Gregory R. Ball Totally Explained

Everything about Gregory R Ball totally explained

Gregory R. Ball (born September 16, 1977) is an American business executive, former active duty Air Force officer and member of the New York State Assembly. Assemblyman Ball serves as the ranking member on the Veteran's Affairs committee, and was the author of the measure enacted in the 2008 New York State budget offering free college tuition to military veterans. He has risen to prominence for his views on immigration, and has been named a Chairman of Lawmakers for Legal Immigration, an immigration reform group. He is a resident of Carmel, New York.
Assemblyman Ball is also a member of the Election Law; Energy; Housing; and Social Services Committees. He represents New York's 99th assembly district which comprises the towns Patterson, Mahopac, Carmel, Southeast, Putnam Lake and Brewster, in Putnam County; Yorktown, Mohegan Lake, Somers, and North Salem in Westchester County; and both Pawling and Pawling Village in Duchess County.
Beginning his political career in 2005, he defeated six-term incumbent Willis Stephens in a primary in September of 2006, running of a platform of reforming the legislature in Albany. Since being elected, Ball has been active in issues involving school and property tax reform, second amendment rights, animal protection, the environment, renewable energy and conservation, veteran's affairs, and illegal immigration. He is often mentioned as a possible candidate for higher office, and has referred to himself as "Albany’s loudest advocate for reform."

Early career and background

Ball felt that the County legislature could have eliminated more "pork" from the county budget. Another state legislator, Sandra Galef, eventually introduced the tax increase bill to the Assembly. Ball later joined with a county legislator in calling on Bondi to resign, citing his "incompetence and stubbornness" in proposing a budget with a 40% increase in the property tax levy. Hundreds of residents of Putnam County demonstrated outside Bondi's office in opposition to the tax increase, which was defeated.
Ball pledged to deliver an Empire Zone to Putnam County during his campaign, and this became a reality in February of 2008. Advantages of an Empire Zone include offering up to 100-percent state subsidy of a business' real estate taxes for up to 10 years, state tax credits up to $3,500 for five years for each new employee, a waiver of sales tax on certain business purchases and sales tax credits for contributions to 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Ball has also delivered dozens of grants for organizations throughout the 99th Assembly District, including the American Red Cross.

Reaction to Governor Spitzer's resignation

Although both Spitzer and Ball had been elected on platforms of reform, Ball called on the Governor to resign when the The New York Times reported that Spitzer had patronized a prostitution service called Emperors Club VIP and met with a call girl under the alias "George Fox".

Over the past year, my initial optimism has been replaced with a realistic view of an unfortunate Governor who has become a kamikaze pilot on cruise control. First gay marriage, then a budget so bloated it made drunken sailors cringe, then driver's licenses for illegal aliens, and now this. Lawmakers in Albany have been prostituting themselves to lobbyists and special interests for decades, but this Governor has evidently taken it to a whole new level. Early in my term as a new Assemblyman, I put my partisanship aside and looked forward to everything changing on 'Day One.' Indeed, maybe naïvely, I was actually optimistic of this Governor's ability to take on the entrenched special interests in a non-partisan fashion and finally bring needed reform. Our hopes for reform have once again been sunk by the politics of personal destruction and incompetence. This madness needs to end, and we've to finally begin focusing on the real issues: tax reform, ethics reform, term limits and a balanced budget.

The Governor announced his resignation the day after Ball's comments, and left office on March 17, 2008. He was replaced by his Lieutenant Governor, David Paterson. Ball stated that "My heart and prayers go out to Mrs. Spitzer and the Spitzer family. Yet my heart also goes out to the millions of New Yorkers, of all political persuasions, who voted for this man believing that he, Spitzer, would finally champion the cause of the people and work to clean up Albany... Immediately, as a member of the Legislature, I'll now welcome the new Governor. I look forward to a new, fresh start."

