Hoping to return to the legislature as a Senator in January, New York state Assemblywoman Pat Fahy is looking back on the 2024 session.
109th district Assemblymember Pat Fahy is running for Neil Breslin's 46th district Senate seat, after Breslin decided to retire. The Democrat says she capped a 12-year career helping pass legislation in the proverbial "nick of time" that will give the city of Albany a critical boost.
“Getting this Saint Rose Pine Hills Redevelopment Authority was absolutely essential, and we ran into a number of hiccups with some technical amendments," said Fahy. "And of course, we needed a home rule message, because it's local. We needed a home rule message from the Albany County Legislature. Thankfully, we had a good, solid vote coming out of that. We needed a few technical amendments, which we ran out of time to do. And I'm very grateful to the speaker and more, who passed this bill regardless because we recognized it's essential.”
Fahy says thanks to Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, the authority will issue up to $80 million in bonds to purchase, maintain and re-purpose the shuttered private campus in Albany.
In May the college selected a real estate advisor for its 81 properties. It closed after more than a century, citing declining enrollment and financial pressure.
First elected in 2012, Fahy says getting a bill through isn't always that quick or easy.
“We just finished at 7:30 in the morning on Saturday, Fahy said. "One of the very last bills that got done will have national repercussions, and that's a bill on short term rentals that I’ve carried for seven years. That bill is rather simple. It's to level the playing field. If you stay in a hotel, you pay your sales tax, and you pay an occupancy tax. Now, if you stay in a short term rental, like an Airbnb or VRBO, you must do the same, and they must now, all must register with the state.”
Fahy bemoaned the stalled NY HEAT Act while taking pride in a bill to require EV charging plates in all new construction. The measure was crowded out of the headlines by Governor Kathy Hochul's 11th-hour decision to postpone congestion pricing.
"So if you have a driveway or garage on new construction, you will have to have an EV plate in," said Fahy. "Doesn't mean you have to put in the charger, but you have to be EV ready, and it will actually help the sale of new construction, which we've seen in Maryland and California. But that too will help us get ready for the future. It's the same with any commercial construction. So any time parking is going in for a business or for a new residence, we've got to have it EV ready.”
Governor Hochul is expected to begin signing bills soon.
Asked to name her top accomplishments, Fahy pointed to the Indigent Legal Services bill, gun manufacturer liability legislation and five years she spent working on getting $5 million in funding to do a feasibility study on reimaging Interstate 787, which cuts Albany off from its waterfront. Fahy vows to finish what she's started.
"It's an honor to even run for Neil Breslin’s seat, and he has quite a legacy, and I hope to live up to that. And I hope to keep doing more. I want to see 787 through. I want to see Harriman campus transformed and in the budget. After many, many years, we were able to get 10 million for a Children's Science Museum, which will go where the New York State Museum is now on the fourth floor. Those multi years of effort. I want to continue to see those through, and I think we have some truly transformative projects here in the Capital Region that can change the face of the Capital Region. I hope to work with all parties, the mayor and the county executive on the soccer stadium, along with the hundreds of units of housing. So there's a lot of things that I hope to continue to work on that, I think are really going to change the face of the Capital Region," Fahy said.
Republican Ted Danz is running against Fahy in the Senate race. Danz lost to Fahy in the 2012 election for the Assembly seat.
