before entering state politics. Weber told the RCT that his frustrations with high taxes and the daunting cost of living in New York are what convinced him to enter the political arena. 

Weber has spent his first term in office advocating for home rule while simultaneously using state legislation to afford more options for Rockland’s town and county governments as they address issues including unsafe housing and shortfall’s in public school budgets.

Weber has championed legislation that would allow county’s to add uncollected property fines to the tax bill of building code violators. Weber is optimistic that, if implemented, this new tool for enforcement could help the county discourage unsafe and illegal development. Regular readers will recall that Rockland is the only county in state history to have one of its village building departments, Spring Valley, absorbed by the county government due to the department’s inability to enforce local zoning codes. .

Weber has also taken steps to change how Rockland’s public schools are funded. Weber has supported legislation that would require New York State to directly pay some expenses that are currently funded through public school budgets. As the law currently stands, busing, special education, and some medical expenses for private schools are all funded through local tax dollars allocated for the  public districts in which they reside. Weber’s bill, a variation of a bill originally drafted by Mike Lawler during his tenure in state senate, would add a provision that allows districts where a majority of children attend private schools, as is the case in East Ramapo, to receive state funding for transportation costs. 

Weber has also worked to reform the Foundational Aid Formula which New York uses to determine how much state money is distributed to public schools; over the summer Weber organized a bipartisan forum for Hudson Valley lawmakers and educators where those in attendance conducted a study addressing the short falling of the current formula. Weber is optimistic that the study will lead to a reform of New York’s approach to funding that will see more support for districts with a large pool of students attending private schools. 

“For too long, (public and private) schools have been fighting over the same dollar that has been coming through the public schools,” said Weber.  

Weber has also voiced strong opposition to the congestion pricing plan put in forth by Governor Hochul, which would add new fees for commuters taking cars in and out of NYC. Though the governor paused that proposal in June, Weber has expressed concerns that the state is still willing to implement the measure which would see Rockland residents who work in NYC face a much larger cost of commuting.

“I was proud that  I stood firm with my colleagues to get the governor to put a pause on the implementation of congestion pricing because it is a terrible idea. It’s an unfair tax on the people in Rockland. I’m not going rest until congestion pricing is either repealed entirely or at least Rockland County is carved out of it because it is an unfair tax,” stated Weber.

Out of all the polices he discussed with the RCT, Weber made it clear that he considers his work to resolve constituent cases his greatest accomplishment. 

“We have closed an excess of 1,600 cases of all varieties. (We have) helped a family who couldn’t get a wheelchair for their child because their insurance company was denying them, helped fixed potholes and addressed everyday issues that our residents have. We handle all New York State matters. I highlight that because that is one of the things I’m most proud of, helping constituents with their everyday lives.”