How Cornwall & Orange County got hurricane relief
“What do you want to talk about?” the senator asked. We were sitting in his office in Newburgh.
And I suspected he had a story to tell. Before long, my suspicions were confirmed.
James Skoufis has been in the state legislature for nine years. “This has been the busiest off-session,” he began. “It’s been driven by all the changes – the new players and their agendas.”
Mr. Skoufis had plenty of interaction with the new governor as they haggled over relief for the victims of Hurricane Ida. Most of the damage in Orange County occurred in Washingtonville and Cornwall.
The Skoufis household was virtually spared, but many of their neighbors had damaged furniture and appliances stacked up in their front yards. Could they anticipate help from the federal government?
The answer was “no.”
The information came from Sen. Charles Schumer, who said that Orange County wasn’t eligible for individual assistance. So Mr. Skoufis turned to the state without immediate success. “We’re not in the business of doing FEMA’s job,” he was told.
But the state was able to help undocumented immigrants, because they were not eligible to get money from FEMA. New York put aside $27 million for these people and Sen. Skoufis was livid.
The normally smiling Cornwall resident started yelling at people, including the lieutenant governor and the governor’s top assistant. “Give us a week,” they told him.
It sounded promising, but at the end of the week, they had nothing to offer him. “We believe it sets a bad precedent,” they reasoned.
At this point, the senator envisioned a press release with the title, “Hochul turns her back on Orange County.” After sharing this vision, he only had to wait 25 minutes for the next response.
“We’re going to take another hard look at this,” he was promised. “We want to try to make this work.”
And that’s when the government came up with $2 million from funds earmarked for Home Community Renewal.
Under this program, residents can be eligible for reimbursement as long as they don’t exceed 200 percent of the county’s median income. Sen. Skoufis explained that it’s the highest possible legal ceiling.
“My expectation,” he summarized, “is that qualified people will get what they need.”
Despite the hassle over reimbursement, the senator is pleased with the state’s change in leadership. “It’s a more conciliatory approach,” he told me, “especially with bills.”
If Gov. Hochul wants to change a bill that was approved by the legislature, she’ll say let’s talk about it rather than threatening to withhold her signature.
She has several bills to review by the end of the year.
My visit to the senator’s office occurred on a Tuesday. The next day he was due to chair a hearing on live entertainment tickets. He explained that if an event is canceled, the people who purchased tickets are legally entitled to a refund. But some ticket sellers have gotten around that by saying an event is “indefinitely postponed.” The senator is anxious to close that loophole.
On Thursday and Friday, the members of the senate majority were due to meet in Albany to discuss priorities for the next session. “It should be a very robust discussion,” I was told.
