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Rokosz Maximum: This redistricting factor has in reality been a doozy. You’ve misplaced about 147,000 of your previous constituents. However you won Columbia and Greene counties.
State senator Sue Serino: So now it’s Hyde Park north. Placing Columbia and Greene counties in combination made numerous sense as a result of there’s such a lot that they percentage. However the best way they chopped up Dutchess and Ulster is unnecessary. I grew up in Wappingers. So I misplaced the place I grew up. My mother lives in Poughkeepsie. And so does my partner’s mother. They are able to’t even vote for me.
Maximum: Do you spot similarities between the trade hall from Wappingers falls to Fishkill at the 9 and over right here on the town of Ulster at the 9W or the 9W round Highland. I suppose as a Republican you’ll be focusing your energies within the spaces with essentially the most lively trade communities but additionally clear of town facilities which generally tend to vote democratic. Is {that a} honest assumption?
Serino: I’m going far and wide and chatting with everyone. I feel that that’s so necessary… I at all times say I govern through listening and I’ve by no means requested any one what birthday party they’re. I feel that that’s so necessary, particularly lately, with the entire divisiveness that’s happening. And no one can put me in a field. I’ve that recognition for status up for our neighbors and not being afraid to take action. In order that’s why it’s necessary for me to listen to from everyone. I don’t care what birthday party. Celebration doesn’t topic.
Maximum: There was once a letter penned through Senators Gallivan and Ortt that you simply perceived to get in the back of very strongly, criticizing the state hard work division for an passion overview surcharge. Are you able to give an explanation for what that was once about?
Serino: It’s about how the companies struggled to live to tell the tale all through the pandemic. It felt like winners and losers with how companies had been picked directly to be closed and it simply prolonged approach too lengthy. After which it’s a slap within the face, to hit them with the surcharge. We will have to be doing the whole thing we will to reinforce our small companies. They’re the material of our communities.
They put a tax on unemployment insurance coverage. It’s $27.60 in keeping with worker. Like different states we were given cash from the government, to pay it down. Different states selected to make use of that cash. Our state who isn’t trade pleasant, determined to present the trade house owners mainly a slap within the face and we had a dialog with NFIB [National Federation of Independent Business] they usually mentioned that this would last as long as 8 years for the companies to must pay this.
Maximum: Right here’s a subject expensive to my middle. You presented a invoice to elucidate the period of time an company has to answer a FOIL [Freedom of Information Law] request. I’d have an interest to listen to about that.
Serino: You spot this always. You recognize, when folks record a pull request they would like so that you can get the ones solutions again. And I consider governor Cuomo for the nursing house, resident knowledge all through Covid. That’s stuff that you wish to have to grasp. The Division of Well being, and the governor’s place of job, they only don’t resolution you. Placing folks with Covid that everyone was once scared to loss of life of, in with seniors and have a look at what took place, over 15,000 seniors. No solutions and no investigations. You recognize, we despatched a letter to governor Cuomo and to the Division of Well being. Completely deplorable.
Maximum: It does look like you’ve spent a bit of little bit of power being reasonably activist, introducing law offering for a mechanism to recall elected officers. You’ve referred to as on Letitia James to research the native management. You’ve presented law to power recusal jurors appointed through the governor. I suppose I’ve to invite, do you’ve gotten it out for the governor?
Serino: No, that is about corruption. It’s all about transparency and just right govt for elected officers. I imply, we’re placing them there. As a result of we consider them. You recognize they’re operating for us, in reality, for our taxpayer cash. It’s so necessary to have that transparency.
I feel one of the expenses that you simply discussed, it was once about corrupt lawmakers in reality. Take a look at what has took place with governor Hochul with the company tax scandal — $286 million additional greenbacks to shop for from a political donor. This is completely deplorable, particularly while you consider what’s happening.
We had been speaking previous about going into the district and speaking .… In each nook of this district, individuals are hurting. They usually’re in reality anxious about what’s going to occur this iciness. With the emerging price and gasoline oil, that cash will have long past a protracted technique to assist the folk in want in our state.
Maximum: In case you upload that to the amount of cash she paid for the soccer stadium, that’s a thousand million greenbacks.
