Mulleyville Snowmobile Club

The 2008 legislative session has concluded with both the Senate adjourning on Tuesday, June 24th and the Assembly on Wednesday, June 25 at 12:27 AM. The legislative leaders ended this year’s legislative session, which has been one of the more bizarre periods, highlighted by the departure of its two biggest power brokers.       

The six-month session ended nothing like it began: with a new Governor, David Paterson, who replaced the disgraced Eliot Spitzer in March, and new Senate majority leader, Dean Skelos, who was voted Tuesday evening as the Legislature’s top Republican following Monday’s surprising retirement announcement by Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

NYSSA’s legislation, S8144 Griffo, unanimously passed the Senate on June 16th. The Assembly bill, A11009 Destito was reported out of the Assembly Tourism Committee on June 18th but was not able to get out of the Assembly Ways & Means Committee for a vote. The argument by Assembly leadership was that advancing this legislation would have the undesirable effect of reopening the State Budget to other amendments.

However, the passage of this legislation by the Senate coupled with the enormous grassroots effort by our clubs and their members and Assemblywoman Destito’s meeting with the Budget Director, has provided NYSSA with the leverage needed to bring the NYS Division of Budget to the table in order to discuss a resolution to the unwarranted sweep of the trail fund.

On Wednesday, June 25th, President Mike Fischer and NYSSA’s lobbyists met with NYS Budget Director Laura Anglin, DOB Deputy Director Mary Beth Labate, Andy Beers, Executive Deputy Commissioner, OPRHP, Peter Finn, Deputy Commissioner for Finance & Administration, OPRHP, Mike Schell, Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Affairs to the Governor, Steve Longo, Counsel to Assemblywoman Destito, and Geri Purcell, Administrative Assistant to Senator Griffo. President Fischer presented the position and concerns of NYSSA to the Budget Director. Essentially Fischer made the following case:

The $1 million that was “swept” didn’t come from taxpayers — it came entirely from the registration fees paid by snowmobilers for the expressed sole purpose of maintaining and developing the statewide trail system. Trail maintenance is critical to safety and the top priority for the 237 snowmobile clubs throughout the state who willingly assume responsibility for maintaining the trail system and volunteer over 250,000 hours of labor each year.

Snowmobiling in New York State generates an economic impact of over $1 billion based upon NYSSA estimates. This tremendous economic engine doesn’t just happen- it is the result of partnerships between the thousands of volunteers, landowners, and the 55 local governments who sponsor the snowmobile trail program.

Many snowmobilers will simply refuse to register their snowmobiles, believing that they have been misled about the purpose of the registration fees. If this happens, the trail fund will not have enough to reimburse the ever-increasing club trail expenses. Club membership dues revenues will also decrease. Add to these factors the likely more than $5 per gallon diesel fuel costs for this upcoming season, and snowmobiling in New York will be in a crisis mode.

Many snowmobilers believe this trust has been violated by the budget sweep. Fischer asked for help to restore this trust by asking the state to return the funds that we paid into the trail system.

Overall, the meeting was informative and productive. During the meeting, the legislative aides and the Governor’s representatives noted the tremendous outpouring of concern expressed by snowmobilers through contacts with their elected legislators as well as to Governor Paterson. The budget director also specifically mentioned the press activity surrounding this issue. NYSSA members have done great work in helping to shape this important public policy and should be proud of their efforts.

Another meeting with DOB is planned for Thursday, July 3rd to see if an agreement can be reached on the restoration of the funds and to avoid this situation in the future. NYSSA leadership remains optimistic that the Governor will direct staff to resolve the concerns of the snowmobilers in New York State.

Until the meeting, we will again be asking the clubs and their members to send a new model letter to the Governor in order to keep the pressure on the DOB for a favorable resolution to the sweep issue.

Return our money Governor Letter