Members of the Assembly Minority Conference, led by Assemblyman Jake Ashby (R,C,I, Ref–Castleton) — a U.S. veteran — have met with veterans around the state to discuss budget cuts to counseling, job training, and legal services being proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

The governor has called for cutting 

$5.68 million of veterans’ services including a $4 million cut to the extremely successful Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer-to-Peer Program.

The first four meetings were held in the Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, and Utica areas, with additional events planned in the coming weeks. During these events, our members heard from veterans and veterans’ service organizations that rely on these services and witness firsthand the positive impacts they have in their communities. Among some of the veteran-related programs facing funding cuts are: 

• Helmets-to-Hardhats: $200,000 — Assists post-9/11 veterans’ transition into careers in the building trades.

• Clear Path for Veterans: $200,000 — Serves as a key source for veterans in upstate New York to access resources and programs including professional skills and training development, peer and wingman services, and K-9 therapy programs.

• NYS Defenders Association Veterans Defense Program: $500,000 — Provides training, legal assistance, and support to provide representation of veterans and service members involved in the criminal or family court systems.

• SAGE Veterans Project: $100,000 — SAGE advocates and offers services that help lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender older adults who are veterans of military service improve their access to the VA and other veteran services, as well as support their overall health and wellness.

• Legal Services of the Hudson Valley Veterans and Military Families Advocacy Project: $200,000 — Provides assistance with applying for veterans benefits and representation before the Board of Veterans Appeals and in federal court, at no cost to veterans, when benefits are denied.

We are also pushing to codify the expansion of the MERIT scholarship program by enacting it into law. After public outrage about the scholarship being threatened last year, the program was temporarily saved due to an executive order. Now, we are asking it be passed by the New York Legislature and signed by the governor.

A common theme emerged from our meetings; funding for veteran services should never, ever be used as a budgetary bargaining chip. The governor’s cuts are comprehensive and deep. He is suggesting not a reduction in services for veterans, but their functional elimination. This is simply unacceptable. 

The fact that we need to hold statewide meetings and have these discussions is highly distressing. New York’s heroes, who have risked their lives to protect our democracy and the very budget process that puts their services at risk, deserve so much more. In the coming weeks, we hope to hear from more of these heroes about how damaging eliminating these services will be and I hope their words are not ignored.

One thing remains certain, protecting and honoring those who have sacrificed so much to defend our nation is one of our fundamental responsibilities. The Assembly Minority Conference remains committed to fighting for our veterans just as they fought for us.      

William (Will) A. Barclay, Republican, is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact Barclay at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us or (315) 598-5185.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the latest round of investments in the Alliance for Economic Inclusion (AEI) through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. These 39 projects will advance efforts to fight poverty and create greater economic opportunity in Central New York, and include several CenterState-CEO-led initiatives. This investment in our work enables us, alongside our partners, to directly impact some of the most significant barriers to economic opportunity.

Among the projects receiving funding is Commute CNY, a new program developed by CenterState CEO to create a vanpooling service in parts of four counties (Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, and Cayuga). The program was awarded $646,800 and will connect workers from underserved areas to workplaces in remote locales. We know that for low-income job seekers the lack of reliable transportation is a persistent impediment to job attainment and retention. Often, businesses that offer good jobs and career pathways are located away from population centers or are disconnected from public transit. In fact, more than 67,000 jobs in the Syracuse metropolitan statistical area (MSA) are located outside of one half mile of transit, and more than 57,000 jobs in the Syracuse MSA are located within a 30-minute transit commute. This reality creates an overreliance on personal vehicles for job seekers that do not have the means to buy a car. Through a partnership with Centro and “Commute with Enterprise,” this new program will put 49 vans into service, enabling about 350 workers across the region to access employment.

Additionally, CenterState CEO’s Work Train initiative will receive $519,000 to launch Syracuse Build in partnership with the City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, Syracuse University, and many community partners. Syracuse Build will build a robust and inclusive workforce pipeline for lower-income residents aligned with upcoming opportunities in Syracuse within the construction field. Since 2014, with the support of the Work Train Funder Collaborative, industry and training partners, nearly 900 people have been placed in jobs through the Work Train initiative. 

Several of our partners and members also received AEI funding to advance impactful projects to holistically address our community’s challenges. They include funding for important projects led by the Upstate Minority Economic Alliance, Jubilee Homes, OnPoint Career Services, Syracuse Urban Partnership (Allyn Foundation), and Hack Upstate, among others. 

We are grateful to Gov. Cuomo for acknowledging this critical work in our community, and to Onondaga County for its leadership of the AEI. We look forward to working with AEI partners to further drive meaningful change through these investments. 

To learn more about how you can be involved in these initiatives, contact Dominic Robinson, CenterState CEO’s VP for Economic Inclusion, at DRobinson@CenterStateCEO.com.       

Robert M. (Rob) Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This viewpoint is drawn and edited from the “CEO Focus” email newsletter that the organization sent to members on Feb. 13.