His current district will split into five fragments
When Sen. James Skoufis considered his political future this spring, a desire to stay in the community was a deciding factor.
A decision was necessary after the boundaries of New York’s electoral districts were redrawn and the area represented by Sen. Skoufis was splintered into five fragments.
At first, the Cornwall resident considered a run for Congress in a race where there was no incumbent.
But after a week, Sen. Skoufis decided against it.
Instead he considered two options. One was representing Newburgh, Montgomery and a part of Dutchess County. “We would have had to move,” he explained during an interview in his office. “And Hillary and I decided we deeply didn’t want to do that.”
Their daughter will be starting Montessori School in the fall and the Senator was anxious to continue representing Cornwall and the Town of Highlands “I pride myself,” he said, “on being a neighbor to both communities and making sure they get a proper response and service from the New York State Government.”
That left him with option number 2 – campaigning in a district where half the constituents are people he has represented and the other half live in the western part of the county, where Mike Martucci is their state senator.
It was not an easy choice. Although the two senators are in different parties, they have been political allies, and have worked together for the benefit of the county. Mr. Skoufis considers Sen. Martucci a personal friend. They will not be running against one another because Sen. Martucci has dropped out of the race. Instead, Sen. Skoufis expects to oppose Dorey Houle, a Republican Councilwoman from the Town of Monroe.
The senator then referred to his current priorities in the legislature. He recently passed a bill to add health care workers to the Red Flag Law. This will allow them to petition a court to remove firearms from a household if a person appears to be intent on harming himself or others. Family members and law enforcement officers can also ask a court to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals.
While the Red Flag Law is aimed at improving school safety, Mr. Skoufis also favors the addition of armed Student Resource Officers in every school. On a happier note, he is proud to see universal Pre-K coming to Cornwall and expects that there will be at least 60 spots available in the fall.
Infrastructure is another Skoufis priority. He reported that after the pipeline is installed on Route 32, Kiryas Joel will pay to repave the entire road. In recent years, several bridges have been replaced and the amount of CHIPs money (for street and highway improvement) has reached an all-time high. “It’s wonderful to see Bridge Street,” he added. A grant secured by the senator enabled Cornwall to reclaim the street that had been blocked off for several years.
His Investigation Committee is examining the amounts being billed by utilities. In some areas, the increases have been staggering. But the committee is beginning to make progress. “We just got responses under the threat of subpoenas,” he said, while adding that a previous investigation led to a first-in-the-nation law governing event ticketing. In the future ticket sellers will have to divulge their entire fees up front, which will make it easier for consumers to comparison shop.
“That’s why we investigate,” the senator explained. “We do it to identify problems we can fix.”
