ALBANY - The New York Republican State Committee released the following statement in response to Kathy Hochul and Kirsten Gillibrand hysterically threatening tax hikes in the event that the Department of Education is shut down:

“Kathy Hochul and Kirsten Gillibrand are crying poverty while New York already spends more per student than any state in the nation, a staggering $35,000+ per pupil annually.

“If the bloated federal Department of Education closed tomorrow, the only thing New York taxpayers would lose is another excuse for Democrats to waste their money. Instead of threatening tax hikes, Hochul and Gillibrand should explain why less than half of New York’s kids are proficient in reading or math despite record spending. But that would require accountability - something Albany and Washington Democrats avoid like the plague.”

- NYGOP Spokesman David Laska