GOWANDA — Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski held his fourth town hall meeting Aug. 26 at Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater.

“I was pleased with the active crowd, especially for a summer night,” Sempolinski, R-Canisteo, said of the event held that Tuesday evening.

Topics included the state budget, cashless bail and crime and the rise in utility costs, which he states are being driven by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the majority members of the Legislature’s support for the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Passed in 2019, the CLCPA requires school districts and municipalities to adopt zero-emission vehicles to reduce carbon emissions.

“The EV school bus mandate comes up in every part of the district,” Sempolinski said. “By law, school districts will soon no longer be able to buy diesel buses. But EV buses are more expensive than diesel buses, they are less efficient than diesel buses and they lose their charge in cold weather.

Sempolinski noted the governor has pledged $1 billion to help schools transition to EV buses, but he argues it will cost $20 billion for every school in the state to go to EV buses.

“This is a massive, unnecessary $19 billion unfunded mandate from Albany,” he said. “I’m all for protecting our environment, but this is unaffordable and unworkable. New York’s taxpayers are already struggling. They can’t afford this.”

Sempolinski is a co-sponsor of Assembly Bill A2005, which will allow school districts to opt out of certain zero-emission school bus requirements. He said he urges his colleagues in the Republican minority conference to “raise the alarm about the EV bus mandate and the CLCPA.”

The assemblyman said he’s been moving his town hall meetings around the district to make it easier for people to attend.

“We picked Gowanda for this town hall to give folks from northern Cattaraugus County a chance to attend,” he said. “I held my first town hall in Olean, my second in Wellsville and my third in Canisteo in Steuben County. The 148th Assembly District is just a little smaller than the state of Delaware.”

He said another town hall will be held before winter, but he’s not sure of the location yet.