Investing in Rural Central New York

Rural America supplies most of our country’s food, water, and energy. In Central New York, the prosperity of our rural communities is vital to the prosperity of our entire region. These communities contribute so much to our state, but continue to be overlooked and lag behind in investment and economic growth.

In this time of economic uncertainty, we must ensure the foundations for success exist in our rural areas. This means guaranteeing access to a quality education, access to affordable health care, creating the conditions for economic growth, and fighting for our farming communities.

Proposals:

• Invest in modernizing our physical infrastructure, so residents and businesses alike can rely on safe roads, bridges, and efficient transportation networks
• Invest in expanded rural broadband internet access so every resident and business has access to high speed internet
• Boost housing investments in rural communities to ensure local residents can afford to live in their own towns
• Expand federal support for rural hospitals, medical transportation, and opioid treatment centers
• Help young and beginning farmers secure access to capital so they can get on the land and stay on it
• Ensure farmers have the labor they need by fixing our broken H-2A program
• Improve crop insurance programs to meet the demands of today’s extreme weather
• Tailor USDA farm programs to family farms rather than large corporations
• Defend investments in agriculture from budget cuts in Washington
• Make the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent, providing a critical tax cut for working families