I recently had the privilege of participating in the Northeast Regional White House Conference in Washington, D.C. It was a full day of presentations, briefings and discussions from several senior administration officials from departments that affect our everyday lives here in Onondaga County. I took this opportunity to bring my oldest son Theo along on the trip.
From the Eisenhower Executive Office building, state and county representatives participated in discussions on Community Revitalization from Directors of the Domestic Policy Council, Office of National Drug Control Policy, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, White House National Economic Council, and the U.S. Department of Labor. Part two of the briefings focused on Infrastructure. Key leaders from the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Education spoke about the challenges facing our infrastructure nationwide.
Overall, the discussions centered around how the administration can empower our local partners with regard to combating the drug and opioid crisis, improving our infrastructure, promoting affordable housing, ending veterans’ homelessness and providing support services to veterans, and driving economic development by developing the workforce. There isn’t a top down approach to these issues, but this forum was a great opportunity to hear what other representatives are doing to address the issues that face nearly every community in the nation.
The briefings included details on a fairly new economic development tool, Opportunity Zones. In Onondaga County, there are federally designated, economically distressed areas that may be eligible for preferential tax treatment to encourage private investment into low-income urban and rural communities. This program directs private investment through “Opportunity Funds” allowing investors to defer their capital gains until 2027. Nationally, more than 8,700 communities have been designated Opportunity Zones, the goal is to spur job creation and promote sustainable economic growth in areas that are, historically, low income. Both the SEC and HUD are extremely supportive of this new economic tool. Empire State Development is spearheading New York State’s efforts to redevelop within these opportunity zones.
At the end of the meeting, I spoke with Stan Gimont, deputy assistant secretary for grant programs under Secretary Ben Carson of Housing and Urban Development. I informed him that Onondaga County has an Opportunity Zone. I invited Mr. Gimont to Syracuse to meet with myself and other area officials and he plans to visit soon.
My son and I returned home from Washington tired from the day and from our travel. But we were excited to be in Washington, tour the White House and work in the Executive Office building. It was interesting to see and meet the individuals that are hard at work governing and shaping our lives. I am truly grateful to serve the residents of District 3 and all of Onondaga County.
Tim Burtis represents the 3rd legislative district which includes the town of Cicero and portions of the town of Manlius. Tim welcomes constituent feedback; he can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 315-396-3300.
