Congressman Higgins Blasts New York State for Holding Up Construction Funds/Higgins Says Delays in Releasing Federal Funds He Fought For Comes at Worst Possible Time
(BUFFALO) - In a letter to Governor David Paterson, U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27th District) of Buffalo has expressed outrage at New York State's unnecessary suspension of construction contracts - calling it a direct threat to New York's delicate economic recovery at the worst possible time.
"The moratorium on contracts ignores the fact that fifty-percent of the state's transportation budget is derived from Federal Funding," wrote Higgins, a former member of the House Transportation Committee and current member of the Committee on Ways and Means. "It's bad enough that jobs and economic progress are held hostage to a state budget impasse. It is unacceptable that the millions in Federal Aid are held up as well."
The move to defer contract payments effective April 1st is forcing construction contractors across the state to either continue work, pay employees and buy supplies without getting paid or stop work completely. In published reports, the New York State Department of Transportation has confirmed they have already received work stop notices.
Congressman Higgins, meanwhile, expressed concern this is compromising an already short construction season for communities like Western New York that experience more drastic climate changes. In addition, the decision to not initiate new construction contracts is further shutting down the job growth intended with Federal Transportation Funding.
The halt in construction could delay contracts worth $412 million in Western New York and $6.2 billion statewide. One of the significant local contracts that is being held up is the major waterfront transformation along Fuhrmann Boulevard in Buffalo's Outer Harbor, which received over $64 million in Federal Funding.
"Every day in Congress I fight for more federal funding for Western New York, especially high-impact projects like the Outer Harbor Parkway, which creates jobs not only in its construction but by unlocking acres of inaccessible waterfront land to development. This project is one of the many locally threatened by this moratorium despite the millions in Federal Funding my colleagues and I fought long and hard for," Higgins said.
Gary Hill, the owner of Union Concrete - which is responsible for construction of the Outer Harbor Parkway - has, for now, decided to continue work on the project. Hill voiced concerns that halting the job would result in health insurance and income problems for the hard-working men and women who have just recently returned to work this spring.
In addition, Hill said he was proud of the transformation taking place in the area and feels strongly the project is "too important" to Western New York. It's unclear however how long this local business can sustain the expense of construction, said Hill, who added that even without counting materials - supporting employees and equipment alone is costing Union Concrete $20,000 to $25,000 per day.
Congresswoman Slaughter And U.S. Secretary LaHood Tout Economic Benefits Of High-Speed Rail To New York During Rochester News Conference
(ROCHESTER) - Last week, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28th District) was joined by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at the Rochester Amtrak Station, where he reaffirmed the Obama Administration's commitment to a well-developed, high-speed rail system that serves Upstate New York.
Construction of a new high-speed rail line is projected to provide jobs for a number of New Yorkers and local businesses. In Upstate New York alone, 3,500 workers are employed by 30 companies that manufacture railroad equipment. Together these companies bring in more than $750 million in annual sales. And another 11,000 Upstate workers are employed by businesses that produce and distribute goods to sectors that are heavily relied upon by the railroad industry.
Secretary LaHood's visit to Upstate New York brought together dozens of business and community leaders and elected officials from across the state. They discussed high-speed rail as a source for new opportunities and economic development throughout Upstate New York.
"High-speed rail can create thousands of construction, manufacturing, operations and maintenance jobs," Secretary LaHood said. "It can also reduce greenhouse gas pollution, lower transportation costs and give families another choice about how to get from here to there. Thanks to national leadership from Congresswoman Slaughter and the president, these opportunities are in reach for Upstate New York."
Offered Congresswoman Slaughter: "High-speed rail will revolutionize New York and our nation's transportation system, and create jobs while we build it and help our local businesses stay competitive in a global economy. Bringing high-speed rail to Upstate New York was one of the first goals of the Upstate Caucus I formed, and it's exciting to be talking the first step toward a twenty-first century transportation infrastructure."
In January, New York received $151 million from the stimulus package, more than 41 other states. These federal funds will be used to begin work on a third track dedicated to passenger rail making stops in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Albany.
"These projects will improve transportation options for the people of this region and New York State Department of Transportation and Representative Slaughter are to be commended for their indispensable leadership in moving this project forward," Amtrak President & CEO Joseph Boardman said.
New York State Department of Transportation Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee said: "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants for high-speed rail provide a tremendous opportunity to reinvigorate and improve New York State's passenger rail service," "Through the tremendous support of New York's Congressional delegation - especially Congresswoman Louise Slaughter - and the help of our federal partners, we look forward to working with the railroads to create high-speed rail service that's affordable, reliable and energy efficient."
Senator Stachowski Unveils Reforms Aimed At Fixing NY's Broken Budget Process
(BUFFALO) - New York State Senator William Stachowski (Democrat-58th District - Buffalo & Lakeview) has announced comprehensive budget reforms that will end Albany's pattern of quick fixes and ensure New Yorkers receive a fiscally-responsible budget, the Senator's office announced.
The legislative package provides for long-term financial planning, the enactment of stricter accounting principles and mandates stringent standards of accountably for State-financed programs and services.
"For far too long New York taxpayers have been saddled with the burden of fiscally reckless budgets that spent too much and left them to pay the price. These reforms will break that pattern of poor financial planning and put New York back on a responsible and sensible financial path," Senator Stachowski said in a prepared release.
Stachowski's plan would: Establish a two-year budget and require the Executive to submit two-year financial plans in order to ensure proper long-term fiscal planning (S7160); Remove fiscal manipulations by requiring both the Executive Budget proposal and Enacted Budget to be balanced according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, which will "fundamentally realign recurring spending with recurring revenue to restore the State's fiscal health" as recommended in a recent report by the state Comptroller (S7284); Task a 15-member Empire State Performance Commission with designing a performance based management and budgeting blueprint to streamline government and end waste and fraud within programs and services (S7259); Create a non-partisan Legislative Budget Office modeled after the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, which will remove the politics from revenue forecasting while simultaneously ensuring funds are not being used to create hidden slush funds by being stuffed away in "off-budget" public authorities. (S4526); End New York's status as the only state with a budget date prior to the federal tax collection date, and shift the start of the fiscal year to June 1 to allow for proper fiscal planning (S5221C); and Require the Executive, in their Annual Tax Expenditure Report, to list a cost-benefit analysis of all New York's 380-plus tax break programs, to allow for the strengthening of programs which work, and ending of programs which waste revenue (S7347).
The Senate Majority is also developing legislation to force the Legislature to regularly review and amend the state's tax break systems by enacting automatic sunsets phased in over five years (excluding programs with pre-existing sunsets), Stachowski representatives said.
