Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay) announced that the Assembly’s 2017-18 state budget proposal helps grow the economy, gives North Country communities the resources they need and invests in vital agriculture programs.

“During my recent district tour, North Country residents voiced their concerns with many of the governor’s proposals and local officials made it clear that a shared services mandate was unacceptable,” Jones said. “The Assembly stood up for our towns by rejecting the shared services proposal to protect vital services our families rely on.”

Investing in economic development

The Assembly budget proposal provides $90 million for the Restore New York Communities Initiative. The funding includes $10 million for the Community Restoration Fund to address vacant and abandoned properties that bring down property values and threaten public safety in neighborhoods across the state.

The proposal also provides $10 million for Strategic Investment in Workforce Development initiatives to help ensure employers have access to the skilled workers they need.

Supporting Direct Care Workers

The Assembly’s proposal ensures direct care workers are paid fair livable wages. The Assembly's budget includes an initial $45 million toward a six-year plan to create a living wage for direct care workers. These professionals care for the state's most vulnerable populations, yet recent increases in minimum wage, and an overall improving economy, have made service providers unable to compete with other private sector jobs. This critical support will enable these providers to offer compensation that is above minimum wage to ensure that facilities are adequately and safely staffed and can continue to deliver these essential services.

“Direct Care Services are in crisis mode in the North Country,” Jones said. “We need to make sure that we are providing adequate pay and able to stabilize the retention of direct support professionals.”

Small Business boosts, jobs, and tax cuts

The Assembly’s budget proposal reduces the income tax rate for small businesses earning $290,000 or less from 6.5 percent to 4 percent for corporate filers. It also allows personal income tax filers, such as sole proprietors, farmers and partnerships, to deduct 15 percent of their adjusted gross income (AGI) before the personal income tax rate is applied, up from the current 5 percent deduction.

The proposal would also double all research and development tax credits. Businesses that are personal income tax filers would receive a 14 percent tax credit for qualifying research and development property. Corporate filers would receive a 10 percent tax credit for the first $350 million of investment and 8 percent for anything above that figure.

The plan also expands eligibility for the Excelsior Jobs Program and increases tax credits for certain participants. The program incentivizes businesses to relocate to and expand in New York, as well as make capital investments in local facilities and create jobs. The Assembly proposal would make it easier to participate in the program by reducing the threshold for job creation and capital investment by 50 percent.

“People looking to start a new business or grow theirs will have more help from the state under the Assembly’s proposal, which is exactly what the North Country needs,” Jones said. “This plan encourages entrepreneurship and cuts the cost of doing business in New York.”

Improving roads and bridges

Most of the roads and bridges in the 115th Assembly District are maintained by dedicated local highway departments. However, despite their best efforts, many have fallen into disrepair. The Assembly is committed to helping the North Country repair its infrastructure. The Assembly’s budget proposal increases funding for the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) to $488 million, a $50 million increase from the proposed executive budget.

“As a rural district, we depend heavily on our roads and bridges,” Jones said. “It’s important that we invest in necessary repairs and continue critical maintenance so children can get to school safely, families can get to work, farmers can do business and visitors can see what we have to offer.”

Further, the Assembly proposal strongly invests in the state Department of Transportation’s five-year plan for non-MTA transit projects with $114.5 million, $30 million more than the executive’s budget proposal. The Assembly proposal also increases upstate transit funding by $3 million.

Keeping local government local

The Assembly’s budget proposal includes $715 million in Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) – $50 million more than the executive’s proposal. AIM funding provides direct state aid to local governments. Further, the Assembly rejects the governor’s Shared Services Initiative proposal that would have tied AIM funding to a consolidation agreement between local municipalities.

“As a former mayor and chairman of the county legislature, I know the governor’s shared services initiative is not the solution,” Jones said. “Instead, the Assembly developed a proposal that puts municipalities first and makes sure they can continue offering vital services.”

Supporting farming communities

Farmers are vital to the North Country --in fact, Clinton County is the largest producer of maple syrup in the state. The Assembly proposal restores millions to fund agriculture programs to ensure farmers can continue to grow in New York.

The budget proposal allocates funds for an array of programs, including child care for migrant farm workers, a tractor rollover protection program, farm family assistance and agricultural research. FreshConnect, a program to make farmers markets more accessible to low-income families, will receive $625,000 in this year’s Assembly budget proposal. The Adirondack North Country Association Farm-to-School program will receive $300,000 to support initiatives that supply local food to schools.

Agriculture of all kinds, which Jones has been a longtime advocate for, will also receive funding to promote and support New York farm products.

“We must invest in programs that help farmers, preserve our farmlands and support innovative uses of agriculture,” Jones said. “These programs play a massive role in the North Country’s success.”