WEBVTT 00:00:08.740 --> 00:00:11.439 Hey folks, I'm Matt Major from Growth Mode Content. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:15.140 Welcome to another edition of Good News York. 00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:17.539 I'm very excited. We're kicking off our week. 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.600 Usually Mondays kind of drags a little bit. We 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:24.679 got an all -star guest. You'll notice that we 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:27.800 threw Mike out of here. We didn't want him, you 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:30.679 know, throwing any left field questions out. 00:00:30.699 --> 00:00:32.520 He's sitting in the back making faces at me. 00:00:33.689 --> 00:00:36.289 Joining us here in studio is our New York State 00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:39.310 Senator Rachel May. She's so courteous to come 00:00:39.310 --> 00:00:41.990 and talk to us about everything happening here 00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:44.310 in the great Empire State. Thank you for joining 00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:46.810 us. Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you 00:00:46.810 --> 00:00:49.329 for inviting me. I really appreciate it. And, 00:00:49.329 --> 00:00:51.070 you know, as folks know, if you've listened to 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:53.920 the show, seen this show at all. We're an apolitical 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:56.600 show right where we're not taking any political 00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:58.799 sides. We're not getting any controversies But 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:00.759 we're all talking to all kinds of different elected 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:02.899 officials because you are the folks that know 00:01:02.899 --> 00:01:05.459 what's happening, right? And if anybody can share 00:01:05.459 --> 00:01:07.819 the good news about New York State, it's it's 00:01:07.819 --> 00:01:09.959 folklikes yourself so I very much appreciate 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:13.079 you joining us and Hope that we can have some 00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:15.840 fun this morning and maybe a different type of 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:17.980 interview than then you deal with on most occasions 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:21.810 So, thank you. Let's do it Why don't we, if we 00:01:21.810 --> 00:01:24.790 could just jump in a little bit, just a tiny 00:01:24.790 --> 00:01:27.469 little civics lesson, if you wouldn't mind, because 00:01:27.469 --> 00:01:29.329 I feel like folks around here could use a little 00:01:29.329 --> 00:01:31.170 bit of that. You know, we say we're interviewing 00:01:31.170 --> 00:01:32.670 a senator and they're like, that doesn't look 00:01:32.670 --> 00:01:36.030 like Chuck Schumer. Folks, I think, need just 00:01:36.030 --> 00:01:38.230 a little bit of just a refreshment of kind of 00:01:38.230 --> 00:01:40.650 how our system works here in the state level, 00:01:40.909 --> 00:01:42.450 if you wouldn't mind just giving us kind of that 00:01:42.450 --> 00:01:46.010 breakdown of our houses here. Sure, so like. 00:01:46.430 --> 00:01:49.530 Pretty much every state, we have a state government 00:01:49.530 --> 00:01:52.609 that reflects, it's similar to what the federal 00:01:52.609 --> 00:01:56.629 government is. Instead of a president, we have 00:01:56.629 --> 00:02:00.069 a governor, and we have a state senate, and then 00:02:00.069 --> 00:02:02.750 we have a state assembly, which is the equivalent 00:02:02.750 --> 00:02:07.569 of the House of Representatives. It's pretty 00:02:07.569 --> 00:02:12.330 similar, except at the federal level, every state 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:14.330 has two senators, and they represent the whole 00:02:14.330 --> 00:02:19.020 state. At the state level, the state is divided 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:22.020 into 63 districts, and each senator represents 00:02:22.020 --> 00:02:24.979 a different district. So that does make it a 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:28.099 little different in terms of what a state senator 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:32.539 does as opposed to a federal one. I see. And 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:35.659 then we also have the assembly members, right? 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:38.039 And that's kind of like the comparative to Congress 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:42.699 or the House of Representatives, right? There's 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:44.280 more of them, so I'm guessing their districts 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:45.939 are cut up differently, right? Smaller. They're 00:02:45.939 --> 00:02:49.560 about a third, yeah. So I represent about 330 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:56.560 ,000 people. Oh, wow. And I don't know exactly 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:58.819 what it is in the assembly, but it's probably 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:02.159 somewhere in the hundred and... I see. Yeah, 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:06.590 that makes sense. That's great. And then, so 00:03:06.590 --> 00:03:08.610 you folks, again, just like at the federal level, 00:03:09.009 --> 00:03:11.069 you're the ones that come together and make things 00:03:11.069 --> 00:03:13.430 happen here in New York State. Is that sort of 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:15.750 fair to say? Yeah, it is. I should mention one 00:03:15.750 --> 00:03:17.590 other thing that is really different, because 00:03:17.590 --> 00:03:19.710 at the federal level, senators are elected every 00:03:19.710 --> 00:03:22.289 six years. At the state level, it's every two. 