In the face of an economic crisis, the magnitude of which has not been seen since the Great Depression, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act represents a strategic and significant investment in the country’s future.
That was the message brought by U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer to members of the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce Wednesday at the Knights Inn of Little Falls. Schumer used his time at the business luncheon to discuss provisions included in the economic stimulus package, including economic development, relief for dairy farmers, increased broadband coverage, health care and high speed rail.
“The economic recovery package is a big, strong, bold move, but is necessary. To do nothing would have risked depression,” said Schumer, D-N.Y. “The stimulus package seeks to end the ‘deflationary spiral,’ because once you get in that spiral too deeply, you don’t know how to get out. That is what the Great Depression was. We need to get out of the spiral and this package seeks to do that by jolting the economy.”
In outlining the goals of the economic recovery package, Schumer said the plan seeks to save and create more than 3.5 million jobs over the next two years; take a “big step” toward computerizing Americans’ health records, reducing medical errors and saving billions in health care costs; revive the renewable energy industry and provide the capital over the next three years to double domestic renewable energy capacity; undertake the largest weatherization program in history by modernizing 75 percent of federal building space and more than one million homes; increase college affordability for seven million students by funding the shortfall in Pell Grants, increasing the maximum award level by $500 and providing a new higher education tax cut to nearly four million students; enact the largest increase in funding for the nation’s roads, bridges and mass transit systems since the creation of the national highway system in the 1950s; provide a tax credit for 129 million working households and cut taxes for the families of millions of children through an expansion of the Child Tax Credit.
“The economic downturn has strained county, local and state budgets alike,” said Schumer. “But from funding for education, to health care and budget relief, to transportation and infrastructure, this recovery package is what we need to get and keep people working.”
In discussing why projects such as the $1 million Main Street enhancement project in Dolgeville, the $800,000 sidewalk, lighting and landscape improvement project along Mohawk Street in Herkimer or the $1.5 million project to rehabilitate the bridge carrying Route 169 over the CSX railroad and the Erie Canal in Little Falls have been approved for funding so quickly, Schumer said the idea in this first phase is to get federal funds to local projects that are ready to proceed so that the infusion of federal dollars can be felt as soon as possible.
“These projects and others like the $2.2 million project to paint 14 bridges, including four in Herkimer County, and the $3.9 million project to rehabilitate pavement at 14 sites in Fulton, Herkimer and Montgomery counties are meant to jump-start the economy now,” said Schumer. “The idea in this phase of the stimulus package is to look for smaller projects that can be completed in a relatively short period of time. The idea behind the second phase, the money for which has not been let, is to look for bigger projects that will require more time to complete and will have a longer lasting impact. The money for more significant projects will be coming in the future.”
Stimulus funds are also available to bring broadband Internet access to rural areas.
“Broadband and high speed Internet is the lifeblood of the new economy and it is more important than ever that every community has access to this important technology,” said Schumer. “To rebuild the economy we must have a first-class information infrastructure that includes universal high speed Internet access. The recovery bill includes money to deliver this service to underserved communities.”
In discussing what can be done to help dairy farmers, Schumer said he and others in Congress have asked the United States Department of Agriculture to increase its purchases of milk powder through the Commodity Credit Corporation, to restore the payments to offset the cost of packaging milk, which were ended under the last Secretary of Agriculture, and to restore a program to promote dairy exports.
In addition, Schumer has called for an increase in Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program payments from 34 percent of the difference between $16.94 per hundredweight and that month’s domestic Class I milk price to 75 percent of the difference.
“It is imperative that we work to meet the needs of farmers across upstate New York,” said Schumer. “As the nation’s third largest producer of milk, it is critical that we provide some form of economic relief to our local farmers so that their farms can continue to thrive.”
As for the prospect of bringing high speed rail to upstate, the senator said the plan has “tremendous potential,” but warned there is a lot to discuss. He added that talks to construct a line from Buffalo to Albany would not begin in earnest until 2010 at the earliest.
“The goal of this economic recovery plan is to see an upturn in the economy by Christmastime or the start of the new year,” said Schumer. “Money for projects is available, and I encourage municipalities and businesses to apply for whatever funds they can.”
