March 2, 2026
Joint Senate-Assembly hearings on the governor’s proposed $260-billion budget concluded last week. Hochul and the Legislature’s all-Democrat majorities are set to begin final budget negotiations throughout March. The deadline for approving the new state budget is April 1.
During a news conference today at the Big Flats Town Highway Garage, the group of state and local leaders called on the governor and legislative leaders to keep strengthening New York’s commitment to local transportation infrastructure (see attached photo from today’s news conference).
In a February 12, 2026 letter (see attached copy) to Hochul and legislative leaders, O’Mara, Palmesano, Friend, Sempolinski, and nearly 70 of their Republican legislative colleagues in the Senate and Assembly 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. It is unfortunate the Executive Budget proposes no increases to local road, bridge, and culvert funding for the fourth year of the five-year Department of Transportation (DOT) Capital Plan. The local system is owned by 1,600 local governments and consists of over 97,000 centerline miles of roadways and 8,600 highway bridges…In our view, the Governor’s proposal fails to recognize or understand the significant impact inflation is having on local highway departments…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… Through the renewed, vigorous, long-term state investment we have outlined, we will finally move toward the safe and reliable local infrastructure we envision, an infrastructure that will serve as the catalyst for future community and economic development, job creation, and overall public and motorist safety.”
O’Mara, Palmesano, Friend, Sempolinski and other state legislators, joined by local roads advocates from across the state, are highlighting their opposition to Hochul’s proposal to keep state funding at last year’s level for the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS), the state’s primary source of funding for local roads, bridges, and culverts. They argue that the Hochul proposal 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.
They’re also stressing the fundamental long-term need for greater state support. Local governments, excluding New York City, spent $2 billion on road maintenance and improvement in the 2020 fiscal year, according to the state comptroller. A 2023 study of local highway and bridge needs commissioned by the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways (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 unprecedented inflation of construction materials costs.
Consequently, local roads advocates are calling on Hochul and legislative leaders to:
increase the CHIPS base aid level funding by $250 million to a total of $898.1 million. This will allow municipalities to recoup some of the real funding value lost to inflation since 2022;
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. The program uses are almost identical for CHIPS, “Extreme Winter Recovery” (EWR), and “State Touring Roads” (STR), as are the guidelines for the “Operation Pave Our Potholes” (POP) and PAVE-NY programs; 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.
They are also reiterating growing concerns over the impact of a state mandate that will, starting in 2027, require all new school bus purchases to be electric. New York’s 1,600 municipalities will be responsible for ensuring that the local road system is capable of handling the significantly heavier weight of electric school buses. Preliminary data shows that:
A diesel school bus weighs about 10 tons per axle while an electric school bus carries about 14 tons on its front axle and 25 tons on its rear axle.
Currently, with diesel school bus utilization most town roads have a 10-year expected life. When using a heavier electric bus, the expected life expectancy is only 8 years due to rutting of the subgrade.
Not only is this a 20 percent shorter life but it is more costly because the subgrade failure requires the road to be replaced versus just the asphalt surface.
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.
New Yorks’s towns could see at least a ten-fold increase in the cost of maintaining their roads from this mandate.
This is almost solely a town and village expense, because nearly all state, county and city roads are built to a different standard and won’t be as impacted by the heavier electric school buses.
Since 2013, O’Mara, Palmesano and Friend have built a coalition of support within the state Legislature and worked closely with local transportation advocates from throughout New York on the “Local Roads Are Essential” advocacy campaign annually 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).
The coalition notes that every $1 invested in the CHIPS program can save from $6-$14 in long-term rehabilitation costs and help ease the burden on local property taxpayers. Additionally, each $150 million increase in funding for local roads, bridges, and culverts results in the creation of up to 4,200 highway construction-related jobs.
According to TRIP, a national transportation advocacy group, roads and bridges that are deficient, congested, or lack desirable safety features, cost New York motorists an additional $40.3 billion annually, up to $3,755 per driver in some areas, due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic accidents, and congestion-related delays.
