SENATOR WINNER'S "TOP 10"
Since his election
to represent the 53rd Senate District in November 2004, Senator Winner has
personally sponsored and helped secure the enactment of many new state laws.
"I identified a series of priorities at the outset of my
Senate service," says Senator Winner. "I’ve done my best to make
some positive contributions to the future of the Southern Tier-Finger Lakes
region, and I'm hopeful that these new laws and other initiatives represent
a good beginning."
Following is Senator Winner’s "Top 10" list of new laws he's sponsored
since 2005:
1.)
Direct wine shipments:
In a historic conclusion to an issue that was hotly debated at the Capitol
since the early 1990’s, the Legislature and former Governor George Pataki
agreed in 2005 to authorize the direct shipment of wine into and out of
New York State. It marked the arrival of an overdue victory for the Empire
State’s grape-and-wine industry.
The new law put in place the necessary regulatory, reporting and revenue-collecting
systems to ensure an effective and responsible transition to a new system
of marketing and selling wine in New York.
We had one of the best opportunities we’ve ever had to strengthen an important
state industry by allowing Finger Lakes wineries and winemakers statewide
to cultivate these long-awaited economic markets. This new law provided
guidelines and safeguards to clear the way for Finger Lakes wineries and
winemakers statewide to begin strengthening their industry by making direct-to-customers
sales.
New York is the third-largest wine producing state in America, with over
200 wineries statewide. The industry employs 18,000 workers and annually
generates more than $500 million in gross sales, together with $85 million
in state and local tax revenue. Over three million people visit the state’s
wineries every year. One-third of them come from out of state. Granting
New York’s wineries direct shipment privileges to out-of-state customers
represents a significant and important market expansion. It facilitated
new and important economic opportunities for many Finger Lakes wineries.
2.) Clandestine
methamphetamine labs: The
enactment of a comprehensive strategy to combat the rise of clandestine
methamphetamine production labs in the Southern Tier-Finger Lakes region
and throughout New York ranks as a landmark criminal justice victory.
Meth-related action in the Legislature gained momentum following a January
2005 report from the State Commission of Investigation (SIC) warning that
meth would become an increasingly dire public health and safety threat unless
New York adopted new, tougher laws. The report identified the Southern Tier
as a hotbed of criminal meth activity and issued some startling findings
for our region. It warned that meth-related crime would be on the rise as
the Southern Tier became a more attractive destination for meth manufacturers
seeking to escape tougher laws adopted in the state of Pennsylvania in 2004.
New York law was hanging out a welcome sign, when what we needed were laws
to put meth manufacturers out of business in this state.
The message
was clear: Once a culture of meth invades a region, it sinks deep roots
and becomes increasingly difficult to control. The drug’s proliferation
produces escalating costs to local systems of health care and social services,
more violent crime, higher numbers of drug-endangered children, more and
more hazardous waste sites dotting the landscapes of our communities, and
increasing risks for local law enforcement officers and first responders.
Act against it now, we were told.
Our region was especially stirred to action following the tragic murders,
on the morning March 31, 2004, of Bradford County Sheriff’s Deputies Michael
A. VanKuren and Christopher M. Burgert, who were killed in the line of duty
while attempting to serve arrest warrants, including one involving the operation
of a meth lab. This terrible event heightened our already growing alarm.
So it's meaningful on many levels that the Legislature demonstrated
a bipartisan commitment to the enactment of a comprehensive anti-meth strategy.
The new, tough anti-meth law incorporated initiatives I sponsored in the
Senate into a comprehensive plan that includes tougher new criminal penalties
to outlaw the operation of clandestine labs; promote greater community awareness
and education; protect children; and begin to address the environmental
dangers associated with meth labs.
The law cleared the way for more aggressive and potent law enforcement.
It ensured continued vigilance through community awareness and education.
It was the product of a good-faith effort to recognize this danger and to
begin to control the widespread addiction, violence and tragedy that would
result from inaction.
We gave our communities a chance to fight back. Early on in this effort,
I stressed the importance of a regional army of law officers, district attorneys,
legislators, news reporters, educators and concerned citizens to help defend
our communities. That remains true. We must remain vigilant.
3.)
Universal Broadband:
One of the real bright spots of my Senate tenure so far has been that we’ve
heightened important bipartisan recognition of key short- and long-term
challenges facing rural communities. This action represents the beginning
of a concrete economic development strategy to help bring the excitement
and prosperity of a high-tech future to rural New York. Rural communities
must find a niche in the continued emergence of New York State's high technology
industry -- which means that we have to focus on building the necessary
infrastructure and work force to cement rural New York's place in that future.
Developed and advanced as a bipartisan initiative by the Legislative
Commission on Rural Resources, which I chair, a new law directed the state’s
lead economic development agency, the Empire State Development Corporation
(ESD), to study and recommend the best methods for deployment and expansion
of high-speed Internet access in support of economic development in underserved
rural areas. ESD, together with other state agencies and private industry
representatives, have evaluated and recommended specific state and local
strategies for the deployment of broadband infrastructure in rural regions.
It continues to serve as a blueprint for future action.
4.)
Fuel cell technology:
In an effort to further encourage the use of alternative energy sources,
in particular emerging fuel cell technology, a new law provided a state
tax credit to businesses purchasing commercial fuel cell generating equipment.
Emergency electric generators become increasingly necessary as our society
becomes more and more reliant on computers, cell phones and other modern
technology susceptible to natural disasters, terrorist attacks and the unpredictability
of the power grid. The bulk of today’s backup generating power is provided
in the form of lead acid batteries. Fuel cells offer a cleaner, environment
friendly, efficient, effective and reliable source of power for electric
generators. This law encouraged the use of fuel cells by helping businesses
offset the cost of investing in fuel cell technology.
