Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today announced that he and a host of his colleagues in the Legislature have signed on to multiple letters to Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders in both houses asking for an increase in funding to the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) and additional funding for the BRIDGE-NY and PAVE-NY programs to be included in the 2017-18 Enacted State Budget.

“No one likes driving to work through potholes or dealing with painstaking detours and bridge closures, which is why CHIPS and funding programs like it are so important to our local governments and the everyday citizen,” Hawley said. “Furthermore, local infrastructure spending means creating local jobs and lessening the burden on our property owners and taxpayers. I am calling on Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders to increase CHIPS by $150 million and the BRIDGE-NY program by $50 million in this year’s budget. It is time upstate New York got its fair share!”

These infrastructure programs allow localities to make everything from routine pothole repairs to large-scale bridge reconstructions and are a vital necessity for Western New York’s recovery after harsh winter conditions. Hawley, a long-time advocate for local infrastructure projects, went so far as to deliver nearly 2,000 petition signatures to Gov. Cuomo’s office last year in order to secure funding to repair stretches of the Lake Ontario State Parkway.