Assemblyman Chris Tague (R,C-Schoharie) recently participated in the New York State Assembly’s joint budget debate of the Agriculture and Environmental Conservation committees. In partnership with the Assembly Majority Conference, Tague noted a few promising proposals came out of the meeting, but there remained oversights worth addressing.

“We’ve agreed on some important allocations like funding for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act, which could continually provide clean water to hundreds of thousands of New York families. That is worth celebrating,” Tague said. “However, a number of proposals coming from the Assembly Minority Conference continue to be ignored such as the integration of Nourish NY products into the state’s agriculture and food supply chain (A.5708) and the ignoring of concerns regarding the aggressive Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which is poised to unfairly burden our state’s farmers as the state hastily tries to reduce general emissions production.”

“Not only that, but the loss of farmland and unsustainable waste management associated with the development of wind and solar farms—implemented without the input of local authorities, mind you—give me pause. There are several long-term problems we’re about to face with these short-term solutions, yet the Majority’s decision to ignore them isn’t going to make a difference when we’re forced to face them. I will continue to fight for what our farmers believe is best, no matter what the agenda of the day may be,” Tague concluded.