Yesterday, the New York State Senate and Assembly released their 2019 budget plans, which include the proper definition of “public works” – thus seeking to end a long-standing and troublesome loophole. The New York Foundation for Fair Contracting applauds leaders of both chambers for taking action to protect workers and taxpayers.
To prevent wasteful spending and corruption, New York requires competitive and transparent public bidding on all public works construction projects. Unfortunately, a loophole in state law currently allows millions of taxpayer dollars to be spent without the anti-corruption and transparency demanded of traditional public work projects. This legislative change will resolve this discrepancy, on behalf of all New Yorkers.
Increasingly, economic development projects across the state fall outside the existing taxpayer and worker protections built into state law. It’s unacceptable that the current loophole allows public money to bypass these safeguards as it goes to private interests. Closing the loophole by properly defining public work to include all projects supported with public money will provide much needed accountability and transparency in government spending.
This move by legislative leaders will, if signed into law by Governor Cuomo, close the loophole and ensure taxpayer-funded construction projects are awarded to the lowest responsible bidders, not the most politically well-connected contractors.
In his State of the State address, Governor Cuomo threw his support behind bringing needed reforms to project construction with public subsidies. The NYFFC is encouraged by the stated support of the Governor and the Legislature, and looks forward to its inclusion in the state’s adopted budget.
An American farmer made a dire plea to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying "hope he's listening," as America's "backbone" risks collapse.
Arkansas farmer Scott Brown told CNN it's unclear how he or other agriculture producers will survive Trump's ongoing tariff war, especially as the fall harvest begins.
"I hope to break even, but I mean, we don't know," Brown said. "We're not cutting soybeans yet, and I don't know what the yield is. We're just finishing up corn. I'm a pretty low-debt-load farmer. I farm 800 acres. My equipment's all paid for. I do it all by myself. I'm a first-generation farmer, so I don't have as big of problems as a lot of the guys do. But, I mean, I have friends that farm thousands of acres, 5,000, 10,000, 11,000 acres. They've got worlds of problems. I mean, I don't know that there's any way to yield yourself out of this."
For his friends, the tariff fallout could mean losing everything.
"I don't think that the average American understands when you go down to the bank and get a crop loan, you put all your equipment up, all your equity in your ground, you put your home up, your pickup truck, everything up," he said. "And if they can't pay out and if they've rolled over any debt from last year, they're going to call the auctioneer and they're going to line everything up and they're going to sell it."
Trump is reportedly considering a potential bailout for farmers, a key Republican voting bloc. But that's not enough, Scott said.
"Well, the stopgap needs to come because they've kind of painted the farmer in a corner," he added. "I mean, I want trade, not aid. I need a market. I need a place to sell this stuff. I can work hard enough and make a product. If you give me someplace to sell it, I'll take care of myself, but they've painted us in a corner with this China deal and China buying soybeans. I mean, they've torn a market in half."
China — the biggest buyer — has made zero soybean orders this year. Instead, they've pivoted to purchasing soybeans from South American countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. These countries plan to expand planting acreage for their crops and focus on planting soon for the 2025 and 2026 crops in the Southern Hemisphere.
The price per bushel of soybeans has also dropped, he added.
"The farmer can't continue to produce a crop below the cost of production. And that's where we're at. And we don't have anywhere to sell it. We're in a tariff war with China. We're in a tariff war with everybody else. I mean, where do they want me to market this stuff?" Scott asked.
This uncertainty also makes it hard to plan for 2026.
"Farming is done in a Russian roulette fashion to say a better set of words," Scott said. "If you pay out, then you get to go again. If you've got enough equity and you don't pay out, you can roll over debt. There's lots of guys farming that have between $400 and $700,000 worth of rollover debt. You know, and then and then you compound the problem with the tariffs. Look at this. When we had USAID, we provided 40% of the humanitarian food for the world. That's all grain and food bought from farmers, from vegetable farmers in the United States. The row crop farmers and grain and everything. So we abandoned that deal. And China accelerates theirs. So now I've got a tariff war that's killing my market."
He also wants the president to hear his message.
"I hope he's listening because, you know, agriculture is the backbone of rural America," Scott said. "For every dollar in agriculture, you get $8 in your rural community. I mean, we help pay taxes on schools, roads. We're the guys that keep the park store open, we're the guy that keeps the local co-op open, that 20 guys work at, and the little town I live in, we have a chicken plant, about 600 chicken houses, except for the school and the hospital. Almost our entire town of 7,000."
Agriculture is tied to everything in rural America, he explained.
"People's economy revolves around agriculture," Scott said. "I mean, I think he needs to listen. It's bigger than the farmer. It's all my friends. Whether they work in town or anything else. I mean, rural America depends on agriculture. And it doesn't matter if you're in Nebraska or you're in Arkansas."
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was accused of embarrassing himself after causing chaos in a congressional hallway by confronting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Instead of meeting with Jeffries in private on Wednesday, Lawler stopped the Democratic leader in front of a crowd of people to ask him to sign on to a temporary extension of subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Democrats have said that they would not accept only one year of subsidies for the health care program.
"Did your boss, Donald Trump, give you permission?" Jeffries asked.
"He's not my boss!" Lawler insisted. "And by the way, why did you vote to shut the government?"
"You're making a show of this to make yourself relevant," Jeffries charged. "You're embarrassing yourself right now. You're chasing a crowd."
"You have to sign on to the bill," Lawler demanded.
"Let me ask you a question," Jeffries said. "You voted for the 'One Big Ugly Bill,' correct?"
"I voted for a tax cut bill that gave the largest tax cut to Americans in history," Lawler countered. "Are you against that?"
"You're embarrassing yourself right now," Jeffries noted as Lawler talked over him.
"You're not going to talk to me and talk over me because you don't want to hear what I have to say," the Democrat said. "So why don't you just keep your mouth shut?"
"And so you voted for this 'One Big Ugly Bill, a permanent extension of massive tax breaks for your billionaire donors," he added.