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:25.659 Oh, wow. That's a lot. When you have a district 00:03:25.659 --> 00:03:28.379 this big, it means you're really trying to be 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:31.259 out there all the time communicating with people 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:35.620 in a very wide variety of communities. I can 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:38.280 imagine. That's got to play a little toll on 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:40.719 you, right? It's like, hey, we won. And now we've 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:42.500 got to worry about the future, right? Start all 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:48.020 over again. But on that same tip, You've been 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:50.020 re -elected a few times, right? You've served 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:52.479 a few terms now. It's my fourth term. I love 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.439 that. Must be you're doing something right. I 00:03:56.439 --> 00:04:01.099 will say, so I served two terms in the 53rd Senate 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:05.360 District, which was Syracuse, and then points 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:08.240 east. So it included all of Madison County, some 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.539 of Oneida County. Now, after redistricting, I 00:04:12.539 --> 00:04:15.159 serve Syracuse, Southern Onondaga County, and 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:19.139 all of Cayuga County. Oh, wow. way more than 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:22.360 half of my district geographically is new in 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:25.319 the last few years. Wow. Wow. Are you finding 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:27.300 that there's, are there different challenges 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:29.800 with those different folks or is it pretty much 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:31.339 folks around Central New York kind of have the 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:34.420 same needs? It's pretty similar. I mean, I'm 00:04:34.420 --> 00:04:36.740 unusual in the Senate that I have a district 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:41.019 that's got a city in it and also a lot of rural 00:04:41.019 --> 00:04:46.779 communities. Will say a big shift happened when 00:04:46.779 --> 00:04:49.579 I got four of the finger lakes in my district 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:53.480 the people in those regions You ask them what's 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:56.019 top of your mind, if you're knocking on doors, 00:04:56.360 --> 00:04:59.920 they say water quality. I see. Protecting the 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.680 Finger Lakes, because it's important to their 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.339 tourism, to their drinking water, to their quality 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:11.160 of life. It's really front of mind. So that was 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:13.560 a surprise to me. That was a little different 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:17.120 from Madison County. Not that water isn't important, 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:20.000 but it wasn't. Yeah. Number one for them. No, 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:22.240 well, that's interesting. We talk about even 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.720 just a few miles down the road and how things 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:27.639 are there and how you got to serve all that. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:30.120 It's one of the things that we like to celebrate 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:32.720 is our state. And we've tried, even though we're 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:34.800 locally based, and then probably 90 % of what 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:38.779 we talk about is kind of in our region. We're 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:40.439 really trying to celebrate the state, and it 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:42.319 is just so vast, and there's so many different 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.480 things here, and it's incredible. I tell people, 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.139 one of my biggest fears in my job is that I'm 00:05:48.139 --> 00:05:50.500 going to get in a car crash, because I drive 00:05:50.500 --> 00:05:53.019 all over my district, and it is so beautiful, 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.439 and I want to stop. And I just want to look at 00:05:56.439 --> 00:05:59.540 that sunset, or look at the colors of the trees, 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:04.660 or the finger lakes. It's just gorgeous. just 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:07.800 to get an idea of Cuyahoga County. So the Renaissance 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:09.279 Fair, if you've been to the Renaissance Fair, 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.639 that's in my district. And then it goes all the 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:16.100 way down, halfway down Cuyahoga Lake, past Aurora. 