ELIOT SPITZER TALKS ABOUT HIS PLANS FOR UNDERSERVED …



ELIOT SPITZER TALKS ABOUT HIS PLANS FOR UNDERSERVED RURAL COMMUNITIES

 

 

New York, NY (August 3, 2006) -- Eliot Spitzer today tours the Adirondack and North Country region to talk about the need to confront the serious challenges facing rural communities.  New York’s Upstate economy is struggling as companies and people leave the state, and rural communities are among the hardest hit by this economic decline. Businesses face a serious affordability crisis that is driving valuable jobs to other states.  The struggle with isolation from larger markets hampers their ability to compete.  Families living in rural New York face a host of other challenges such as access to quality health care, out of control property taxes that are driving up their cost of living, and schools that are struggling to provide a high quality education as enrollment declines.

 

Eliot will talk about his plans to provide much needed relief to these underserved communities at two events today.  He tours the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake to talk about improving access to affordable and high quality health care throughout rural New York and tours the Plattsburgh International Airport to talk about the infrastructure needs – transportation, broadband and capital – of rural communities. 

 

“On day one, the North Country will get the attention it deserves and requires,” said Eliot Spitzer.  “For too long our government has stood by and allowed rural communities to drift in the face of a challenging economy.  The state has failed to serve as a catalyst for economic growth and failed to address the dire needs of struggling rural communities, such as access to health care.”

 

Eliot’s plan to help underserved rural communities focuses on improving access to quality health care, fostering job growth through a coordinated strategy that includes connecting the region to larger markets, tackling the affordability challenges facing residents, and making the educational improvements that enable graduates to compete in the 21st century economy.

 

Expanding Access to Quality Care

 

In many rural communities, access to quality health care is difficult and getting worse. New York State must rethink how we deliver health care services in rural communities so that we can both improve access and quality, while containing costs.  Many rural hospitals and health care facilities are in financial straits and have difficulty recruiting and retaining professional staff.  New York State needs to have a specific strategy that promotes access to preventive and primary care, and strengthens the financial viability of rural health care providers.

 

One way to help ensure that residents have access to the care they need is by ensuring that State reimbursement rates adequately compensate primary care physicians and address ways to increase access to specialty care, including by increasing the use of telemedicine.  The state should also do more to encourage medical professionals to stay in rural areas. We should consider loan forgiveness and other incentives to those who chose to stay in rural markets.

 

Health insurance companies are pulling out in many parts of rural New York, resulting in a health insurance marketplace that lacks real competition.  This both increases the cost of insurance and puts financial pressure on health care providers.  State government must conduct a full review of policy options that can help to redress this imbalance. 

Improving the Business Climate in Rural Communities

 

Rural upstate communities need the support of State government during these challenging times. 

We need to connect rural communities and small cities in the North Country to larger markets, including those across the border in Canada.  A first step toward improving the economies of these communities is to make the investments in infrastructure that will allow them to grow.

 

We should explore innovative ways to increase air service -- particularly with low-cost airlines-- in underserved rural parts of New York like Plattsburgh, Watertown, and Elmira. This effort should include options for air-taxi service, similar to what Florida and other Southeast states are doing, to tap the economic potential of our small and medium-sized cities.

 

We must improve access to capital and invest in strategic industries if we are to promote upstate businesses.  New York State should pool existing economic development funds to create a “Seed Capital Fund” and expand the Comptroller’s “Private Equity Investment Program” that invests a small portion of the state’s pension funds in venture capital funds that in turn invest in New York. 

 

Broadband access is critical to improving the business climate of rural areas. In areas of rural New York high speed broadband access is often unavailable or prohibitively expensive.  Eliot has proposed a plan to provide universal access to affordable, high-speed broadband service for every New Yorker.

 

Keep Rural Areas Affordable

 

New Yorkers are facing disproportionately high property taxes, which is why Eliot has laid out a $6 billion plan to provide immediate property tax relief to middle class New Yorkers who need it most.  The plan is designed to give the most relief to those middle class taxpayers who can least afford to pay their property taxes – which will go a long way in rural parts of New York where income is typically lower than in the rest of the State.  For example, over 60% of homeowners in the counties that make up the North Country will get the full Middle Class benefit of an 80% increase in their current STAR exemption in the first year of Eliot’s program.

 

The State should focus on improving mass transit options in urban and suburban areas, but recognizing that cars are the only option for many, we should commit to maintaining the cap on the State’s gas tax until gas prices fall to affordable levels.

 

Provide High Quality Education in Rural Communities

 

Residents of the North Country are rightly proud of their schools, which have high school graduation rates that are well above the State average.  But we must strive for more than adequacy in education.  We must achieve excellence.  We can make schools in the North County even better by increasing collaboration with area colleges and universities, encouraging the sharing of resources among smaller districts, and expanding distance education programs in order to offer a richer curriculum.  Finally, because we know that more than a high school diploma is needed to compete in the 21st century economy, we must expand access to higher education, and improve the quality of our community colleges and four year SUNY institutions.   

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