Amy Koch

How many postage stamps does it take to run a state Senate office? That was the sticky issue debated today during the opening Senate session of 2009. Noting the emergence of email as a tool to communicate with constituents, along with the state’s looming $4.8 billion deficit, Sen. Amy Koch (pictured) proposed that the number of stamps allocated to each legislator be reduced from 5,500 to 3,500. “This is not a big cost savings,” the Republican from Buffalo acknowledged, “but I did a little math and it’s over $56,000.”