00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:22.220 So it's a lot. Yeah. A lot of just gorgeous. 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:26.560 Yeah, and I feel very lucky. That's great. So 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.279 Senator, if you wouldn't mind, there's a number 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:31.629 of... good things to talk about happening in 00:06:31.629 --> 00:06:34.310 our area. But one I'd love to jump into has gotten 00:06:34.310 --> 00:06:39.149 a little press is the new STEAM school. Is it 00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:41.550 STEAM or STEM? I always feel like I'm saying 00:06:41.550 --> 00:06:44.889 the acronym wrong. So it's STEAM, which means 00:06:44.889 --> 00:06:48.069 STEM. So science, technology, engineering, mathematics, 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:54.300 plus the arts. So the A is for the arts. It's 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:57.180 important in that school because that building, 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:01.439 which was empty for 50 years, has a magnificent 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:05.139 auditorium. Which is where the symphony used 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:09.600 to perform, where great singers like Pavarotti 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:11.699 would come and they would perform there because 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:14.980 it was such a great auditorium. So the kids in 00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:17.579 that school, they're still renovating the auditorium, 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.699 it's not open yet, but... Kids who want to do 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:24.199 performing arts are going to have an amazing 00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:28.199 venue. That's incredible. I've got a young one 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.600 who's just started in the Syracuse Children's 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:32.759 Theater and she's taken to it like a duck to 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:35.800 water. So opportunities like that in the future 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.680 sound great. Well, we never had a school for 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:41.879 the arts out here at all. And so having that 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.399 school, it's not just performing arts or visual 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.360 arts, but they're doing a lot of tech stuff. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:51.589 Kids can learn about theater tech and I see and 00:07:51.589 --> 00:07:54.370 Production. I love that. I was I was the sound 00:07:54.370 --> 00:07:57.569 guy for all the I was the Danny for all of our 00:07:57.569 --> 00:08:01.290 high school productions So I love that If you 00:08:01.290 --> 00:08:03.269 could let's rewind just a second and give folks 00:08:03.269 --> 00:08:05.949 just a little view of what is this school? Why 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:07.730 is this unique from any other school around town? 00:08:08.230 --> 00:08:11.209 it's unique in the whole state actually because 00:08:11.209 --> 00:08:15.389 It is a school that takes kids from all over 00:08:15.389 --> 00:08:18.339 the county in effect beyond the county of the 00:08:18.339 --> 00:08:22.540 whole, um, Bosse's district. So, I see. So Onondaga 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:26.459 County, Madison County is included. And, um, 00:08:26.459 --> 00:08:30.160 that was important to me because growing up, 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:34.779 my grandparents were really involved in the issue 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:40.600 of, um, school equity and desegregation of schools 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.000 after the Supreme Court decision in the fifties. 00:08:44.379 --> 00:08:48.600 And, um, Living here, you know, we have a really 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:51.539 segregated school system basically like the city 00:08:51.539 --> 00:08:54.360 of Syracuse people think of it as a completely 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:59.039 different world from the rest of the county and 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.799 There are wonderful teachers great schools kids 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:06.419 doing amazing things But there shouldn't be this 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:10.720 kind of separation. I sure and so When I was 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.700 first running for office, I met someone who was 00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:15.779 on the school board and he said look The old 00:09:15.779 --> 00:09:18.360 Central Tech High School is a spectacular building. 