The Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) announced recently that it would host eight public listening sessions across New York state prior to redrawing state legislative and Congressional district lines. It’s a process that takes place every 10 years to reflect population changes. The sessions are a result of a 2014 public referendum in which millions of New Yorkers voted in favor of a Constitutional Amendment assembling the IRC in the hopes of ensuring fair and honest guidelines for the upcoming 2022 redistricting effort.

While the listening sessions will be held virtually only, I encourage all New Yorkers to participate and have their voices heard. Similar to the importance of exercising your right to vote, participating in public forums such as this is an expression of our civic duty, vital to our communities and critical at every level of government.

 Each virtual meeting will begin at 2 p.m. and the schedule for the first round of hearings is as follows. Meetings were held on Tuesday, July 20 in Nassau and Suffolk counties and Thursday, July 22 in Queens County. Meetings are still to come in CNY on: Thursday, Aug. 5 in the North Country and Mohawk Valley; and Monday, Aug. 9 in the Southern Tier and Central New York.

  At the beginning of the year, Assembly and Senate Democrats voted to undermine the 2014 vote and devised a scheme that would change the threshold for new redistricting plans to be approved at both the commission and legislative levels. While this was nothing more than a pure political maneuver, I have repeatedly called on good government groups, the public, and lawmakers to see this for what it is — opportunistic and undemocratic.

In a democracy, every voice matters and every opinion counts. Sadly, when voices are stifled and the will of the people is ignored, people notice and start to look for “greener pastures,” just like 1.5 million New Yorkers have done over the past decade. As a result of this population loss, we learned earlier this year that New York lost one Congressional seat — diminishing our level of representation in the halls of Congress.

The only way to ensure fair and equitable representation at the state and federal levels, and that no special interest or political party gains an unfair advantage in the election process, is for the public to provide feedback and demand a transparent, balanced government. Residents in communities across the state cannot afford to lose representation — at any level.

More information about the regional redistricting meetings and how to participate virtually or submit testimony is available on the IRC’s website: https://www.nyirc.gov/meetings. The first redistricting proposal will be made public on Sept. 15; additional hearings will then be scheduled.        

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. 

New York State legislators ended this latest session without passing what may possibly be the most detrimental bill in state history. The New York Health Act (https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2021/S5474) would have crushed small businesses, middle-class families, and a myriad of jobs within the health care and insurance industries. 

With a Democrat supermajority in the state legislature, certainly the votes are there to pass the first-of-its-kind universal, single-payer health-care system. This proposal has been at the forefront of the state Democrats’ agenda for decades and has passed the state Assembly five previous times. So, what has changed? Perhaps legislators have finally come to their senses. Could it be that unions and insurance carriers have lobbied the sense right into them? In a NY Now article, Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried (D) said, “I think the public sector unions in particular are the main group that we need to work out issues with. I believe that if we and they can sit down at a table, roll up our sleeves, there are ways we can modify the language in the bill that can guarantee them that their concerns will be more than satisfied.”

That sounds like a carve-out for labor unions, to me. Meanwhile, the bill would hand the rest of the state’s population and out-of-state commuters a large payroll-tax bill to cover the extraordinary costs of managing a health-care system of this magnitude. This could be, in my estimation, the largest health-insurance disruption we have ever seen as it calls for the elimination of all health-insurance plans within the state including Medicare, Medicaid, employer group coverage, and individual coverage. Federal waivers are needed to allow for all of this. The uninsured population in New York state is less than 5 percent of the population, which is a historically low rate. No one has ever said that the system isn’t broken. We can and should work to do better and I think there are many other options available to assist in lowering the exorbitant cost of health insurance in New York state. The answer is not a one-size-fits-all, state-run health-care system. We have witnessed the runaway costs of Medicaid in this state and should expect no different result here. 

As an advocate and user of telemedicine, I have often believed that there are better methods for the delivery of health care while also making it more affordable and accessible to all. Telehealth is one way to achieve this objective. The COVID-19 pandemic, as burdensome as it was, thrust market alternatives into deliverables from practitioner to patient. Few business models skirted business interruption during the pandemic and 16 months of shutdowns. The crisis, however, created a forced opportunity to go through a process of business analysis to determine how to continue to compete, be profitable, and still provide excellent consumer experiences. Emerging technologies and development by health-care service providers have sped up growth in this market space. Telemedicine programs have become more widely used than ever before. As mobile devices, tablets, and laptops have become common personal items, the infrastructure for these types of services is more readily accessible. A tremendous growth opportunity is still present as usage increases and software development becomes savvier. Insurance carriers and medical programs like Medicare expanded the telemedicine opportunities to their subscribers at a time during the pandemic when people were hesitant to visit the doctor’s office. As a result, patients learned how to utilize and appreciate the service, whereas before COVID, they would have preferred to have face-to-face interactions with their physicians. Telehealth will not fully replace in-person care, but it presents an exciting opportunity to help lower costs and manage usage, especially unnecessary emergency or urgent-care visits for nonserious illnesses. Moreover, as we address the needs and care of all people in New York, telehealth should not just be thought of as a service for the insured. MDLive, Teledoc, and other web-based platforms are growing in popularity among both the insured and uninsured. Anyone with a mobile device can access these platforms, enter a few personal details, and receive medical care almost instantaneously in the privacy and comfort of their own home at a reasonable price. No insurance is needed. In an era where consumers, especially younger generations, want quick responses from their mobile devices, telehealth companies are delivering.

The question we must ask now is how can government work to help these networks bridge the gap between providers and the uninsured? Mandating higher payroll taxes and unsettling the entire industry is not the answer. However, I believe government can work with the industry to allow for innovative ways in providing access to care. Telehealth now has increased momentum pushing it forward into additional health-care areas for virtual services. Additional investment will be needed as health-care service developers fight for market share in this field. If focus and incentives can be given to expand these technologies and deliverables to consumers, while creating a competitive marketplace and retaining personal choice, rather than uprooting an entire system, this could be a win-win. In doing so, we provide better, more affordable care to New Yorkers instead of continuing the course of outmigration due to continually higher taxation. Let’s hope our legislators lead this initiative.              

Angi Renna is president of Sterling Financial Group, LLC, a Central New York financial planning and wealth-management firm. She is the host of a local podcast, called “CNY Matters.” Renna (R) was also a candidate for the NYS Senate seat in the 50th District in November 2020, losing to John Mannion (D) by about 5 percentage points.