Improving and maintaining local roads and bridges is one investment the State can make that positively affects our Upstate communities, economies, and motorists. Yet during budget season it’s always a challenge to ensure enough state dollars are invested in this type of infrastructure for Upstate. 

There are a few key programs in the budget which provide critical funding for local road paving, bridge, and culvert work which, if properly funded, have proven to help ease the burden for local property taxpayers in Upstate. One successful and long-standing program is the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (or CHIPs), which benefits localities directly. After the budget passes, the New York State Department of Transportation awards CHIPs funding to localities based on a formula that considers local highway miles and motor-vehicle registrations. Most local officials agree that the way funds are dispersed through CHIPs is fair.

For years, however, funding for CHIPs saw no increase despite rising costs associated with highway maintenance and repair. Advocacy does make a difference. Thanks to continued pressure placed on the governor and the Assembly speaker by me and more than 100 other lawmakers — along with local highway superintendents — municipalities are receiving between 50 percent and 55 percent more than they were five years ago through CHIPs and other infrastructure programs designed to assist local highway maintenance projects and repairs. This year, we are pushing for an additional $85 million to bring the total CHIPs allocation to $523.1 million — up from the proposed $438.1 million. This would help localities keep up with the rising costs of asphalt, equipment, and labor.

We have also been successful in getting additional initiatives funded to help pay for similar infrastructure projects. PAVE-NY and BRIDGE-NY were created in the 2016 budget and for the past two years, $100 million has been allocated to each fund. The state uses the same formula as CHIPs to allocate funds through PAVE-NY and BRIDGE-NY — a competitive grants program. The executive budget proposal maintains each of these programs at last year’s funding level of $100 million.

Unfortunately, the proposed budget eliminates an important program that has also proven to be successful for localities, particularly in Upstate, known as the Extreme Winter Recovery fund. In 2014, $40 million was allocated to this program,which was the first year it was made available to localities. In 2015, 

$50 million was allocated to this fund. For reasons that are unclear, funding was not made available in 2016. Last year, however, $65 million was allocated to the Extreme Winter Recovery fund. This year, the governor’s proposed budget does not include any funding for this program, which has become essential to municipalities to be able to invest in road projects that will stand up to freezing temperatures and necessary snow removal.

Every additional dollar of state support for our roads and bridges means a dollar less that our local property taxpayers must pay. Investments in roads and bridges are important to economic growth, an attraction for developers, and catalyst for job creation throughout the Central and Northern New York areas.       

William (Will) A. Barclay is the Republican representative of 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 him at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us, or (315) 598-5185.

Federal regulation and federal agency enforcement actions impact small businesses around the country. To help bridge the gap between federal regulators and the full spectrum of the small-business community, Congress created the Office of the National Ombudsman, by passing the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement and Fairness Act in 1996 (also known as the SBREFA Act).

Together with SBA resource partners and Regulatory Fairness Board members, the National Ombudsman convenes public forums — roundtables and hearings — in all 10 SBA regions each year. These public forums bring together Regulatory Fairness Board members appointed by the SBA administrator, small-business owners and operators, and representatives of federal regulatory agencies to provide a unique and direct channel for small-business owners to voice concerns and report hurdles for their businesses that could be relieved by different regulatory approaches. 

Roundtables bring together the small-business community and business and trade associations for a dialogue with the National Ombudsman, Regional Regulatory Fairness Board members, and often, local representatives of federal regulators. Participating federal agencies explain their regulatory and compliance-assistance programs, while representatives of small businesses voice concerns about specific regulatory requirements and the impact of government rules on local businesses. 

Hearings are public forums that collect information and receive testimony from individual entrepreneurs and small-business groups. They also educate the community on the federal regulatory hurdles that small businesses face. Federal-agency representatives are invited to attend hearings to keep abreast of small-business regulatory issues, particularly when they directly concern an agency’s enforcement responsibilities.

In addition to working with individual small-business complaints, the Office of the National Ombudsman evaluates federal agencies in accordance with the SBREFA Act to increase a fair and burden-free environment for small businesses. 

Small businesses with problems involving unfair or over-burdensome federal regulations can submit a request for assistance using the website www.sba.gov/ombudsman/comments. After receipt, the Ombudsman reviews the form, determines how the office can assist, advises the small business of the expected next steps and contacts the federal agency involved if a SBREFA review process is warranted. The Ombudsman’s Office follows up on the response of the federal agency and communicates to the small business owner of the actions taken to assist them.

Regulatory Fairness Board members in each of SBA’s 10 regions consist of established small-business owners who serve as the eyes and ears for small companies and their local communities. I encourage our experienced entrepreneurs from upstate New York to consider volunteering to serve on the Regulatory Fairness Board for Region II, which covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. You can begin the application process by simply sending an email to our SBA Ombudsman at ombudsman@sba.gov.         

Bernard J. Paprocki is district director for the SBA’s Syracuse district office. He is responsible for the delivery of SBA’s financial programs and business-development services for a 34-county region in upstate New York.