00:09:18.539 --> 00:09:21.679 It's been empty for 50 years. Can we turn it 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.279 into something? And his idea was exactly this, 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:27.480 a county -wide school of the arts. And I thought, 00:09:27.860 --> 00:09:30.240 if we're ever going to get kids sitting side 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:32.419 by side from all these different communities 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:35.159 and getting to know each other. this is the way 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:38.879 to do it and and it is so exciting to me that 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:41.320 there's the ninth grade there they're going one 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:43.440 grade at a time so it started with ninth grade 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.320 this year but the ninth grade is in there and 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:48.879 it's i think 250 kids wow i got to meet some 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.240 of them a couple weeks ago because there was 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.419 also a grand opening of the uh it's called the 00:09:56.419 --> 00:10:00.419 inspire innovation hub yeah the old tech garden 00:10:00.590 --> 00:10:03.250 Right, which I also got money for them to do 00:10:03.250 --> 00:10:06.850 that renovation. And so they brought the kids 00:10:06.850 --> 00:10:10.129 who are studying business entrepreneurship at 00:10:10.129 --> 00:10:12.750 the STEAM school. They brought them. It's only 00:10:12.750 --> 00:10:18.370 a block. They came over to the Inspire hub, and 00:10:18.370 --> 00:10:21.789 they were touring around and learning about the 00:10:21.789 --> 00:10:27.029 drone. flight deck and the maker space and all 00:10:27.029 --> 00:10:28.970 the different companies that are coming in there 00:10:28.970 --> 00:10:30.669 that are going to be doing entrepreneurship and 00:10:30.669 --> 00:10:32.909 the kids were so excited and they were excited 00:10:32.909 --> 00:10:34.889 about their school. Like when have you ever heard 00:10:34.889 --> 00:10:39.389 a ninth grader gush about how much he loves his 00:10:39.389 --> 00:10:41.710 school, you know? But this was kids who were 00:10:41.710 --> 00:10:45.950 really excited and I just felt like these two 00:10:45.950 --> 00:10:49.509 things I've worked on, the STEAM school and the 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:53.830 Inspire Innovation Hub. Coming together it was 00:10:53.830 --> 00:10:58.529 it was really moving to me. That's that's awesome 00:10:58.529 --> 00:11:01.250 You know those are the types of things I love 00:11:01.250 --> 00:11:03.230 to talk about because I feel like we get so bogged 00:11:03.230 --> 00:11:06.090 down and in all the other nonsense That that 00:11:06.090 --> 00:11:08.970 we gloss over some of these incredible things 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:12.470 that are made possible by public and private 00:11:12.470 --> 00:11:16.629 and members of the community and you know I'm 00:11:16.629 --> 00:11:19.429 sure no doubt members of the art community and 00:11:19.429 --> 00:11:22.590 you know everyone who has a passion really. Right 00:11:22.590 --> 00:11:27.129 so the STEAM school is close to the Everson Museum 00:11:27.129 --> 00:11:31.059 and the the Eerie Canal Museum, and it's close 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:33.779 to the performing arts venues like Syracuse Stage 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:38.220 and the Red House, and those kids are gonna be 00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:40.980 able to take advantage of all of that in addition 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:44.220 to all the businesses that are down there. It's 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:48.279 just, and one of the kids I talked to was from 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:51.309 Canastota. So there are kids. You know, we're 00:11:51.309 --> 00:11:54.149 really interested in it coming from a long way 00:11:54.149 --> 00:11:56.669 away to be at that school, which is exactly what 00:11:56.669 --> 00:11:59.210 we were hoping for when we. That's that's phenomenal. 00:11:59.490 --> 00:12:01.690 That's to me. That's what we need in education 00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:04.110 is more of these, you know, opportunities to 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:07.190 really nurture what kids are inclined for. Just, 00:12:07.210 --> 00:12:09.190 you know, pick this. You got to either be good 00:12:09.190 --> 00:12:11.669 or this or that. I don't like either one. Well, 00:12:11.809 --> 00:12:13.789 it's a school built around career and technical 00:12:13.789 --> 00:12:16.250 education. So the kids kind of come in knowing 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:19.539 what they want to study, which is. I didn't know 00:12:19.539 --> 00:12:21.720 at ninth grade what I wanted to do, but it's 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:24.700 great that they've got these amazing opportunities. 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:27.480 That's phenomenal. That's got to really sort 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:30.259 of make you feel good. I imagine that in your 00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:32.460 job, to some degree, it's almost like you can't 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:34.080 win. No matter what you do, there's going to 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.000 be critics. And I don't even necessarily want 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:39.379 to get into that. I can't even imagine how folks 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:41.100 in your position deal with that. Well, can I 00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:44.210 tell you a story about it? Sure, please. I was 00:12:44.210 --> 00:12:47.169 a new senator. I had never held elective office 00:12:47.169 --> 00:12:49.730 before. I really didn't think I knew what I was 00:12:49.730 --> 00:12:53.730 doing. I was kind of feeling my way around. And 00:12:53.730 --> 00:12:58.750 I had to go to the budget director and ask for 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:02.049 $72 million to be put in the budget for this 00:13:02.049 --> 00:13:06.970 school. Wow. Yeah. And I was so nervous and I 00:13:06.970 --> 00:13:09.690 sat there with him and I explained to him why 00:13:09.690 --> 00:13:12.370 I thought this was