Assemblyman Santabarbara, Assembly Chair of the Commission on Rural Resources, calls on Governor Cuomo to include rural resources in the upcoming state budget.

“New Yorkers are being asked to make enormous sacrifices to help slow and stop the spread of COVID-19. With all non-essential businesses closed in New York State, many are facing new challenges as they transition to working at home, especially in our rural communities. The reality is that many of our rural communities in New York State still do not have reliable access to high-speed broadband, making this move particularly difficult.”

“For some, more costly cellular connections to access high-speed internet has been an option, but many areas of upstate New York are still without the basic cell phone coverage to meet the current needs of both family and work life during this national emergency.”

“As we continue to respond to this global pandemic, we must ensure the upcoming state budget addresses the needs of rural New Yorkers who now need to work from home to do their jobs.”

Among the top items in Santabarbara’s Rural Resource Agenda:

Upstate cellular gap coverage:

Last year, the Governor’s Upstate Cellular Task Force estimated $633M would be required to address cellular coverage gaps in the major travel routes of upstate NY. Lack of coverage continues to be a major safety issue and poses a risk while traveling though areas without a stable cell phone connection. The lack of coverage also affects everyday life and limits upstate communities in a number of ways including the new work-at-home restrictions we are under during the COVID-19 outbreak. This funding will advance the initial stage of this initiative working towards a goal of providing full coverage in these areas.

Funding to address rural broadband gap coverage:

The Governor’s New NY Broadband Program made a promise to provide broadband coverage in all areas of the state. However, many rural communities were simply left out. He must keep his commitment by providing the broadband coverage he promised in these areas by dedicating funding in the upcoming state budget to specifically address broadband coverage needed now more than ever in the rural communities of upstate New York.

Rural Ambulance Task Force and Stabilization Fund:

Rural ambulance services provide medical care that saves lives especially during this critical time. We’ve already seen too many forced to close their doors (26 statewide) and can’t risk losing more. I urge the governor to prioritize funding for rural ambulance services and set these clear goals to help in this state budget. Dedicated emergency funds in the state budget would help stabilize these critical services until long term solutions can be identified through the state task force I proposed in Assembly bill (A.8397a).