It’s been a struggle to raise the state Legislature’s awareness of traditionally upstate, rural issues, but over the past two years the challenges for rural legislators have become more and more acute. We’ve seen it time and again in the ongoing battles over the state’s tax policies, economic development priorities, infrastructure allocations and in other ways.
So it’s going to remain one of the constant demands of every upstate legislator to remind the downstate, New York City-based leaders who control New York government that our state is largely defined by rural regions and the future of these rural communities is fundamental to statewide strength and well-being.
It’s a daunting task. Rural New York’s population of 3.5 million is relatively small and dispersed compared to the 15.5 million people who live in urban areas, and this disparity is sharply reflected in the state Legislature, where only approximately 31 of 212 legislators currently represent rural regions.
It was approximately 25 years ago that the Legislature established what became known as the Legislative Commission on the Development of Rural Resources, commonly called the LCRR. For most of its existence, the LCRR has operated as a joint, bipartisan agency composed of 10 members of the Senate and the Assembly. It’s helped shaped state laws and policies on a range of issues that particularly impact rural communities: farm and farmland preservation, economic development, broadband access, water quality, education, transportation and health care, to name a few.
I was appointed the commission’s chairman in 2005, and served in that capacity until 2009. I valued this opportunity to help address rural needs in the Southern Tier-Finger Lakes region and all across New York. I was grateful to be joined in this important work by colleagues from both parties. We sought to renew the commission’s work in raising awareness of rural issues within the Legislature. In many ways, we stood as a last bastion of concern. The commission’s work remained focused on two overriding goals:
1.) Raise awareness. The commission developed a valuable partnership with Cornell University, a national leader on rural affairs, to advance what became known as the “Rural Visioning Project.” We worked together to identify the challenges and opportunities facing rural New York and held a series of Rural Listening Sessions with leaders and citizens throughout upstate New York.
2.) Promote action. From 2005 to 2009, commission members worked to advance a “Rural New York Agenda,” addressing a range of concerns with which many rural communities are struggling, such as the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and other emergency services personnel; how to ensure that rural New York communities find a niche in the state’s emerging high technology industry; a lack of services for an ever-growing population of senior citizens; and planning and land use decisions which threaten some of the traditional foundations of rural New York, especially agriculture.