such a great project and really 00:13:12.370 --> 00:13:16.750 worth doing. And he just was completely impassive 00:13:16.750 --> 00:13:20.289 the whole time. I sat there, did not move a muscle 00:13:20.289 --> 00:13:23.909 in his face for the whole time. And I was leaving 00:13:23.909 --> 00:13:26.409 and I said, well, I don't know if I convinced 00:13:26.409 --> 00:13:28.870 you how exciting this project is, but I hope 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:31.129 I at least got across how excited I am about 00:13:31.129 --> 00:13:35.919 it. And he said, What do you mean? This is my 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:41.519 excited face. And I walked out of there having 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:44.860 no idea, was he making fun of me? Was he taking 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:48.340 me seriously? Was he like, were we in this together? 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:50.940 I couldn't tell. And so when the money got in 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:53.980 the budget, I was pretty amazed and thrilled. 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:58.840 That's great. Yeah. You know one of those things 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:00.399 I almost feel like sometimes you're in a better 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.139 position when you're kind of new with those things 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:03.580 because it's like you know what I'm gonna do 00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:07.980 what I I know needs to be done and right I'm 00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:10.159 ignorant of some of the challenges can be helpful. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:14.000 I feel like honestly that could be That's awesome. 00:14:14.179 --> 00:14:18.259 That's so awesome if you wouldn't mind let's 00:14:18.259 --> 00:14:21.980 talk about the The big tech company in the room, 00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:24.840 of course the buzz in the area is micron and 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:27.909 everything that's happening Would you talk about 00:14:27.909 --> 00:14:29.850 just a little bit of kind of the state's role 00:14:29.850 --> 00:14:34.269 in that whole adventure? Oh, sure. Yeah, I mean, 00:14:34.269 --> 00:14:38.909 as you know, there was a huge negotiation that 00:14:38.909 --> 00:14:41.490 went on and a lot of it was the state having 00:14:41.490 --> 00:14:43.730 to convince Micron that this is a good place 00:14:43.730 --> 00:14:48.309 to to do this. And, you know, we hear about New 00:14:48.309 --> 00:14:51.929 York being maybe not the greatest place to start 00:14:51.929 --> 00:14:56.600 a business. But in fact, we have, you know, really 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:01.100 smart people, really educated people, amazing 00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:04.899 environment, you know, in terms of water and 00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:10.860 land and, you know, all the resources, and I 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:14.580 think a very supportive state government. And 00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:21.629 so it was impressive how Local like cities County 00:15:21.629 --> 00:15:23.750 and state government were able to all get on 00:15:23.750 --> 00:15:26.470 the same page and really make that case and I 00:15:26.470 --> 00:15:29.570 think I think President Biden just because of 00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:34.070 his connections to Syracuse and at this region 00:15:34.070 --> 00:15:38.830 probably Helped, you know, you know in all that 00:15:38.830 --> 00:15:44.049 so Yeah, it was that was exciting. I think from 00:15:44.049 --> 00:15:50.200 my end of things There are a lot of Like Kalei 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:52.440 isn't in my district, but obviously people will 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.740 live in my district who work there. There's a 00:15:54.740 --> 00:15:59.220 lot of impact on the district and We're trying 00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:01.399 to make sure that we're doing the supportive 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:04.960 thing. So one of the things we did was we got 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.820 450 million dollars in the budget for upstate 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:14.399 to put in a new emergency room and expand its 00:16:16.089 --> 00:16:20.850 its ability to serve, for example, burn patients. 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:23.649 Because one of the things you get in a factory 00:16:23.649 --> 00:16:26.570 like that is you get burns. And Upstate right 00:16:26.570 --> 00:16:31.210 now is the only burn center for the entire state 00:16:31.210 --> 00:16:36.990 north of New York City, basically. But if you've 00:16:36.990 --> 00:16:39.649 ever been to the emergency room there, it's really 00:16:39.649 --> 00:16:42.159 cramped. That's for sure. You know, they have 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:46.379 fabulous staff, but the staff are working in 00:16:46.379 --> 00:16:48.139 very suboptimal conditions. They're always busy, 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:52.860 seems like, yeah. And so being able to help them 00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:57.200 build that new facility is good for the whole 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.799 region. It was necessary anyway, but it's even 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:04.839 that much more necessary because of the expectations 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:06.680 