State of the State Addresses Several ARCC Priorities

Today, Governor Spitzer articulated a vision for New York that could provide a great deal of support to a number of key projects in the region served by the ARCC. Most notably, the ARCC continues to support the Governor's priority to hold the line on taxes for a second year in a row and to provide tax relief to property taxpayers throughout New York. In addition, his leadership in advocating for a cap on property taxes is a clear step in the right direction that will help local companies to succeed, grow and thrive.

His call for additional support for our state's community college system is also of great import to our region. Specifically, ACC's plans to construct and operate a Higher Education Facility in Queensbury to provide four-year college degrees has the potential to make our region even more attractive as a location for employment talent to live and work. Likewise, a fully-funded community college system might also provide additional property tax relief to businesses and residents in Warren and Washington Counties.

The ARCC has attended several forums over the past several months concerning the critical shortage of physicians in the more rural areas of our region. The Governor's "Doctors Across New York" plan demonstrates that this region's urgent need for state assistance in this regard has been heard and will be acted upon.

Likewise, the Governor's bold initiative to create a $1 Billion Urgent Revitalization Fund for Upstate New York alone represents a very important step to assist our efforts to continue to expand economic opportunity. In each of these cases, the ARCC looks forward to working with Governor Spitzer, the Assembly and the State Senate to advocate for property tax relief, increased support for the community college system, state support for key economic development initiatives in the Upstate, and new initiatives to help us recruit the health care professionals needed in our growing region.