Skoufis Offers a “Year in Review”

To the Editor,

As 2021 comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to share a ‘year in review’ of sorts – what the work we’ve been doing in Albany has meant for local families this year, and what the next legislative session has in store for Newburgh and surrounding communities.

Springtime was budget time in Albany, and I went to bat repeatedly this year for Newburgh. In April, we announced over $183 million in state school aid for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, an increase of nearly $13 million (or 10.7%) over the year before. By equipping our schools with the resources they need, we’re supporting our students and educators while also helping to keep a lid on your school property taxes.

Another budget success was the creation of the City Touring Routes funding program. For ages, small cities like Newburgh have been forced to foot the bill for repairs and maintenance of any state roads that pass through the city (called “Touring Routes”), while other towns and municipalities don’t pay a dime. Now, the City of Newburgh will receive $1 million from the state and plans to complete a full replacement of the long-neglected Lake Street/Route 32 bridge by the end of 2022! The state intends to distribute these funds on an annual basis.

On the legislative side, I voted my conscience–rather than the party line–more times than any of my colleagues this year, and I passed the most bills of any Senator (58 this year). Highlights include a bill to mandate statewide water testing to prevent the kind of PFOA/PFOS contamination Newburgh has faced, a series of three bills designed to crack down on discrimination in the real estate industry, and a bill that empowers cities like Newburgh to act faster to enforce code/fire prevention laws and keep tenants safe. All of these measures were signed into law by Governor Hochul in recent months.

I also had the opportunity to present a number of well-deserved grants to agencies and organizations doing important work this year. These include $100,000 to the City of Newburgh Police for a new squad car and security camera system; $50,000 to help the city build a new outdoor fitness court at the Activity Center; $50,000 for violence prevention programming led by RECAP and Fearless!; and $96,000 for the Newburgh LGBTQIA Center. I was also able to secure a first-time $200,000 for the City of Newburgh to offset SUNY Orange’s property tax exemption, supporting the city’s emergency services. Bringing your tax dollars right back home and putting them to work for our community is truly one of the most gratifying parts of my job.

The early days of 2021 brought a renewal of COVID-19 restrictions, but they also offered us access to life-saving vaccines. After falling ill with COVID myself in 2020, the rollout of the vaccines meant more than simply doing my duty in the name of public health – it was deeply personal, especially as my wife and I were expecting our first child a few weeks later.

New variants may continue to emerge, but getting fully vaccinated is the best tool we currently have to combat this virus. Please make an appointment today to help protect your loved ones, if not yourself. We can’t lose sight of the importance of easy, regular testing either, which is why just last week I joined fellow state representatives from the Hudson Valley in calling on Governor Hochul to reopen a mass drive-up testing facility at Anthony Wayne Recreation Area, near Bear Mountain.

My team and I are always available to lend a hand and my District Office is located right here in the City of Newburgh, at 47 Grand Street. In the past year alone, our casework team has helped over 2,900 people get the unemployment they were owed, and over 1,070 neighbors connect with state agencies, dispute utility bills, or work out other complex problems. Please don’t hesitate to reach out by phone (845-567-1270), email (skoufis@nysenate.gov), or on social media (@JamesSkoufis) if you or someone you know could use assistance.

Local families deserve to feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods – be it from gunfire, COVID-19, or the threat of displacement. I’ll continue to work tirelessly to make sure Newburgh and other communities in my district have the resources they need to overcome some of our thorniest issues.

Wishing you and yours a spectacular new year,

James Skoufis
State Senator, 39th District