Column: State Senator Tom O'Mara

"Local Roads Are Essential"

ALBANY, March 8, 2026 -- Final negotiations are underway over a new state budget and it's critical now to continue stressing that this year's budget must address the right priorities.

One of the top priorities, in my view, is the future of local roads and bridges.

It's a priority that I and area Assemblyman Phil Palmesano, together with many of our Senate and Assembly colleagues from across this region and statewide, have worked for more than a decade now to keep strengthening. Since 2013, in fact, we have stood together with New York's county and town highway superintendents and highway crews, and many other local leaders, to raise awareness and call for legislative support.

This year we are once again fully behind the annual advocacy campaign known as "Local Roads Are Essential." This long-standing effort is sponsored by the New York State Association of County Highway Superintendents (NYSCHSA) and the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways, Inc. (NYSAOTSOH), and we're proud to support it.

As we see it, Governor Kathy Hochul has failed to recognize the urgency and make investment in local roads, bridges, and culverts a priority in her proposed 2026-27 state budget. To the point, the governor's proposal to keep funding for the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS), the state's primary source of funding for local roads and bridges, flat at last year's level simply can't be allowed to stand.

It can't be allowed to stand for many reasons. First, the governor fails to recognize the enormous impact inflation is having on the costs of construction and, consequently, on the budgets of local highway departments. Nationally, according to the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Construction Cost Index, highway construction costs over the past three years have increased by 70 percent! A 2023 study of local highway and bridge needs commissioned by NYSAOTSOH found that municipalities would need an additional $32 billion over 15 years to restore locally owned roads through repaving and improvements, or $2.1 billion annually. In 2025, that need was updated to $2.69 billion a year, or $40.35 billion over 15 years, because of the unprecedented inflation of the cost of construction materials.

In a February 12, 2026 letter to Governor Hochul and legislative leaders, signed by nearly 70 of our Republican legislative colleagues in the Senate and Assembly, we wrote, in part, "More funding is essential to help offset rising construction costs, stabilize the transportation program, and ensure critical infrastructure projects can move forward ... Local governments, for the foreseeable future, will continue to struggle to address budgetary demands in the face of the state-imposed property tax cap, rising pension, health care and highway construction costs, and unfunded state mandates, among other burdens ... A stronger state-local partnership is the only solution to meeting the critical investment level needed to maintain and improve local roads, bridges, and culverts."

We are calling on the governor and legislative leaders to:

--increase the CHIPS base level funding by $250 million to a total of $898.1 million;
--consolidate five of the state's local road assistance programs into two programs which would reduce the administrative burden and recordkeeping costs at the state and local levels; and
--increase the CHIPS bidding threshold from $350,000 to $1,000,000 -- or eliminate the threshold altogether -- to give municipalities more flexibility to pursue the most cost-effective option to bid out or perform in-house projects.

Additionally, we continue raising an increasingly dire concern over a state mandate scheduled to take effect in 2027 requiring local school districts to begin moving toward all-electric school bus fleets. Because these electric school buses are heavier than the current diesel buses, we are seeing alarming studies estimating that a town's cost for pavement maintenance would increase from a range of $20,000 to $50,000 per mile to about $550,000 per mile for reconstruction. Further, New Yorks's towns could see at least a ten-fold increase in the cost of maintaining their roads from this mandate.

We spelled it all out at a recent news conference at the Big Flats Town Highway Garage, where we were joined by local and state leaders, and representatives of regional highway departments.

And last week in Albany, local roads advocates from every region of the state were once again at the Capitol -- wearing their trademark orange "Local Roads Are Essential" t-shirts -- to rally support.

Our botom line: The "Local Roads Are Essential" coalition has worked long and hard to bolster New York State's commitment to local transportation infrastructure. Now is no time for this state to begin turning its back on this commitment. In fact, it needs to be strengthened.

Photo in text: State Senator Tom O'Mara

Legislature Chairman

Carl Blowers, 535-6174 or 237-5469

Legislature Members:

Gary Gray, 292-9922

Robert Halpin

Jeffrey Fazzary

Gail M. Walker

Phil Barnes, Watkins Glen, 481-0482

Mark Rondinaro, 398-0648

Laurence Jaynes

County Clerk: Theresa Philbin, 535-8133

Sheriff: Kevin Rumsey, 535-8222

Undersheriff: Andrew Zeigler, 535-8222

County Treasurer: Holley Sokolowski, 535-8181

District Attorney: Jeremy Hourilhan, 535-8383

State, Federal Officials for Schuyler County

Sen. Charles E. Schumer

United States Senate
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3201
DC Phone: 202-224-6542
DC Fax: 202-228-3027
Email Address: http://schumer.senate.gov/webform.html

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand

United States Senate
478 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
DC Phone: 202-224-4451
Website: http://gillibrand.senate.gov/

State Senator Tom O'Mara -- Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, and Yates, and eastern Allegany County (towns of Alfred, Almond, Amity, Andover, Birdsall, Burns, Grove, Independence, Scio, Ward, Wellsville, and Willing).

Room 706, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
Phone: (518) 455-2091
Fax: (518) 426-6976
www.omara.nysenate.gov

Assemblyman Phil Palmesano-- All of Schuyler and Yates, majority of Steuben, and portions of Chemung and Seneca counties.

Room 448, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
Phone: (518) 455-5791
Fax: (518) 455-4644
Website: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Philip-A-Palmesano/