Serino: It’s a thousand million greenbacks. You might be precisely proper. That’s some huge cash. And also you cut up that up between 62 counties.
Maximum: You additionally presented a invoice, I feel it stalled within the Senate, the Finance Committee, however you sought after to determine a childcare and early-childhood schooling innovation program?
Serino: Certain. You recognize, when I used to be a unmarried mother, I unfolded a daycare thru Dutchess County daycare supplier provider. So I used to be ready to stick house with my son, who was once then a 12 months and a part on the time. And, and it was once a good chance for me to be with my son and likewise care for different youngsters.
And I simply suppose that it’s so necessary, as a result of at the moment, particularly after the pandemic, we’re seeing numerous the daycares shut. It’s in reality onerous, very onerous for folks to seek out high quality, inexpensive childcare. So my concept all through the pandemic was once to make use of the American rescue plan [ARPA] cash to fund new slots for those daycare suppliers.
Maximum: You additionally presented a invoice to determine a tax credit score for grocery donations to meals pantries, extra commonplace sense. And, once more, that stalled within the committee?
Serino: They’re essential for our communities. Other people of each source of revenue degree are in reality hurting, on account of the price of the whole thing. And the meals pantry want assist, as a result of when the financial system’s no longer doing so smartly, they’re no longer getting the donations that they most often would get to. So and I imagine that model of that did move within the finances. However , it’s a larger dialog about how we get meals on the position it’s wanted maximum. Numerous commonplace sense concepts, proper?
Maximum: Yeah. This is wanted. Ok. Yeah, that roughly pivots over in your opponent, senator [Michelle] Hinchey, as a result of I interviewed her and we in large part caught to agriculture. I noticed that you simply had 3 or 4 expenses immediately about that within the farming area that I’m conscious about. And for some reason why, there appears to be this push and pull between renewable power and agriculture. A invoice you had been looking to do concerned agriculture districts to be transformed over to sun use and not using a penalty?
Serino: Farmland will have to be the remaining possibility for sun. Whilst you consider it have a look at the entire structures that we’ve got. They are able to put sun at the structures. We did one thing in Beacon in my district, they’d an previous trash compound sell off. And what they did was once that land may just by no means be used once more as a result of that’s the place the entire rubbish was once.
We need to suppose outdoor of the field, and we want to in reality strike a stability in terms of this stuff. And it must be native keep watch over. It shouldn’t be as soon as once more Albany telling everyone what they want to do. I’m a company believer in native keep watch over. And particularly in terms of sun, I feel that’s in reality necessary for the native communities so that you can have a voice. So I feel that’s an important factor when it comes after we’re having that dialogue about sun.
Maximum: Whilst you while you say native keep watch over, are we speaking county degree? Is that the place it will get executed with the county government? Or is it we’re speaking cities and villages?
Serino: We’ve native cities and villages that in reality labored smartly in combination, the place they may be able to have those roundtables, have those discussions and communicate to folks. The governor had an government order, to overrule native keep watch over. That’s not proper. In order that’s simply to transport an Albany time table. Which, , doesn’t come with the folk which can be right here in our neighborhood. So once I say native keep watch over, I imply, like, what’s highest for our neighborhood right here.
Maximum: Ok. I used to be simply making an attempt to determine what the borders of a neighborhood had been. However you mentioned, however you’ve been up there, seven years in Albany, so
Serino: What I’ve no longer simply this revel in however I’ve lifestyles revel in, proper? Beginning a trade, being in town board, as a legislator, I in reality realized all other facets of presidency. I’m at all times finding out. It’s me spending time in the neighborhood, as a result of so incessantly, folks don’t suppose to name a senator’s place of job about it may well be an array of concepts or if they’ve issues. And I feel Covid taught us so much about that.
And Covid confirmed, , particularly our constituents, that we’re right here for them. We helped over 5000 folks with unemployment. We had been calling seniors each unmarried day to test on them as a result of seniors are the remaining ones that may ever ask for assist. They grew up in a time after they didn’t, they only took care of themselves and now they want assist greater than ever.
So for me, this task is all about being in the neighborhood on a daily basis and it’s no longer simply an election 12 months for me. Yearly folks see me, and I need to be to be had to have the ones conversations with folks as a result of this task is set serving to folks.