Director of Legislative Affairs Doug Greene DGREENE@co.montgomery.ny.us

The Director of Legislative Affairs is responsible for monitoring and preparing responses to state and national legislative proposals and working with other organizations to address planning-related legislative issues.


May 6, 2009

Please check out the following links:
A.) Email from Empire State Future describing their latest legislative work (Empire States Future Update 5-5-09)
B.) Policy Statement "NYS Stimulus Oversight"
C.) NYSTEA (NYS Transportation Equity Alliance) Policy Statement

Also check out the new effort to place a referendum on the 2009 ballot in November that seeks bonding funds for a Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act of 2009. This initiative also included funding for Brownfield Area Cleanup.
A.) Press Release
B.) Sample letter requesting referendum and
C.) Bond Act Fact Sheet

Sincerely,
Doug Greene; AICP, RLA
Director of Legislative Affairs
Upstate APA


April 29, 2009

Dear Upstate Planners,

Since the new administration has taken office in January and the accompanying Economic Stimulus Package has been approved, it has been difficult to “follow the money” or for that matter to know where legislative initiatives are headed.  New York’s budget is approved and legislators are now moving forward on it’s business. 

As Legislative Director, I thought a good point of departure on finding our way into this year’s legislative agenda was to contact Paul Beyer, Director for the Smart Growth Cabinet.  He informed me that the Smart Growth Cabinet has adopted 2009 Policy Agenda and provided a file with a list of their initiatives and another list of agency and inter-agency accomplishments.  He also told me that each of the policy recommendations would have to be tracked as independent legislative proposals.  I will do my best to find out their progress.

Sincerely,
Doug Greene; AICP, RLA
Director of Legislative Affairs
Upstate APA


Dear Upstate APA members

Please take the time to read the important Economic Stimulus message from Paul Farmer, APA Executive Director and think about how the stimulus package affects your planning jurisdiction. I'll continue to monitor how all this relates to New York State.

Thanks,
Doug Greene, AICP, RLA
NY Upstate Chapter of APA, Director of Legislative Affairs


Judy Bressler, Kris Hughes, Mark Castiglione and Doug Greene attended a Land Use Advisory Committee meeting in Albany on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 and heard a presentation by Vera Prosper on a new initiative by the New York State Office for the Aging. I'm sure all upstate planners are aware of the impending and growing needs of the elderly (myself not too far away). Please look over the letter below and attachments from Ms. Prosper and think about what you might be able to do in your area to incorporate the Initiative into your planning practice. I will be working with the NY Upstate APA Chapter's Executive Board to develop an upstate policy soon.

November 21, 2008

Dear Colleagues:

Re: Information about a new NY State Initiative: Planning and Zoning Initiative

The New York State Office for the Aging and the State Department of State are pleased to announce a collaborative new Planning and Zoning Initiative that will focus on providing communities with information and technical assistance in the following areas: housing, universal design, planning, land use, zoning, energy alternatives and efficiency, green-building, Transportation.

We wish to provide you with information about this statewide effort, and we have included your name in an email group that we have established to keep interested individuals updated as the initiative progresses.

Below you will find materials that will help you understand the intent of the Planning and Zoning initiative and how we expect to carry it out:

1. Summary: A summary of the new initiative, together with the four major activities we will use to implement the initiative.
2. Comments and suggestions: We convened a meeting on September 4, 2008, to launch this innovative effort, which included individuals from across the State who have expertise and experience in the initiative's focus areas. The comments, suggestions, and guidance gathered from these participants at the meeting's six breakout sessions are outlined here.
3. You can help: This is a sign-up sheet that lists a variety of ways in which you can be directly involved in the initiative's implementation.

If you have any comments, ideas, or suggestions you wish to share regarding the initiative itself or the contents of the technical assistance resource manual and DVD series being developed under this initiative, please forward them to vera.prosper@ofa.state.ny.us.

Power point presentations made by five speakers at the September 4, 2008, meeting have been posted on the State Office for the Aging's web site. You may view these presentations at by clicking HERE.

If you know of other individuals who would like to be added to the email group who will receive updates as we move forward, or if you wish to be removed from this email group, please let us know at any time by contacting vera.prosper@ofa.state.ny.us.

Vera Prosper, PhD
Senior Policy Analyst
New York State Office for the Aging
2 Empire State Plaza
Albany, New York 12223
(518) 474-4382


The New York State DEC is seeking comments on draft documents relating to the conduct of environmental reviews under SEQR.

Please feel free to review the following three documents:
1. A memo describing the drafts and setting a deadline for submitting comments.
2. A proposed Full (long) Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) for SEQR review; and
3. A technical guidance document regarding the inclusion of energy use, energy conservation and climate change (Greenhouse Gases/ GHG) in an EIS.

Please send comments on the EAF (item #2) to: Betty Ann Hughes at bahughes@gw.dec.state.ny.us and comments on the Greenhouse Gases technical document (item #3) to: Anne Reynolds at akreynolds@gw.dec.ny.us

Note: The DEC is accepting comments until October 31, 2008 via email or hard-copy mail.


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