GREENE – Healthcare, jobs, Route 12 and natural gas exploration were among the top concerns raised by local business and elected leaders as they met with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday, during the New York Democrat’s first visit to Chenango County since being appointed to fill the senate position last year.
The stop was one of four that day for Gillibrand, who was wrapping up her first tour of New York’s 62 counties since taking office.
Approximately 25 elected officials and representatives from area businesses attended the event, which was co-hosted by Commerce Chenango and held at Baron’s Inn in Greene.
The senator opened the discussion by providing those in attendance with a number of resource guides prepared by her office, to assist New Yorkers in accessing grant programs and other government funding sources.
“For every dollar we send to Washington, we only get 79 cents back,” she said. “We have to keep fighting for our fair share.”
Gillibrand said her focus right now is on jobs, improving access to capital for businesses, healthcare, energy and agriculture.
“We are working on a jobs bill,” she explained, citing statistics which indicate that in some rural areas of New York unemployment rates are topping 15 percent, well above the national average of 10 percent.
One of the items she is supporting is a tax credit for businesses who add jobs, or increase the hours of existing employees.
“Two thirds of all new jobs are created by small business,” she said, explaining why she is also pushing to increase access to capital for businesses. She hopes to accomplish this by expanding the lending capabilities of credit unions, she said, as well as by streamlining the Small Business Administration’s procedures which she said could be “cumbersome.”
Gillibrand then turned the discussion to healthcare reform.
“The healthcare bill we are working on is going to help New York,” she said, describing the 2.7 million New Yorkers without access to affordable healthcare are a “hidden tax” on the rest of the state’s population. According to the senator, she is pushing for improved access to preventative care, insurance industry reforms and increasing the percentage of federal Medicaid reimbursements. She is also supporting a tax credit for small businesses to allow them to offer health care benefits to their employees.
Gillibrand also touched upon her stance on supporting “entrepreneurialism and innovation” in the area of energy, and the need for reforms in the dairy industry.
“Our farmers have been hit hard this year,” she said, calling for change in the way milk prices are determined.
Town of Norwich Supervisor Dave Law, recently appointed chair of the county’s Planning and Economic Development Committee, asked Gillibrand for her support in securing funding for the pending deal between Agro Farma and P&G for the latter’s Woods Corners facility.
“It would turn our economy around,” said Law, describing the roughly $93 million project as the biggest opportunity for the county in terms of jobs and economic development he’s seen in many years.
“We talk about jobs,” he said. “We have the jobs ready to go. We just need the plant.”
City of Norwich officials echoed Law’s request, and also asked the senator for assistance with improving and upgrading the town and city’s infrastructure to help make the project a reality.
Chenango Memorial Hospital’s John Masse raised concerns about the effect of healthcare reforms on rural hospitals.
“It’s tough enough in New York State to exist as a hospital,” he said, explaining that approximately 60 percent of CMH’s patients are covered under Medicaid, Medicare or other federally funded programs. At current reimbursement rates, the hospital is only paid 40 cents on the dollar for services provided to this group.
Masse expressed concern that some of the healthcare reforms being proposed could make it “very difficult, particularly for smaller hospitals across the state, to continue to function.”
The administrator also commented on the fact that the viability of the hospital was an important component in the area’s ability to attract new businesses.
“Healthcare is needed and these are things that industry will expect to be provided,” he explained.
Gillibrand said she understood his concerns, and explained that she would continue to work toward increasing Medicaid reimbursements, so that it would place less of a burden on local taxpayers.
The need for improving the county’s transportation infrastructure, particularly along State Highway 12, was of concern for both Pete Komendarek of The Raymond Corporation in Greene, as well as Mike Weaver of Unison.
Komendarek said it was crucial to make the roadway both a “safer thoroughfare” for Raymond’s 800 employees, as well as more efficient for getting supplies in and product out.
Both the supply of and exploration for natural gas were issues raised by Town of Greene Supervisor Jack Cook and the county’s natural gas consultant, Steve Palmatier.
Gillibrand, who said she herself favors renewable energy and has concerns about the potential for ground water contamination, said natural gas was an issue upon which it was “very important for the community to decide.”
The “level of debate” that has developed around the topic is good, she added, because it will help people make informed decisions.