of the new needs that we're going to have with 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:11.309 Micron. We're trying to make the case for a lot 00:17:11.309 --> 00:17:14.089 of other sorts of improvements that will also 00:17:14.089 --> 00:17:19.170 help Micron, but the airport, for example, we 00:17:19.170 --> 00:17:21.990 also got some funding to increase airport parking 00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:25.910 because it's already inadequate, but it's gonna 00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:30.690 be way more of a problem moving forward. So there 00:17:30.690 --> 00:17:32.710 are a lot of things like that. My big focus is 00:17:32.710 --> 00:17:35.730 on housing, and I've been working very hard. 00:17:36.140 --> 00:17:40.079 even before Micron started talking about coming 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:42.480 here to try to figure out how to solve our housing 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:49.720 crisis because it's a serious crisis. And I think 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:55.339 something like the Micron project clarifies the 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:58.660 minds of people who might have been resistant 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:02.279 to say the idea of more housing in the communities 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:04.559 or something that people are still... finally 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:08.779 starting to say, oh yeah, we do need to build 00:18:08.779 --> 00:18:11.579 more. We need to have apartment buildings, which 00:18:11.579 --> 00:18:14.700 a lot of people in the suburbs are kind of leery 00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:21.259 of. We need to have different options and make 00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:23.059 sure that we're doing it in a way that isn't 00:18:23.059 --> 00:18:25.420 just going to make a traffic nightmare for everybody. 00:18:25.579 --> 00:18:29.480 Yeah. So from my perspective, as somebody who's 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:31.319 been thinking along those lines for a really 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.680 long time, it's kind of exciting now that the 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.420 whole region is thinking the same way. Folks 00:18:36.420 --> 00:18:38.579 are finally paying attention. Yeah, we're really 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:43.259 trying to make that a reality. That's wonderful. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:46.799 Senator, just a couple more questions and I'll 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.339 let you get back to your very busy schedule. 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:52.759 You know, we've talked about a bunch of these 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:55.660 things, Micron, when everybody talks about that's 00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:57.859 a little bit down the road. We're already seeing 00:18:57.859 --> 00:19:02.819 the impacts of that. But take an example of a 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:06.619 small business like ours. We're a local marketing 00:19:06.619 --> 00:19:09.900 company. We've got a dozen employees. We're operating 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:13.000 right now, and we want to grow. Are there opportunities, 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:14.579 things like that, that we should look at in the 00:19:14.579 --> 00:19:16.140 state, different programs, things of that, that 00:19:16.140 --> 00:19:19.720 might give us grants or credits or anything along 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:25.349 those lines folks should know about? Well, I 00:19:25.349 --> 00:19:27.569 guess it falls into a couple of different categories. 00:19:27.630 --> 00:19:32.210 So there are some ways that the state is really 00:19:32.210 --> 00:19:36.549 trying to help small businesses grow. And there 00:19:36.549 --> 00:19:44.630 are ESD, the... State development? Yeah. Empire 00:19:44.630 --> 00:19:46.490 State. I was trying to think what the E was. 00:19:46.569 --> 00:19:50.630 Empire State Development. Yeah, they really do 00:19:50.630 --> 00:19:54.769 do a lot, I think, less directly with a business 00:19:54.769 --> 00:19:59.230 as with making sure that there is the infrastructure 00:19:59.230 --> 00:20:04.470 in an area or just the ability for people to 00:20:04.470 --> 00:20:08.750 grow. But there's also a lot that we're doing 00:20:08.750 --> 00:20:12.750 as a state to make it easier for example I'm 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:16.369 sure right now the I -81 project doesn't feel 00:20:16.369 --> 00:20:18.910 like that like yeah, everybody feels like they're 00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:22.269 sitting in traffic and all their traffic patterns 00:20:22.269 --> 00:20:27.190 are changing, but It's gonna be Transformative 00:20:27.190 --> 00:20:31.089 I think in a really good way for our whole region 00:20:31.089 --> 00:20:34.390 that DOT has done a great job of envisioning 00:20:34.390 --> 00:20:39.640 the whole picture of how traffic moves through 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:44.660 the whole metro area. And people are already 00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:48.759 seeing a difference in terms of just that it's 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:52.799 smarter. Like what we had before had was a patchwork 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.079 of roads that happened to intersect with each 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:00.220 other, but were really effective at getting people 