Tioga County District 4 The new legislative year began on January 2, 2003  with the 1st Special & Organizational Meeting. This was a public meeting held at 56 Main Street in Owego at 1:00 pm.

 The most important item on the agenda is the election of the Legislative Chairman. Although this position may seem to be largely ceremonial it is indeed a position of power. The Chairman assigns the other legislative members to their standing legislative committees for the year. The Chairman also appoints people to serve on special committees throughout the year, such as the Capital Projects Committee which is overseeing the new county office facility development. The Chairman sets the agenda for the legislative working sessions and presides at all formal meetings. 
 This past year, Chairman Peter Ward attended virtually all legislative committee meetings held each month. This provided him with excellent visibility into the overall workings and progress of the county operations.

 The issues facing the county are increasingly complex. No one is happy with the tax increase but we must remember that the county has not had an increase for the last eight years, either. Consider that when your electric rates or cost of gasoline goes up, so does the cost for the county. Our property taxes pay for approximately 18% of the total county budget. One of the lessons I learned this year was that it is easier to encourage legislators to "cut the fat" than to go through  1821 line items and find "the fat."  Nevertheless, 3.7 million dollars were cut from the 2003 budget in operational spending. 

 The unfunded state mandates such as Medicaid  (the ceaseless advertising for Family Health Care and Child Health Plus) are driving the county's financial challenges.  NYS Medicaid program is 36 billion dollars, exceeding the total budget of 40 states in this country. Counties are starting to band together to orchestrate a groundswell of support for reform of the New York role in the Medicaid program. The Southern Tier Organization to Reform Medicaid (STORM), a proposed coalition of  Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins and Broome Counties,  is planning to meet in the middle of January to develop a regional plan to carry the Medicaid issue to Albany in an effective manner. The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) is acting as a focal point for legal action by the counties to force Albany to address the Medicaid problem. I have submitted a resolution to Tioga's Legislature to join and support the NYSAC initiative. Additionally,  I would ask that you please continue to write and e-mail your state senator and the Governor about what Medicaid costs are doing to you.

 One other of the many challenges facing the legislators this year is the new county office facilities. Budget constraints will severely limit the size of the facilities. This is a classic case of deciding what we really need, and not necessarily what we would like. There has been a lot of discussion on this project and my constituents have raised some very real issues and ideas. Democracy does not come in a neat, little package. It can be noisy, sometimes inefficient and uncomfortable, but it is the best system we have!