Assemblywomen request $294,000 for local projects

The north county's two assemblywomen have requested $294,000 in funding through member items — which critics call "pork-barrel earmarks" — for 42 local projects.

Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell asked for $155,000 for 23 groups, including $25,000 for the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County to upgrade its sewer system at 4-H Camp Wabasso and $25,000 for Mercy Flight Central, Canandaigua, to help it to continue providing medical flights from the north country to regional trauma centers.

"Most people that are aware of our EMS situation know that we lost Fort Drum as a provider for airlifts to Syracuse," said Mrs. Russell, D-Theresa. "Mercy Flight has stepped in and they've realized there's a cost associated with it. I feel very strongly that, to support our EMS system, we need to have these services."

Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava asked for $139,000 for 19 groups, including $25,000 for the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization to use to travel to trade shows and encourage businesses to relocate here because of the Army base. The money would also be used to improve the Drum Country Web site, www.drumcountry.com.

The Gouverneur Republican said the liaison organization's proposal is "something that's exciting for the north country — figuring out a way to promote our area using Fort Drum as the attribute that it is."

Ms. Scozzafava also requested $15,000 for the Red Cross of Northern New York for computer hardware and software upgrades.

The assemblywoman said she also targeted agencies whose state funding was cut, such as the Sackets Battlefield Alliance, WPBS-TV and Literacy of the Northern New York.

"With the Fort Drum population that we have a lot of spouses coming in with English as their second language, they play a very important role in the north country right now," said Ms. Scozzafava of the literacy group.

Ms. Russell said she tried to help nonprofit agencies who used more money in the past year because there was an increased demand for their services. She asked for $7,500 for the Watertown Urban Mission so that it could offset the cost of a newer, energy-efficient walk-in cooler for its bustling food pantry operation, for example.

Both assemblywomen requested smaller amounts for towns, public safety agencies and other food pantries.

Mrs. Scozzafava said she voted against her own member item requests because they were included in a larger appropriations bill that contained tax and fee increases that she opposed.

"Even if the economy starts to turn a little, I don't think there's any way the revenue is going to keep pace with the rate of the spending increase," she said of the budget as a whole.

In total, the approved budget includes 3,558 member item requests totaling $61,858,625, according to the Empire Center for New York State Policy, Albany.

The group noted there are two additional "lump-sum" appropriations, totaling $105 million, that were not itemized in the 2009-10 budget bills passed last week. That pot includes $85 million for Senate member item requests, which were not detailed in the budget bill that senators approved.

Austin Shafran, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith, said "The Senate is committed to the full disclosure of member item stimulus grants for every senator."

He added: "When session reconvenes following Easter recess, they will be fully lined out in a resolution and posted online in a way that is accessible to the public."

Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, and Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-Rome, have declined to release details on what money they requested before the post-Easter budget amendment is voted on.

Ms. Scozzafava released her member items requests when the Watertown Daily Times inquired about them March 31.

Mrs. Russell's office initially balked.

Dan Weiller, press secretary for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, said his office would not release any information about requests until the governor's period to veto budget items was over.

But the requests were detailed in budget bills that were posted on the Senate's Web site and collected by the Empire Center.

The Times reviewed all member item requests and cross-referenced them with Mrs. Russell's district Tuesday. The information was then presented to the assemblywoman's office, which then confirmed that Mrs. Russell had made the requests.

Mrs. Russell's requests:

Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Jefferson County: $25,000

Mercy Flight, Canandaigua: $25,000

Fort La Presentation Company: $10,000

Village of Dexter: $8,500

Watertown Urban Mission Inc.: $7,500

Norwood Library: $6,000

Town of Waddington: $6,000

Bodman Memorial Library, Philadelphia: $5,000

Canton Day Care Center Inc.: $5,000

Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson County Inc.: $5,000

Greater Watertown — North Country Chamber of Commerce: $5,000

Hammond Fire Department: $5,000

Hearts for Youth, Alexandria Bay: $5,000

Town of Lisbon: $5,000

Town of Massena: $5,000

Town of Theresa: $5,000

Brownville Fire Department: $4,150

Village of Heuvelton: $3,700

Potsdam Public Library: $3,500

Town of Morristown: $3,000

Massena Police Department: $2,650

Antwerp Food Pantry: $2,500

Town of Orleans Council of Churches: $2,500

Ms. Scozzafava's requests:

Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization: $25,000

Red Cross of Northern New York: $15,000

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Ogdensburg: $10,000

Town of Norfolk Police Department: $10,000

Village of Gouverneur: $10,000

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County: $7,500

Agricultural Society of Oswego County Inc.: $5,000

Dekalb-Richville Fire District: $5,000

Gouverneur Central School: $5,000

Lewis County Humane Society: $5,000

Literacy of Northern New York: $5,000

Sackets Harbor Battlefield Alliance Inc.: $5,000

St. Lawrence Arts Council: $5,000

Village of Croghan: $5,000

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #8534, Lacona: $4,000

WPBS-TV, Watertown: $5,000

Grace Food Pantry, Gouverneur: $4,500

Port Leyden Food Pantry: $4,000

Village of Castorland: $4,000