Strengthening Rural Infrastructure and Community Resources

Invest in rural emergency medical services and fire departments

Rural EMS and volunteer fire departments cover long distances with limited staffing and tight budgets, while responding to an increasing number of complex medical calls. These services function as essential services, yet funding structures have not consistently recognized them as such, particularly in rural areas. I wrote and passed legislation allowing EMS providers to receive Medicaid reimbursement for treatment in place and transport to alternate destinations, aligning payment with the care already being delivered. We must continue pushing forward to formally recognize and fund EMS and fire services as essential, so communities can sustain reliable emergency response across large geographic areas.

Expand high speed affordable internet access through community owned rather than monopoly owned networks

Large internet service providers have left many rural communities with slow, unreliable, and expensive service, limiting economic development and access to essential services. I have worked to ensure that community-owned broadband is a viable and lawful option in New York, including changes that allow municipalities to finance fiber infrastructure over its full useful life rather than through short-term bonds that make projects unaffordable. These reforms have made it possible for local governments to build broadband systems that are more affordable and competitive than monopoly providers, and they have been incorporated into multiple state budgets.

Protect and strengthen formula-based state funding for local roads, infrastructure, and municipal services

Local roads, bridges, emergency response, and basic municipal services are public infrastructure used by far more than just the people who live in a community, they support regional travel, commerce, tourism, agriculture, and emergency response across the state. Upstate communities maintain this infrastructure with limited commercial and industrial tax bases, yet the benefits extend well beyond their borders. State cost-sharing through formula funding recognizes that these are statewide public services, not purely local amenities, and ensures communities are not forced to carry costs that serve the entire state.