A top priority of GOP lawmakers in New York this year is addressing the state’s population. According to the U.S. Census, the state’s population dropped by more than 100,000 residents in 2023 — more than any other state last year.
Walsh, a Republican who has been serving in the state Assembly since 2017, says the problem of population loss needs a comprehensive, bipartisan solution that includes public safety.
"Well, I think that there are a certain number of people that plan to retire elsewhere, you know, and that that's just part of the plan," explained Walsh. "What I'm hearing from people that I talked to is a sadness and a feeling like they need to leave the state that, they need to leave because of taxes, because of—not a bad business environment, because of a lot of regulations. A feeling that as we went through the pandemic, there are a lot of people who felt that York State was one of those states where there's a feeling of a real loss of freedom, and a real feeling of loss of choice. And I hear about that from some of my constituents. And I don't want to paint with too broad of a brush, but I do think that those are some of the reasons why people are leaving. And, you know, I feel like we need to do what we can as a state to try to stem that I think that there's a feeling that the state is not as safe—certainly parts of the of the state, from a public safety point of view, are not as safe. You know, whether you're talking about Albany, whether you're talking about New York City or any of the bigger cities. As I talked to some of my rural constituents, they'll tell me that they don't want to go to Albany for any reason, they don't feel safe. And there's a certain feeling that with some of the public policy changes that were made in the areas of public safety and criminal justice reform, that there are folks that feel that they are less safe and they'd rather be in a state where they would feel safer than they are. Things like that I do hear about and as I stand up and oppose certain policies that I feel go too far, I do that with their concerns in mind."
Two of Walsh’s legislative colleagues, Republican State Senator James Tedisco of the 44th District and Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara of the 111th District, are introducing a bill to establish a bi-partisan commission to examine out-migration from New York.
Walsh and her GOP colleagues are opposed to legislation recently signed by Governor Kathy Hochul that moves some local elections to even years.
While supporters say the new law will increase voter participation, opponents contend local contests will be overshadowed by national elections.
"I'm carrying that bill, that repealer, in the assembly. Senator Mark Walczyk is carrying it on the Senate side. And I've been pretty outspoken about this bill, the previous bill, the bill in chief, since it was first rolled out," she said. "I've done any number of columns and interviews about it, I just think it's a very bad idea as somebody like myself that came up through local government, and served as a zoning board member planning board member and then elected as a town board member for eight years, where I'm at the you know, was that the way end of the ballot and in some very tight races, I'm very concerned that by pushing more races onto the even numbered years, these local races and not giving the localities the option to say yes or no, that what we're going to be doing is we're going to be bearing a lot of important local issues, and it's going to get drowned out in the noise that will be the, say, a presidential year or governor's election year, where the top of the ticket is going to be really driving all the messaging and a lot of this local stuff might really get lost, I'm worried about it. Plus, just the overall length of the ballot, I mean, you're gonna have to flip this thing over could be multiple pages, you know, we already have a hard enough time telling people to flip it over and vote on different propositions, which can be very important. And we are seeing more initiatives in constitutional amendments being put forward. And those have to pass in two consecutive legislative sessions, and then they get placed on the ballot for a vote. So those can be really critically important, no matter which way people vote on them. And, so, I think it makes the ballot a lot more confusing. And, you know, I'm a big believer that people who are doing their civic duty will come out and vote, whether it's a school budget vote, whether it is a local election year, whether it is a presidential or governor's election year, you just go and you vote. And the fact that, you know, the off years, the odd numbered years, don't get as many people coming out, I think shows you that we need to do a better job of getting people out to vote, not necessarily restructure the ballot to do it."
The Republican says she is ready to reach across the aisle to make sure local communities can have their voices heard, especially when it comes to big-ticket items like housing. Last year, lawmakers failed to come to agreement on a sweeping package of housing legislation pushed by Governor Hochul, a proposal that faced local push-back.
"I think that the package that she rolled out last year was, I think, overly aggressive. I think, and you know, it's interesting, because one of the things I've observed being one of 150 members in the assembly, is that very often there's a core agreement on something, but the legislation or the proposal that gets put forward, just goes too far," said Walsh. "But, if we can just try to come to some level of compromise, we might be able to get a lot more done. And one of the problems I've seen is that ever since we went to one party rule, there isn't that level of compromise. I think really, honestly, Carrie Woerner and I are seen as kind of a refreshing departure from the norm, you know, we will work together on these initiatives. As far as housing, I think it's really important that localities continue to have a say, I think, localities throughout this state understand that we have a need for a variety of housing, we have a need for housing, like we're talking from Ballston Spa right now, housing that will address individuals who are at great risk of becoming homeless, of people who have mental health concerns who need that added supportive housing. We have a need for that, we have a need for affordable housing. Certainly, I'm in Saratoga County, which is a very wealthy county, but it—definitely there are people that need to be able to live a reasonable distance from where they work in the city of Saratoga Springs, and that kind of thing. So, I think that I think that any proposal has got to give enough flexibility and needs to be not so much of a mandate, but maybe a blueprint for localities to be able to adapt and tailor to best address the needs as the local elected, see the need for."
Walsh sits on the Assembly Education Committee, and has concerns about the future of higher education in New York.
"I mean, I was really saddened to hear about College of Saint Rose, but it wasn't really a big surprise either. You know, I had, you know, I bumped into Marcia White, here and there, sometimes, you know, just out shopping around the world. I'll see her and we'll, we'll chat a little bit and I—you know, I think we all knew that there were, there were problems with Saint Rose," said Walsh. "You know, I think that the whole issue of how do we get our children—I have six kids, you know, my youngest is getting ready to apply for—has applied to colleges, and it's kind of waiting to hear. A big issue that I have is to say that higher education is one piece of the puzzle. But I think, as a parent, I can say that my goal for all of my kids, is to just say, how can I get my children and, you know, extrapolating, you know, the children of our state, to live their best life, to have to find meaningful work, productive work to make a good wage, to be able to support their families. You know, and so maybe we need to take a broader look at what our kids are doing after grade 12. And I've been a big, big supporter of the trades, and of alternative pathways to education for individuals who maybe, you know, hadn't considered it in the past. And I think, you know, I work with Doug Ford, up at Curtis Lumber and their whole workforce development process. I mean, that's important, too. So, you know, if we have declining enrollment in our private schools, private schools are getting to the point where they're really unaffordable for a lot of people. And we've tried to address that as a state. But I think families, individual families have to make those decisions too. So, I believe in providing a wide variety of different educational options and doing the best that we can to make sure that if you have a student who is excelling, who genuinely really wants to go on to that college education, I want to try to make that affordable for that individual. But I also want to say that a four-year degree or six-year or, you know, however long, is not necessarily for everybody, so we need to come up with a variety of solutions."
The legislative session is scheduled to run through June.
