Local lawmakers advocate for legislation that would assist communities hit hard by extreme weather

ALBANY, NY- New York State Senator Joe Griffo and New York State Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon are pushing for legislation they have introduced that would assist Central New York and Mohawk Valley communities hit hard by extreme weather events and ensure that local governments are prepared for severe weather that may strike in the future.

Over the past several years, the region has experienced a series of significant weather events, including the EF-2 tornado that hit the city of Rome, NY in July, 2024 and the countless roof collapses from the winter of 2025, just to name a few.

“New Yorkers, local governments and schools need to know that when disaster strikes, the state will provide the resources necessary to help them rebuild, recover and move forward,” Griffo said.

“This legislation is to assist those that need help during these unexpected disasters,” Assemblywoman Buttenschon added.

Sen. Griffo and Assemblywoman Buttenschon’s legislation (S.7761/A.8780), which is in committee, would:

• Provide grants to small businesses, farms, owners of multiple dwellings, homeowners associations and not-for-profit organizations that sustained direct physical damage from extreme weather events to help with repairs.
• Expand and strengthen the state’s Resilient and Ready Storm Damage Recovery and Resilient Retrofit programs to offer additional emergency home repair assistance and/or reimbursement to impacted homeowners recent extreme weather events in the region and those that may occur in the future.
• Create the Central New York property/casualty insurance resiliency incentive program to facilitate property/casualty insurance discounts for mitigation efforts. As a result of this program, property/casualty insurers in New York would be encouraged to offer loss mitigation tools and services to policyholders for free or reduced cost.

NYS Capitol image.