Our upstate communities and citizens are struggling due to Albany’s unfunded state mandates. Unfunded mandates are the numerous policies and programs that Albany forces our communities to implement and pay for, regardless of need or want.

The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) has said that nearly 90 percent of the local tax levy is consumed by just nine unfunded mandates. What’s worse is that there are hundreds more mandates on top of the nine major ones.

As more and more public dollars are wasted on these mandates, there is little left to invest in our communities’ renewal. Recently, Mildred Warner, a professor at Cornell University, released a study showing that unfunded mandates are interfering with upstate municipalities’ ability to invest in projects that would be game-changing for Upstate New York. She also cites infrastructure and quality of life investments, such as parks, as the things communities should invest in to attract residents, businesses and jobs.

Currently, our local governments, citizens and even academia are crying foul on unfunded mandates. Yet, Albany still doesn’t seem to get it.

I think this speaks to a larger question about how New York’s legislative and executive branches have been operating. Our policymakers in Albany have said over and over again that they know better than local governments, job creators and certainly the taxpayers.

Government has its place, but when it gets so big and pervasive that it interferes with the prosperity of our communities and citizens it is time to take a step back and loosen the reins of meddlesome policy.

We know what the problem is. There was even an unfunded mandate review committee in the first place, but now we must act. Now is the time for New York’s policymakers to be honest about how unfunded mandates have negatively impacted our communities.

We need to eliminate unfunded mandates so our communities can rebound and thrive. With a little over two months left in the legislative session, I will be working with my colleagues to boldly address this issue. I will advocate for passage of the Taxpayer Protection and Unfunded Mandate Relief Act, a bill I sponsor that addresses these very issues.

I believe that our communities should have the freedom to invest public dollars in a way that makes sense for us and not on wasteful unfunded and mandated programs we don’t need.

If you have questions or comments about mandates or how to help upstate communities, I welcome your input. Please call my office at 493-3909 or email me at blankenbushk@assembly.state.ny.us.