Senator James Skoufis (D-Hudson Valley) kicked off his annual ‘Skoufis On Your Street’ town hall series last week in Monroe, bringing together a group of about fifty neighbors from Orange County to discuss local funding priorities, legislation, development, and more at Javajo’s Coffee Bar. In coming weeks he’ll host two more town hall events, in Warwick and Middletown.
Skoufis highlighted implementation of the state’s new middle-class property tax rebate program, lowest middle-class income tax rates in 70 years, Monroe-Woodbury School District’s $9.9 million increase in state aid this year, and other key investments in local infrastructure, healthcare, and emergency services before taking questions from the crowd. Constituents spoke about overdevelopment concerns, their experiences with mental health services in New York, and the difference having a strong voice in Albany has made for their Hudson Valley communities. Skoufis also fielded questions about recent controversial Supreme Court decisions.
“While many of our nation’s challenges must be solved at the federal–or even global–level, as a New York lawmaker, I’ll continue to fight inflation, our local tax burden, and moneyed special interests here in Orange County,” said Senator Skoufis. “I am grateful to our constituents for coming out to respectfully voice their priorities. My team is here to serve, and I encourage anyone with a state-level concern–be that interfacing with the Department of Labor or reporting a pothole–to reach out to our office.”
Skoufis will hold two additional town halls in Orange County communities: Middletown on Thursday, August 4 from 5:30pm-7:00pm (Tapped, 22 Henry St Unit #2, Middletown, NY 10940) and Warwick on Thursday, August 11 from 12:00pm-1:30pm (Tuscan Cafe, 5 ½ South St, Warwick, NY 10990). No prior RSVP is required to attend.