KINGSTON – Congressman Maurice Hinchey held a press conference on Tuesday to discuss the effects the much-publicized federal stimulus plan would have on New York State, and more specifically, on the areas within the 22nd district. Areas which will benefit from the federal funding range from infrastructure projects — like Ellenville's proposed wastewater sewer plant and replacing the Kerhonkson Bridge — and support for the region's schools. Hinchey pointed out that the federal funding for schools will help to offset many of the funding cuts at the state level proposed by Governor David Patterson.

The federal stimulus plan passed by congress late last week would provide $819 billion in economic stimulus, a plan that lawmakers in Washington hope will negate some of the effects of the current recession.

"I think that this is the kind of a thing that will be helpful across the board," said Hinchey. "I think one of the ways it will be helpful is to make some of the banking companies more likely to engage in investments and loans to small businesses that they may not have been willing to do without the passage of this bill — perhaps."

Hinchey mentioned that he'd learned that the Morning Brew Café in Highland Falls has had trouble getting a loan from a local bank, which they would have been able to do prior to the economic collapse the nation suffered late last year.

"This economic development package, which is going to put a lot of public money out into the needs that people have, stimulate jobs, and generate economic growth — that that is going to have a positive effect on the economy. And as it has that positive effect on the economy, you're going to see the banking industry become increasingly comfortable with the loans that they're being asked to make by small businesses, like this breakfast company just down the road here. That kind of thing is an important part of what we're doing," he said.

Hinchey also discussed some of the specifics regarding the stimulus package's education funding.

"In Ulster County, we're going to bring in, for education alone, $15,676, just for the K-12 educational system. In Orange County, it's $16,756. Not all of Orange County, just the part that I represent…. In Sullivan County, it's $7,561,000. For the Kingston City School district, it's $5.6 million," he said.

"New York is going to get one of the highest amounts of education [funding] of all the states in the country."

The Ellenville Central School District alone will receive $1,070,900 more in funding, likely a welcome relief in the face of the $879,526 cut which was proposed by Governor Patterson in December.

The funding breakdown will go into three specific categories: Title 1-A will receive an increase of $168,200, construction will get $658,000, and programs through the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) will get $244,600. Title 1-A is a federal program which provides financial assistance to schools with a high percentage or number of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Hinchey also noted that the funding to improve schools' facilities will help stimulate local economies through construction jobs that will become available.

The congressman also discussed how local municipalities can take advantage of the stimulus bill through infrastructure upgrades. He cited Ellenville's proposed $7.2 million wastewater treatment plant (about which more can be read on page 6), and $4.6 million which will go to replacing the Kerhonkson Bridge — a project which was stalled so long due to a lack of funding that the Department of Transportation was forced to shut the bridge down in December because of its dilapidated state.

Hinchey said that these and other infrastructure-improvement projects like them will need to be "shovel-ready" within 180 days of the bill's enactment, which he predicted would be around mid-February.

"This bill is extremely comprehensive and I am proud to have supported it," says Hinchey in a press release published in conjunction with the conference. "I am very hopeful that this bill will be on President Obama's desk in less than two weeks. We cannot wait any longer to bring about the dramatic change in direction that our economy so desperately needs."

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