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:02.319 where they wanted to be. And now I think we're 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:04.299 gonna have that. We're gonna have something where 00:21:04.299 --> 00:21:09.299 it's gonna feel like a unified region. And I 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:11.960 think that's gonna make it easier for people 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:16.759 to move here, for people to get to work here, 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:22.400 for employers to recruit people. So my hope is 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:25.519 that we're laying the groundwork, literally laying 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:30.440 the groundwork on the road work. Yeah. Or precisely 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:32.279 the kind of thing that you want to do. That's 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:35.440 awesome. I love to hear that. It's you know, 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:37.920 for many years, it seems like this region was 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:40.890 sort of. depressing for lack of a better term 00:21:40.890 --> 00:21:43.410 you know all we had was bad news and things leaving 00:21:43.410 --> 00:21:47.430 and whatever and I'm so cautiously optimistic 00:21:47.430 --> 00:21:49.509 that we're on the other side of that cycle and 00:21:49.509 --> 00:21:52.710 you know we're we're in a boom and yeah I think 00:21:52.710 --> 00:21:54.990 we're only getting started which is awesome I 00:21:54.990 --> 00:21:58.730 agree when I first came here in the late 90s 00:21:58.730 --> 00:22:02.410 early 2000s it felt like the can't -do city it 00:22:02.410 --> 00:22:05.039 was like Every time somebody had a great idea, 00:22:05.099 --> 00:22:06.680 all you would hear were all the reasons why you 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.619 can't do that here. And now it's exactly the 00:22:09.619 --> 00:22:12.279 opposite of that. I think people are really jump 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:15.839 all over it. And yeah. The last question I will 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:19.220 ask you is sort of along those same lines. So 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:21.019 as you're with your colleagues in Albany from 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:23.819 all over the state, what are the conversations 00:22:23.819 --> 00:22:25.779 about our region? What are what are folks from 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:28.240 out of the area? Are they asking you about our 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:32.619 region or anything like that? So when I first 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:35.779 was elected they were not and part of that was 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:38.640 I was part of the new Democratic majority in 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.480 the Senate and and the vast majority of the Democratic 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:44.880 senators at that time represented New York City, 00:22:45.140 --> 00:22:48.700 Long Island, Westchester and They were pretty 00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:51.380 focused on that part of the state, but I made 00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:53.680 a real point of bringing them up here. I held 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.400 a lot of hearings. I took people on tours. I 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.680 brought people to the state fair, anything I 00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:01.140 could do to get my colleagues from downstate 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:03.579 to come here and see what we were all about. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.920 And it has made a big difference. That's great. 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:10.319 So for example, there's now a this wonderful 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:14.359 program called the Timbuktu program, which is 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:20.519 Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn combining with 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:22.819 SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 00:23:22.819 --> 00:23:28.619 in Syracuse has kids in the summer who are going 00:23:28.619 --> 00:23:32.319 to both of those campuses and also to the Adirondacks 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:34.920 and in the Hudson Valley and they're learning 00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:39.420 about environmental science and urban planning 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:42.559 and all kinds of things that those colleges are 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.140 interested in but it's also bringing kids from 00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:48.099 from that part of it, from the city, New York 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:52.579 City up here and vice versa. And so it's creating 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:55.240 connections. And that would never have happened 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:57.720 if it hadn't been for the connections that I 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:00.119 built with my colleagues and bringing them up 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:02.480 here. So I'm really proud of that. It's something 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:05.180 I don't think you knew this when you asked that 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:06.819 question, but I'm glad you asked that question 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:08.680 because this is one of the things I'm most proud 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:12.099 of in this job is how I've kind of put, at least 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:15.039 for our For our state legislature, I've worked 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.819 really hard to put this area on the map. And 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:21.059 I will say, since I was elected, we've now got, 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:25.880 in the Democratic majority, seven or eight more 00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:30.720 senators representing upstate or rural areas. 