State senators plumb hot topics over eggs

“Profit ”“ it”™s not a dirty word,” said state Sen. John Bonacic,Â (R-Mount Hope), offering a palatable 2007 spin on Gordon Gekko”™s ”™80s mantra: “Greed is good.” Nobody wants to be greedy. Profitable ”“ that”™s another story.

Bonacic, who was joined by state Sen. William Larkin (R-C”” Cornwall-on-Hudson), led off the senators”™ takes on the latest ups and downs in Albany and on their district front lines, including hot-button issues like Stewart International Airport, regional hospitals, casinos and the controversial plan to bring upstate power downstate via power lines.

Breaking bread the morning of May 4 with more than 250 business leaders at Newburgh”™s Ramada Inn, Bonacic told the packed room that paying taxes and creating jobs are creating economic vitality in the state but the tax burden is unbearable.Â “New York could not survive without the hard work of our private industry and the not-for-profit community, who give their work from the heart,” he said. But he cautioned taxes (and their inequitable distribution) and insurance rates are driving businesses and residents to adjoining states.

Concessions

The recent state budget brouhaha over medical cuts was a sore point for Bonacic, who said the recent $24.5 million HEAL Grant to Orange Regional Medical Center (ORMC) and the fight to help the 11 hospitals in his district stay solvent and open are in the region”™s best interests. “The fight was to keep in some of the money proposed to be cut from hospital and nursing homes ”¦ and we accomplished that,” he said.

Bonacic praised the new collaboration between ORMC and Sullivan County”™s Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC), which was in dire straits after for-profit Crystal Run Healthcare pulled its 62 doctors out of the Harris facility in 2006, citing poor hospital conditions and response time.

Under their new affiliation, ORMC and CRMC will work together consolidating services, says Bonacic. “There is competition from Valley Hospital (in New Jersery) and others outside our region. Our hospitals need to remain strong, we are a growing area and growing in terms of needs for service ”¦ and I fully expect Dr. Hal Teitelbaum (executive director of Crystal Run Healthcare in Rock Hill) will come back to Catskill Regional with his 62 doctors.”

Stewart Airport a boon

Bonacic said, “The Hudson Valley is the place to be” now that Stewart Airport is poised to be taken under the Port Authority of NY/NJ”™s wing.Â He hopes it will become a strong regional airport, similar to Albany”™s. “But people do not want it to become a jetport,” reports the senator, saying feedback he”™s getting suggests some residents want the airport to shut down 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Larkin says asking the airport to restrict hours is like asking it to hold its own funeral. “Where were the detractors in 1942 when people were flying out of Stewart during WWII? Let”™s make it the economic engine it should be.”

Such a restriction would also drive up prices and nudge people to drive to Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia airports for cheaper flights. “Why go to Stewart and pay $800 a seat when you can go elsewhere and pay $300?” Larkin said. “The PA (Port Authority) makes the slots for these airlines, and they can fill ”“ or take away ”“ those slots.”

Further, Larkin says the PA has shown at its other airports that it is community friendly, “using local vendors. They are not bringing in their own. They will be looking in our communities for their vendors.” He said the PA would be established at the airport by Oct. 1.

“No thanks” to proposed NYRI power lines

Drive along any road in Orange or Ulster counties these days and you”™re bound to see the signs: “STOP THE NYRI.” Those sentiments are played out along the route the New York Regional Interconnect Inc. has proposed to erect its massive electric towers. Some proposals have asked they be re-routed along rail lines where they will be less intrusive to both residents and to the view.

“They (federal agencies) want to bring cheap electricity from upstate to downstate,” says Bonacic. Notwithstanding the environmental and aesthetic concerns, increasing rates for the upstate population by 5 percent to 7 percent to subsidize downstate users just doesn”™t sit well with Bonacic.

“Governor Spitzer says the proposal is dead. Eight counties have said no,” Bonacic said. “Spitzer signed the bill telling the NYRI that we don”™t want it. Let”™s see if the people in Washington are going to stop this ”¦. or we may end up suing to protect our state”™s rights. When Washington, D.C. designates an electric corridor and we say no, they are in the wrong.”

School taxes

There”™s ongoing debate in Albany on how both to control the skyrocketing school property taxes and to distribute aid to districts. While Bonacic liked a few of the changes Spitzer brought to the way school districts receive funding, he felt the property tax rebates proposed were a “Band-Aid approach ”¦ When it comes to reducing taxes for our property owners, I feel like Don Quixote.” Bonacic hopes Spitzer will use his influence to bring overdue relief to New Yorkers socked by skyrocketing rates.

“New York is losing seats in Congress,” said Larkin. “Twenty years ago, we had 45. Soon, they are predicting we will have 20. People are leaving our state. We need to reduce taxes ”“ send a very clear message that there”™s a real need to reduce these property taxes. It”™s time the state started looking at exemptions.” He lauded the popular STAR tax exemption for primary residences: “For people in Orange, that means an increase [in pocket money] of about $325 to $625; in Ulster, $250 to $575. For seniors, that amount helps cover some of the costs for their fuel or food. But it”™s not enough ”¦ we need to do more.”

Casinos ”“ looking to Washington for restriction relief

Bonacic and Larkin both called for the U.S. Department of Interior Director Dirk Kempthorne to give the Mohawk-St. Regis tribe the go-ahead to build its casino at Monticello Raceway. Kempthorne, the former governor of Idaho, doesn”™t want casinos off Indian reservations, said the senators.

“If the casino comes to fruition, there will be a community fund created to protect the interest of Orange County residents,” said Bonacic.

Larkin, who sits on the state”™s Gaming Committee, said he”™s “had it up to here” with the casino issue. “In 1970, someone had a sign on a big red barn saying ”˜Casinos are coming.”™ If you don”™t want a casino, don”™t go to it.”

Gambling and lottery money does come back to the taxpayers, said Larkin. “Last year, we got back $1.8 billion in lottery aid. No, we aren”™t getting back every penny, they have administrative costs, as well. But we are getting revenue from it. I hope someone in Washington gives us a break. We are the highest-taxed state in the nation. I want to see New York regain its stature as the Empire State.”

John D”™Ambrosio, chamber president, ended the morning by telling members to approach the senators with their questions and concerns: “These are business-friendly legislators. Yes, it”™s called lobbying, and it”™s legitimate. So grab them and talk to them. I”™m seeing an excitement in Albany I have not seen in my lifetime.”

State Sen. Tom Moharan was also scheduled to appear at the legislative breakfast, but due to surgery was unable to attend.