Hochul Joins Schumer In Fighting To Protect Western New York Small Businesses

Press Release

Today, Congresswoman Kathy Hochul and Senator Charles Schumer joined together in Williamsville to discuss the importance of continued funding to combat the spread of the emerald ash borer.

Earlier this month, the invasive species was found in 12 ash trees in Buffalo's South Park. Since the beetle was first discovered in North America in Michigan in 2002, the emerald ash borer has devastated forests throughout the country and has the potential to decimate New York's ash tree population.

"Small businesses are under attack on two fronts," said Congresswoman Hochul. "First, by the emerald ash borer, which eats away at ash lumber, resulting in fewer materials for small businesses to work with. Second, by the U.S. House of Representatives for voting to cut funding to programs that can help find solutions to combat these invasive pests. This was one of the many reasons why I not only opposed the Agriculture Appropriations Bill and the attached amendment that cut funding the to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) budget, but why I also offered my own amendment to send this bill back to the Appropriations committee, so that we could rework it to help our small businesses, as well as our consumers."

On June 16, the House voted to slash the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) budget by $73 million, which includes a $37 million cut to the Plant Health program. It also sliced $354 million from agriculture research programs.

Additionally, Congressman Campbell (R-CA) offered an amendment that would have cut funding to APHIS by an additional $11 million.

"The emerald ash borer may be small, but its potentially devastating impact on Erie County could be enormous," said Sen. Schumer. "With the bug continuing to spread across New York, now is not the time to cut programs that will help us manage these pests and preserve an industry that employs tens of thousands of people."

The forest-based manufacturing sector employs nearly 50,000 workers in New York State alone -- with payroll topping $1.5 billion annually.

"Ash comprises nearly 17% of the hardwood forests in New York, the highest concentration here in Western New York, providing millions of dollars in economic value and hundreds of jobs to loggers, sawmill workers, and other manufacturing jobs," said Eric Carlson, Empire States Forest Products Association President and CEO. "The spread of the emerald ash borer may be inevitable, but having resources to help find and slow down the spread buys important time for us to capture value and find better solutions to combat these invasive pests."

According to experts, the emerald ash borer has potentially caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage already to the U.S. economy.

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