00:24:31.140 --> 00:24:34.059 And so the conversation, I think, has shifted 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:36.799 completely in that, in the seven years I've been 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:39.940 in the Senate. So it's pretty cool. No, I didn't 00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:43.119 know that. And I very much appreciate you doing 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:46.480 all that work, just as someone around here. One 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:49.279 of the things we always talk about divides. There's 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.579 always this New York City and upstate. We're 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:56.440 all part of the same team. And I just love that. 00:24:57.400 --> 00:24:59.299 Because I think once people get exposed to it, 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:02.200 that just becomes another asset to draw upon. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:05.819 We've got this crazy, incredible urban world. 00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:08.519 And then we've got. the Adirondacks, where you 00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:13.220 can breathe fresh and just enjoy life. And I 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:15.640 couldn't be more excited to hear that you've 00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:19.640 done that work. That's so great to hear. Awesome. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:25.900 Awesome. Senator Rachel May, you mentioned a 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:30.140 couple of your term. When is the next election 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:33.289 year? Twenty twenty six. Yeah. Every two years. 00:25:33.470 --> 00:25:36.470 Yeah. So I love that. Again, we don't. I don't 00:25:36.470 --> 00:25:39.589 love it. And everybody says, you know, you ought 00:25:39.589 --> 00:25:42.410 to have four year terms or six year. Yeah. But 00:25:42.410 --> 00:25:45.109 there it is. I do understand why they did that 00:25:45.109 --> 00:25:47.690 kind of at the federal level and even even members 00:25:47.690 --> 00:25:49.450 of Congress that have to do every two years seems 00:25:49.450 --> 00:25:52.250 a little little excessive. But but that's a whole 00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:55.170 other conversation. That's a conversation. Senator, 00:25:55.269 --> 00:25:57.529 where's the best place for folks to get information? 00:25:57.809 --> 00:25:59.450 You got a website, you got things of that nature. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:07.039 Yeah, so my office website is may at newyorksenate 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:14.019 .gov and we have upcoming, I might have the information 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:18.079 right here, we have a senior fair coming up October 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:22.859 3rd at the Salt City Market from 11 to 4 in Syracuse. 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:25.619 I was the chair of the aging committee for four 00:26:25.619 --> 00:26:29.059 years and we really have worked to bring together 00:26:29.059 --> 00:26:32.099 lots of resources for seniors in the area, and 00:26:32.099 --> 00:26:34.180 that's always a great event. So I hope people 00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:37.940 will show up. Awesome. That sounds great. Senator, 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:40.420 any time you want to come back and tell us about 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:42.839 all the great things happening in New York, we 00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:44.799 would love to have you. So this has been a true 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.380 pleasure. I really appreciate you taking some 00:26:46.380 --> 00:26:51.039 time out of your day to join us. And thank you. 00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:53.940 And with that, guys, that's today's episode of 00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:56.250 Good News York. Just a little programming note 00:26:56.250 --> 00:26:58.009 for anybody following along. This is going to 00:26:58.009 --> 00:27:00.309 be unique week for us at the end of the week. 00:27:00.529 --> 00:27:03.890 Is the retro game con our man Danny and team 00:27:03.890 --> 00:27:06.670 putting on at the Syracuse On Center? We are 00:27:06.670 --> 00:27:09.430 going to be there are all weekend recording sessions 00:27:09.430 --> 00:27:14.009 and doing some live episodes. So those, in addition 00:27:14.009 --> 00:27:16.990 to mowing the lawn, those may take the place 00:27:16.990 --> 00:27:20.789 of our. End of the week episode so we got kind 00:27:20.789 --> 00:27:23.130 of a unique schedule, but it's gonna be a blast 00:27:23.130 --> 00:27:27.049 and You should stay tuned and with that. We'll 00:27:27.049 --> 00:27:29.089 see you next time peace out