AFTON – Senator Tom Libous probably expected his Wednesday visit to Afton Elementary School to be a breeze. But instead, he found himself answering a series of tough questions, posed by fourth and fifth grade students involved with the district’s after-school enrichment program.

The session started with Libous telling the students about his role in Albany and the counties and constituents which make up the 52nd Senatorial District, which he has represented for the last 22 years.

But then the students launched into a series of questions worthy of veteran reporters.

“What are you going to do about the sugar tax?” was the first one posed, this by a young woman named Amelia. This was followed by a number of others focusing on everything from the senator’s stance on the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act and state park closures to questions about why he has chosen to serve 11 terms in the Senate and what he’s done during that time to create jobs. Would minimum wage need to be reduced to help with job creation, they asked. And did the senator support a piece of hand gun legislation being proposed by his Assembly colleague, Clifford Crouch?