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In the face of an economic crisis, the magnitude of which has not been seen since the Great Depression, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act represents a strategic and significant investment in the country’s future.
That was the message brought by U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer to members of the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce Wednesday at the Knights Inn of Little Falls. Schumer used his time at the business luncheon to discuss provisions included in the economic stimulus package, including economic development, relief for dairy farmers, increased broadband coverage, health care and high speed rail.
“The economic recovery package is a big, strong, bold move, but is necessary. To do nothing would have risked depression,” said Schumer, D-N.Y. “The stimulus package seeks to end the ‘deflationary spiral,’ because once you get in that spiral too deeply, you don’t know how to get out. That is what the Great Depression was. We need to get out of the spiral and this package seeks to do that by jolting the economy.”
In outlining the goals of the economic recovery package, Schumer said the plan seeks to save and create more than 3.5 million jobs over the next two years; take a “big step” toward computerizing Americans’ health records, reducing medical errors and saving billions in health care costs; revive the renewable energy industry and provide the capital over the next three years to double domestic renewable energy capacity; undertake the largest weatherization program in history by modernizing 75 percent of federal building space and more than one million homes; increase college affordability for seven million students by funding the shortfall in Pell Grants, increasing the maximum award level by $500 and providing a new higher education tax cut to nearly four million students; enact the largest increase in funding for the nation’s roads, bridges and mass transit systems since the creation of the national highway system in the 1950s; provide a tax credit for 129 million working households and cut taxes for the families of millions of children through an expansion of the Child Tax Credit.
“The economic downturn has strained county, local and state budgets alike,” said Schumer. “But from funding for education, to health care and budget relief, to transportation and infrastructure, this recovery package is what we need to get and keep people working.”
In discussing why projects such as the $1 million Main Street enhancement project in Dolgeville, the $800,000 sidewalk, lighting and landscape improvement project along Mohawk Street in Herkimer or the $1.5 million project to rehabilitate the bridge carrying Route 169 over the CSX railroad and the Erie Canal in Little Falls have been approved for funding so quickly, Schumer said the idea in this first phase is to get federal funds to local projects that are ready to proceed so that the infusion of federal dollars can be felt as soon as possible.
“These projects and others like the $2.2 million project to paint 14 bridges, including four in Herkimer County, and the $3.9 million project to rehabilitate pavement at 14 sites in Fulton, Herkimer and Montgomery counties are meant to jump-start the economy now,” said Schumer. “The idea in this phase of the stimulus package is to look for smaller projects that can be completed in a relatively short period of time. The idea behind the second phase, the money for which has not been let, is to look for bigger projects that will require more time to complete and will have a longer lasting impact. The money for more significant projects will be coming in the future.”
Stimulus funds are also available to bring broadband Internet access to rural areas.
“Broadband and high speed Internet is the lifeblood of the new economy and it is more important than ever that every community has access to this important technology,” said Schumer. “To rebuild the economy we must have a first-class information infrastructure that includes universal high speed Internet access. The recovery bill includes money to deliver this service to underserved communities.”
In discussing what can be done to help dairy farmers, Schumer said he and others in Congress have asked the United States Department of Agriculture to increase its purchases of milk powder through the Commodity Credit Corporation, to restore the payments to offset the cost of packaging milk, which were ended under the last Secretary of Agriculture, and to restore a program to promote dairy exports.
In addition, Schumer has called for an increase in Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program payments from 34 percent of the difference between $16.94 per hundredweight and that month’s domestic Class I milk price to 75 percent of the difference.
“It is imperative that we work to meet the needs of farmers across upstate New York,” said Schumer. “As the nation’s third largest producer of milk, it is critical that we provide some form of economic relief to our local farmers so that their farms can continue to thrive.”
As for the prospect of bringing high speed rail to upstate, the senator said the plan has “tremendous potential,” but warned there is a lot to discuss. He added that talks to construct a line from Buffalo to Albany would not begin in earnest until 2010 at the earliest.
“The goal of this economic recovery plan is to see an upturn in the economy by Christmastime or the start of the new year,” said Schumer. “Money for projects is available, and I encourage municipalities and businesses to apply for whatever funds they can.”