Free college tuition for veterans

As ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Ball announced legislation expanding the eligibility for veterans to receive tax exemption benefits, including the exemption of real property owned by certain disabled veterans from property taxation. Although the first bill didn't make it out of committee in 2007, after Governor Spitzer called on the Assembly to pass such a measure, Ball reintroduced the legislation and garnered thirty-one cosponsors. State Senator Vinnie Leibell, whose Senate district encompasses the 99th Assembly District, announced the Senate would begin working to pass a similar measure. Previously, the State of New York Higher Education Services Corporation offered tuition awards of $1000 per semester for military service.
Ball's legislation was picked up by the entire Assembly Republican Conference through their 2008 legislative package. Numerous members of the New York Veterans of Foreign Wars, including the State Commander, spoke in favor of the bill before the Assembly in February of 2008. Governor Eliot Spitzer included the measure in his 2008 executive budget proposal, and the measure was kept funded in Governor David Paterson's version.
The landmark legislation created a tuition remission program for veterans, and was passed by both houses of the State Legislature as Part N, Article 7 of the $121.7 billion 2008-09 state budget State Budget. The Assemblyman was pleased that the program was fully funded by the budget, but stated "there is much more we can do and I'm proud to stand here today to call on my colleagues in both houses, on both sides of the aisle, to honor our veterans and thank them for their service through enactment of legislation that will help improve their quality of life." Ball and the Republican Assembly minority conference eventually voted against the Assembly's version of the budget, citing "funny numbers accounting, out of control spending, and unfunded mandates", and were praised for their fiscal conservatism by Governor Paterson, a Democrat, who didn't rule out using his veto pen for member items.

Committee work and legislation

His support for pro-agricultural legislation, including creation of measures to establish a $30 million Dairy Assistance Program, as well as providing financial assistance to counties for farmland protection and for the construction of greenmarkets, among others, earned him an award from the New York Farm Bureau. He was also named as the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association "Assemblyman of the Year" for his dedication toward advocating for outdoor sports and sportsmen’s rights. The gun industry representatives were asked to leave by the event's organizers. Ball had been invited by Assembly Democrat Michelle Schimel to the demonstration of microstamping technology. Schimel's bill mandating microstamping was passed through the Assembly, against opposition led by Assemblyman Ball of 47 Assembly members of both parties, although the State Senate took no action on a similar item and it won't become law. Gun control advocates want bullets fired from guns purchased in New York to be marked so they can be more easily traced to their origin, and have drawn criticism due to the unreliability of the technology, and production costs placed on the gun industry and passed on to gun owners. The Assemblyman claims that the legislation unfairly impacts law abiding gun owners, as most homicides are committed with illegal firearms or guns purchased in another state that wouldn't utilize microstamping. As of 2008, only California had passed similar legislation.
    As a pet owner, Ball has made animal protection a campaign platform, and he secured grants for Guiding Eyes for the Blind and local humane societies, and has co-sponsored legislation to prohibit the slaughter of horses for the purpose of human consumption, as well as a bill to allow guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs to be allowed in public places during their training. Ball worked closely with the Humane Society of the United States to pass legislation to outlaw puppy mills, which are large commercial kennels that are notorious for substandard conditions and an "assembly line" approach to churning out puppies.
   The bill, known both as "Charlemagne's Law" and "The Puppy Mill Act", strengthens a previous measure he'd created, and is the product of a constituent who lost a beloved pet due to parasites, ear mites, kennel cough and a corneal ulcer all stemming from the poor environment of the puppy mill. The legislation prohibits pet stores from selling dogs bred in puppy mills, and was introduced alongside another bill which would impose stiffer penalties for those convicted of dog fighting.
   The Assemblyman has carried legislation to Albany for other constituents, including a measure in May of 2008 known as "Hannah's Law" which ensures a Yorktown couple receives insurance coverage for the formula that keeps their three daughter alive, making it mandatory for insurers to cover formulas for patients with rare eosinophilic disorders, and removes the $2,500 annual caps imposed by insurance plans that pay for formula.
   He has been involved in the fight to keep Pepsi Bottling Group in his district, after the company, which is Westchester County's second-largest employer announced it was considering relocating out of his district due to the tax burden it faces. He told reporters that "Westchester County has become a nightmare for not only business owners, but property owners, because of the tax burden", but that he was "cautiously optimistic" they'd remain in their Somers, New York headquarters. The Assemblyman has stated that America is a great nation because of its immigration population, and he supports legal immigration, and a fairer, and more open immigration policy with secure borders. Ball claims that the economy penalizes legal immigrants, unfairly impacts law abiding business owners, and exploits illegal laborers. Ball made illegal immigration a focal point of his bid for office. He was at the forefront of the opposition to the plan, and his Statewide petition to stop it led to the Assembly Minority Conference's decision to sue the Governor to stop the plan.
   The Assemblyman introduced a bill that authorizes local police to detain and begin the deportation process immediately for illegal immigrants caught committing a crime known as the New York State Criminal Illegal Alien Deportation and Legal Hiring Act, and also cosponsored a series of immigration bills that passed in the State Assembly to crack down on contractors breaking state labor laws such as prevailing wage and IRS tax form 1099 misclassification. The lawmaker has attempted to avert misconceptions about what he's trying to do, stressing that his bill's provisions require ICE to perform monthly searches of the state's registered sex-offender list to find criminal aliens, stating that "It's sad to watch some people turn a law-enforcement issue into an 'us- versus-them' argument. This is solely about focusing on the most violent criminal illegal aliens and making sure they're deported so they can't strike again in the state of New York."
   In February of 2008, Ball hosted a summit on the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g) program for law enforcement and elected officials from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, co-hosted by Jim Pendergraph, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Executive Director from the United States Department of Homeland Security Office of State and Local Coordination. He talked at length about the measure during a Fox News interview with Neil Cavuto. The 287(g) partnership, created in 1996 under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA), includes a five week training program on how to avoid racial profiling, and allows local law enforcement officers to work as ICE agents and file immigration violation charges, so that an illegal immigrant charged with crime in would have deportation papers filed immediately. Ball believes that correctional officers should receive immigration law enforcement training under the 287(g) program, and has promised to work with the ICE branch of the Department of Homeland Security by signing up counties which have their own correctional facility for the training. Ball held another regional summit in April of 2008. He emphasized that deporting nonviolent offenders before their sentence was up would save the state money.
   He has noted that illegal immigrants are not always automatically deported despite facing criminal charges.
   Ball has worked to promote businesses that hire legal immigrant laborers, and has begun to create a database for usage on his campaign website. His campaign headquarters in Pawling, New York may have been targeted over the contentious issue, and was vandalized with swastikas in October of 2006, although the person or persons responsible misspelled the word "Fascist" twice. An oft-quoted line from his campaign literature was that "Illegal Immigration is Illegal". He was named "Albany's most ardent supporter of legal immigration" when he was appointed State Chairman of the national immigration reform group State Legislators for Legal Immigration. Yet Ball declined to speak at an anti illegal-immigration forum in Danbury, Connecticut sponsored by United States Citizens for Immigration Law Enforcement, calling the group's rhetoric "over the top."

