UPDATE 12:55 p.m., Jan. 15:

Rochester city spokesperson Mike Keane's reaction to State Assemblymember Steve Katz's comments that Rochester is close to bankruptcy:

The City is not on the verge of bankruptcy. Assemblyman Katz is wildly overstating the case here. The Mayor has advocated for increased state aid and will continue to do so, however, we have no commitments from the state for the upcoming budget.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Some tough words from Assembly Republicans on Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed package of gun legislation. The legislation is being debated in the Assembly right now. The State Senate passed it last night.

Assembly member Marc Butler said the legislation "tramples on the Constitutional rights of our constituents" and would be a job-killer for New York's Mohawk Valley. The Remington Factory is the largest employer in Herkimer County in the Mohawk Valley, says the Wall Street Journal.

Butler said the gun legislation is being rammed through without public hearings or proper vetting.

"I take no pride in what we are doing here today," Butler said.

Republican Steve Katz, who represents the 94th Assembly District, was more forceful. He said the Assembly is being bullied into passing the bill, and called the legislation a misguided, egotistical attempt to advance Cuomo's presidential ambitions.

The new law will turn law-abiding citizens into a new class of criminals overnight, he said.

Interesting and slightly alarming tangent: Katz ticked off a number of issues he said the state should be worried about before gun control. He said Rochester and a couple of other Upstate cities are on the verge of bankruptcy and that Cuomo's negotiating bailout packages for these cities. That might be news to Rochester Mayor Tom Richards.