In a joint statement, O’Mara, Palmesano, Friend, and Sempolinski said, “The ‘Local Roads Are Essential’ coalition has worked long and hard over the past decade to strengthen New York State’s commitment to local transportation infrastructure. We have long stood with New York’s county and town highway superintendents, and local leaders, in support of this effort. We continue to believe this commitment is a fundamental responsibility and critical to the strength and success of local communities, economies, environments, governments, and taxpayers. We will do everything we can to raise our voices, raise awareness, and raise support for the local roads and bridges that are essential to New York’s future.”
City of Elmira Mayor Dan Mandell said, “CHIPS funding is essential for the City of Elmira to maintain our roads. The climate in our area plays a major role in the deterioration of our local roads and costs of materials have increased significantly over the past year. Without adequate funding, our roads will become dangerous to drive on and subsequently will become a public safety hazard. The City of Elmira does not have the financial resources to adequately maintain our roads to keep them safe without CHIPS funding. I urge the Governor to increase the funding for CHIPS in her budget to assist municipalities like the City of Elmira to maintain and repair our roads.”
City of Hornell Mayor John Buckley said, “Investment in local roads and bridges cannot be optional. The CHIPS program is the primary source of state support that allows municipalities to pave streets, repair bridges, and keep critical transportation routes safe. I am calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and the leaders of the State Legislature to make a meaningful increase in CHIPS funding in this year’s State Budget. Over the past several years, municipalities across New York have seen the cost of asphalt, fuel, heavy equipment, and labor rise sharply. While those expenses have climbed, CHIPS funding has not kept pace with inflation, reducing our ability to maintain the same level of infrastructure improvements. The result is that municipalities are forced to stretch limited dollars further, delay projects, or place additional pressure on local taxpayers. For communities like Hornell, reliable CHIPS funding directly impacts public safety, economic growth, and neighborhood quality of life. Every resurfaced street improves emergency response times, supports local commerce, and protects the long-term value of our infrastructure. Strengthening CHIPS is a smart investment that benefits every region of the state and reinforces the state-local partnership that our residents depend on.”
Kelly Fitzpatrick, Chair of the Steuben County Legislature said, “Infrastructure is opportunity paved mile by mile. Every dollar we invest in CHIPS is a promise to our farmers getting to market, our first responders racing toward danger, our small businesses opening their doors at dawn, and our kids riding safely to school. When we strengthen our local roads, we strengthen the backbone of New York — and we send a clear message that no town is too small, no community too rural, and no family too far off the map to matter. Progress doesn’t begin in Albany. It begins on Main Street — and it starts with roads that carry our future forward.”
Ken Thurston, Schuyler County Superintendent of Highways and Facilities, said, “Local highway departments maintain 87% of New York’s 97,000 miles of highways and more than half of the state’s 17,200 highway bridges. Our local highway system faces enormous needs—estimated at more than $100 billion. This decline did not happen overnight and rebuilding the system will require sustained, long-term commitment. We need the following investments in the Governor’s 2026–2027 Budget: an increase of $250 million for CHIPS, bringing total funding to $898.1 million; continued Extreme Winter Recovery funding at $100 million; State Touring Route funding at $140 million; PAVE-NY funding at $150 million; POP funding at $100 million; the Marchiselli program at $39.7 million; and BRIDGE-NY funding at $200 million.
The additional $250 million investment in the CHIPS program will help recoup funding value lost to inflation since the five-year program was adopted in 2022. The Executive Budget keeps CHIPS funding flat at last year’s level, despite record inflation in highway construction materials that has significantly reduced the real purchasing power of local highway maintenance programs. Every highway department relies heavily on these flexible funding programs, which provide vital, recurring formula-based support to local governments across New York State.”
James A. Dussing, Town of Clarence Highway Superintendent and current President of the NYS Association of Town Superintendents of Highways, said, “Local governments maintain nearly 90 percent of New York’s roads and more than half of its bridges, yet the funding needed to keep this system safe and reliable continues to fall short,” said James A. Dussing, Town of Clarence Highway Superintendent and President of the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways. “Our local transportation network is the backbone of our economy and our communities. We’re urging the State to strengthen its commitment to local roads and bridges by increasing CHIPS funding by $250 million and maintaining the other critical local funding programs. If we don’t provide the resources necessary to keep pace with rising construction costs, extreme weather, and aging infrastructure, we will only make repairs more expensive for New York’s taxpayers in the years ahead.”