Energy and conservation

Ball was referred to as "one of the rising stars in the Republican Party" during speculation that he'd run against freshman Congressman John Hall in 2008, although he later ruled out a challenge against Hall. Ball sent out a statement stating that, "I love being the assemblyman. There's a lot I'm accomplishing at the local level and there's still a lot that needs to be done."
On March 17, 2008, Ball announced that he'd be a candidate for reelection during an event at an Irish restaurant in Yorktown Heights, flanked by new Westchester GOP Chairman Douglas Colety, Putnam GOP Chairman Anthony Scannapieco, Jr., and Westchester County Executive candidate Rob Astorino. Ball highlighted the fact that his campaign had received the most money and more contributions from individual donors then any other incumbent minority Assemblyman in the last quarter of 2007. In a speech to supporters, Ball stated that "I'm a maverick Republican. I came into this business from outside the political machine. That makes me a target for Albany insiders."
In early May of 2008, John Degnan, the former Mayor of Brewster, New York, announced he'd be mounting a challenge to the freshman Assemblyman. The Republican Assembly Campaign Committee issued a press release on Degnan's candidacy, stating that "There is no question that, unlike his opponent – who just last year ran with the backing of the Democrat Party – Assemblyman Greg Ball is a true Republican who has kept his promises. Greg Ball has been, and continues to be, a recognized leader in the fight to fix Albany by supporting real property tax relief, fiscal responsibility and the types of comprehensive reforms needed to repair a broken state government."

Electoral history

Courage Cup

In January of 2007, Ball became involved in a dispute with Andrea Rodgers and Keri Ann Meslar, who ran a charity polo tournament known as the "Courage Cup." Ball had been stationed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington D.C., where he organized the first Courage Cup in 2004, raising nearly $8,000 for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Work to Ride program and other organizations. The event was created to bring together Washington professionals and the polo community together for a good cause, and a good time, and grew to become one of the largest polo events on the east coast. Ball founded the charity in 2004, prior to his run for office. His former friends resisted his attempt to retake a leadership role in 2007, and Ball countered that he was the Courage Cup's rightful owner and that the two women stole his intellectual property.
A Washington Post article from June of 2007 implied that one of the event directors offered tickets at difference price level with proceeds going to a Political Action Committee which would later support Ball, although Ball's campaign stated it had nothing to do with the fund raising and that the destination of profits from the event were clearly stated on the purchase form. Despite this, several Courage Cup supporters were surprised that what they believed were charitable contributions were used for political purposes. Phillip Karber, a member of the board of directors for The Courage Cup who described himself as a neutral party, stated that "Ball has done a phenomenal job of getting this thing organized and getting it started. The new people did a good job of not letting it die."Further Information

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