 Thompson had been allied with NY City developer Howard Milstein. In 2010 Thompson arranged for a $ 400,000 grant from NY State's Economic Development Program for the Manhattan billionaire's Niagara Falls Redevelopment company to demolish properties in NiagaraFalls, NY. Thompson was a vocal spokesman against the May 2007 bill to raise State Senator salaries because the lack of raises for Buffalo city workers made it seem wrong to him. After refusing to comment on the issue for some time, Thompson was one of eight Democratic defectors on Eliot Spitzer's unpopular policy allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses. Thompson was one of eleven New York State Senators to be uncontested in the November 2008 general election. He supported the streamlining of minority- and woman-owned business certification. He opposes fracking
