The race for the NYS 46th Senate seat pits Democrat Michelle Hinchey against Republican Rich Amedure.

Michelle Hinchey grew up in Saugerties, the daughter of the late Congressman Maurice Hinchey. After high school she attended the Industrial And Labor Relations School at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, graduating in 2009. For the next decade she worked in Communications for technology and media companies, “but literally at the end of the day I felt there was a lot more to do, to give back and to be involved. I learned that from both of my parents, but especially my Dad who was in office for a long time and who showed me first hand the kind of positive impacts you can have on your community with hard work and dedication and compassion.”

Hinchey said she learned the meaning of grass roots politics by attending events with her father throughout his district.

“That showed me the kind of work it takes to do this kind of job right and I also looked at everybody’s stories that I heard from people and saw the issues that were out in the world,” she said.

Hinchey favors bringing in industries that look toward the future, “specifically around green jobs that covers white and blue collar jobs; everything from capturing invention, innovation, manufacturing and retrofitting. We need to be doing all of that here in a really meaningful way.”

Hinchey wants to work with unions and expand apprenticeship programs while building stronger ties in the district’s high schools and the BOCES programs.

Hinchey wants to offer more support to small businesses, “especially for minority and women owned business and hopefully expand our incubator and startup accelerator programs for possible entrepreneurs in our communities.”

Hinchey said it is important to provide meaningful health care to people, pointing out that Greene County does not even have a hospital. More support is needed for EMS workers and broadband must be expanded to reach the most rural areas in the district. She believes the New York Health Act may prove to be a blue print for the nation in moving to a single payer system.

Hinchey supports the 2% tax cap to prevent taxes from rising at an alarming rate, resulting in pricing people out of their communities where they grew up. She will be looking for ways to either stall or stop property tax increases for seniors after they reach 65 and she favors decoupling education funding from property taxes, perhaps basing it on a graduated income tax system.

Hinchey wants to ensure that people have access to clean water, starting with replacing aging asbestos lined pipes in municipalities. In addition polluters must be held accountable for their actions, with increased oversight and significant fines.

Hinchey offered her observations on the responsibilities of a New York State Senator.

“If I have the fortune to be elected, my job is to try and make life better and to be an advocate and to be in the room. I don’t think it’s ever been more important to have more upstate voices in the majority conference advocating on our behalf and for our communities,” she said.

Rich Amedure recently retired from the NYS Police after 31 years, with the last 4 years serving as the Executive Director, First Vice President of the Trooper’s PBA. He and his wife have been married for 30 years and live on a small farm in southern Albany County. They have two children, Michael, 26, who is serving active duty in he military and Sarah, 24, who will be graduating in the spring with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Amedure said he is running in part because he wants to provide opportunities to the next generation, like his children, so they can live and work in upstate New York. He wonders if leaving the farm to his children will be an asset for them or end up being a burden because of the tax structure.

“We tax too much, we spend too much and then to spend too much you have to tax too much and they keep trying to raise more money,” he said. Amedure worries that the state lacks the needed discipline to bring spending under control.

“We spent 180 billion in last year’s budget, more than the states of Texas and Florida combined and they have more people than us,” he said. “I just think our whole mentality of spending is wrong in this state...We need to review every dollar of spending.”

Amedure wants to expand broadband, especially in the northern parts of the district where for many it is non-existent. He noted that when the Republicans controlled the Senate they approved $500,000 to build-out infrastructure but because of bureaucratic red tape and the Democrats taxing this money, it is moving ahead very very slowly.

Amedure said the Bail and Discovery Law needs to be amended, calling it dysfunctional and rushed by the state. He said the law enforcement community must be brought into the process to offer their real world experience so a better law can be crafted.

Amedure said New York has been on the wrong path for awhile, in part due to one party rule, “that has made it worse for everybody and that is what dragged me into this race.” The New York State Senate is comprised of 40 Democrats, 21 Republicans and 1 vacant seat; the Assembly has 102 Democrats, 43 Republicans and 1 independent.

Amedure said there are a host of things that need to be done better by providing more opportunities for young people and reducing crippling taxes, regulations and paperwork for small businesses.

“I am very familiar with the issues, I know how things work because I have a lot of experience.”

Amedure said his resume speaks for itself and he has always been a public servant.

“I’ve treated everybody fairly my entire life and I am very confident in my record as a trooper,” he said. “I have a lot of knowledge and resources in my head and I know I can help the people of the 46th district be proud of who we are and instill pride in our home. I want them to stay here. I want them to build their future here and I want to help them in any way to get that done.”