Fuel cell technology has found a viable market in providing backup
power for cell towers, but the technology could prove valuable on a more
widespread basis throughout business and industry. We know that our nation
as a whole needs to become more focused on lessening our dependence on traditional,
nonrenewable energy sources.
5.)
Procurement lobbying reform:
A new law made broad reforms to state laws governing lobbying for government
contracts and brought the state’s procurement lobbying laws more in step
with the goals of appropriate regulation, open reporting, accountability,
and fairness.
The new law provided a great deal of disclosure and transparency. All in
all, it’s a positive addition to the government reform scorecard.
For the first time, contractors seeking state business are only allowed
to contact designated contract officers at state agencies and authorities.
Contractors or their lobbyists are prohibited from doing procurement contract
business with any agency or authority official other than the designated
contract officer.
Lobbyists
seeking to influence the awarding of state contracts, executive orders and
tribal compacts have to disclose their efforts to the state lobbying commission,
in the same way required of lobbyists seeking to influence legislation.
The new law established an 11-member Advisory Council on Municipal Lobbying
to advise the state lobby commission on the implementation of the new procurement
lobbying provisions.
6.)
Ethics Law reform:
A new law closed the so-called "Flynn" loophole, which many good
government advocates and watchdogs identified as a reform priority in state
government. Specifically we closed a loophole in the state’s ethics law
which allowed state employees to evade investigations and avoid penalties
for ethics violations simply by leaving state service. We shut down an escape
hatch that shouldn’t be available to ethics law violators. Closing this
loophole continued our government reform efforts in a very positive way.
A 1995 ruling by the state Court of Appeals, in Flynn v. NYS Ethics Commission,
caused the state ethics commission to lose its ability to investigate and
sanction state officers and employees once they left state service.
7.)
Agriculture regulations review:
Agriculture remains our number one industry, and so I'm proud that we finally
created a permanent, comprehensive process to review state rules and regulations
that could be detrimental to the state's agricultural industry.
With this new law we ensured that New York's bureaucracy constantly monitors
the impact state rules and regulations have on agriculture. Agriculture
is the backbone of our rural economies, and we can’t have a state bureaucracy
that unfairly and unreasonably hinders the industry’s growth.
State industries have consistently pointed to overregulation as
a key obstacle to economic growth in New York State. This has been particularly
true in the farming industry. Since 1995, when former Governor George Pataki
created the new state Office of Regulatory Reform, New York’s regulatory
reform efforts have been nationally recognized. As a result of the Office's
leadership, thousands of state regulations have been eliminated or substantially
amended. It's estimated that these regulatory reform efforts have saved
businesses and taxpayers over $1.7 billion since 1995.
But the state Legislature spoke clearly of the need to regularly review
and modify unnecessary rules and regulations affecting agriculture when
it enacted the 1971 Agricultural Districts Law. Until now, however, no specific
procedures were established and regular reviews have not occurred.
Bureaucratic overregulation has consistently been an obstacle to sustained
economic growth within the agricultural industry. The new law allows the
commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets to undertake
a comprehensive review of existing regulations and establish a permanent
procedure to review future proposed regulations. It also directs state agencies
to recommend modifying regulations found to be detrimental to agriculture.
8.)
Farm Wineries:
Farm wineries in the Finger Lakes and statewide are now able to better respond
to natural disasters that cause severe losses in the state’s grape crop.
A new law provided farm wineries with flexibility in their licensing category
to continue producing wine when natural disasters and other weather conditions
cause severe losses in New York’s grape crop.
Obtaining a farm winery license in New York State requires that a winery
produce its wine using only New York-grown grapes. While this requirement
has served to strengthen and support New York’s grape-and-wine industry,
it inadvertently limited a farm winery’s ability to respond to natural disasters
and other severe weather conditions that result in severe losses in the
state’s grape crop. The state’s commercial wineries are allowed to purchase
out-of-state grapes as a way to respond to in-state grape shortages in these
instances, however farm wineries could only similarly purchase out-of-state
grapes by applying to the State Liquor Authority for a one-year commercial
winery license and then, the following year, go through the licensing process
a second time to reregister as a farm winery.
It was a bureaucratic, costly, cumbersome process for the farm wineries.
The new law provides greater flexibility to help our farm wineries better
respond to these emergency situations. It allows licensed farm wineries
to purchase out-of-state grapes, for one year, if a natural disaster or
adverse weather conditions like early frosts, late winters or unusual hail
storms cause at least a 40-percent loss in the state’s annual grape harvest.
9.)
Timber processing:
A significant portion of the more than seven million acres of land comprising
New York State farms contains trees, woodlots and timber which are being
responsibly tended to and cared for. Harvesting and processing this timber
offers many farmers, in the face of low prices for milk and other products,
an additional, diversified source of farm-related income that allows them
to continue to farm and preserve open space. This new law allows many New
York farmers to harvest and process timber and qualify for state-sponsored
tax and other benefits as part of their farm operation. A small step, but
it nonetheless assists some farmers with protecting their farms and farmland
for generations to come.
10.)
Municipal cooperation:
As local challenges become increasingly complex -- with government
resources at every level stretched more and more thin -- intermunicipal
cooperation and shared services can increasingly prove cost effective and
successful in easing the burden on local property taxpayers. With this in
mind, I’ve consistently sponsored new laws to facilitate municipal cooperation.
For example, one of these new laws seeks to ensure that municipalities provide
notice of public hearings to neighboring municipalities when they are reviewing
projects near their borders. The law also provides an opportunity for neighboring
municipalities to appear and provide comment on the proposed planning and
zoning actions. This measure encourages the coordination of area land use
development and regulation among neighboring municipalities, as well as
a greater recognition of common goals and objectives for community development.