Dear eNews Reader,
It was a difficult January for me as I was sidelined with COVID for the first time. It’s hard to believe that my husband and I had avoided it up to this point. I was home for two weeks and have been steadily improving. Please stay safe; there are many cases of influenza and COVID being reported locally, as I can attest.
Donna
1. Budget Season Begins in Albany
We began our legislative session earlier this month; I was allowed to participate remotely. The Governor outlined her priorities in the annual State of the State address and state budget proposal. While I appreciate the Governor’s interest in common sense solutions to problems like outmigration, housing, crime reduction, and mental health, there are several issues that we will need to spend a lot more time talking about. I am focused on basics like affordability, child care, workforce development, and making sure our health care institutions, farms, schools and municipalities have the resources they need. We recently highlighted the crisis affecting local nursing homes, which is causing long wait times for hospital beds and emergency room care.
Read highlights of the Executive Budget proposal here.
2. Greater Binghamton Airport Begins Long-Awaited Renovation Project
Earlier this month, work finally got underway to rebuild the Greater Binghamton Airport. The last time the airport was renovated was close to 25 years ago, when I was a County Legislator. As the Co-Chair of the Legislative Aviation Caucus, I am committed to supporting our airports, the traveling public and regional economies they serve. With this update, expected to be completed in 2025, our airport will have all the amenities that airlines and passengers have come to expect. I appreciate Governor Hochul supporting this initiative, and all of those who worked on the proposal.
3. United Front to #RescueEMS
Last week, I joined the NYS Association of Counties, EMS representatives, and colleagues in Albany to unveil a new legislative package designed to #RescueEMS. These bills are in response to funding shortfalls, long wait times, and workforce shortages affecting Emergency Medical Services across the state. Believe it or not, EMS services are not considered “essential” under state law like police and fire are, putting the entire emergency response system at risk. We had a big win last Fall when legislation requiring insurance companies to directly pay providers was signed into law, but further action is still needed to protect public health and safety.
4. Broome County Arts Council Unveils Artful Child Gallery
I was proud to help unveil the new Artful Child Gallery at the Broome County Arts Council earlier this month, along with inaugural artists Ran and Ryan Selem. For close to 40 years, the BCAC has cultivated a vibrant arts culture in our community. I was happy to provide them a $50K Assembly grant to support their mission, including the new children’s gallery and programming for young artists. BCAC’s galleries are open Tuesday-Saturday 11am-3pm, Thursdays 11-8pm, and the First Friday of every month from 6-9pm.
Visit https://broomearts.org/ for more information.
5. The Fight for Historic IBM Collection Continues
As many of you have heard, the IBM History and Heritage Collection that was housed at the Endicott History Center for 9 years was shipped back to Poughkeepsie for storage. It’s unfortunate that it came to this. Assistance was offered to help keep the collection on Washington Avenue, and we also asked for time to find a new location in the community. By the time I got involved, all the decisions had been made. IBM intends to store the collection while we locate a new place to display it. I’ll be working closely with the Broome County Historical Society and others on next steps to get this important piece of community history back for future generations.
Click here for more information.
Photo credit: Bob Joseph/WNBF News, November 8, 2023