Bruno vows upstate will get its fair share from Albany
State Senate’s power broker says he will work to see Capital District’s success extended here
ALBANY — Listen up, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse: State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno is coming to your rescue.
Bruno on Thursday read to a group of Albany business leaders parts of a recent Buffalo News series that depicted a relatively strong economy in the Capital Region — thanks in large part to the disproportionate share of state money that Bruno and other state leaders drove to that area the past 15 years.
Bruno deftly turned the conclusions of the series into a positive, and aides said later the Senate leader is going to show he will be upstate’s strongest advocate at the Capitol this year.
“I’m going out to Buffalo, and I’m going to tell Buffalo and anyone that wants to listen exactly what we did here, and this is a pilot for the rest of the state and the world,” an upbeat Bruno told the business crowd.
“We are going to take what happened in the Capital Region — and take it to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse,” he said. “Why? Because we are one state.”
If Bruno has earned a reputation as a tireless supporter of the Albany area, now he wants to be known as Mr. Upstater.
“I am going to be there through this budget process to make sure that we in upstate are not overlooked,” he said.
Later, with reporters, he also noted how the Senate will help protect Long Island in the budget process. Eight of nine Long Island Senate seats are occupied by Republicans.
The Republican leader, who personally has driven in excess of $2.5 billion in state money to the Albany area since 1995, said his region will become an example for other upstate communities. More than state money, he credited the region’s growth to a cooperative spirit among business and political leaders, a coordination between local colleges and the private sector and things like infrastructure improvements. Bruno did not mention how other upstate communities will get access to the same pots of funds that the Albany area has enjoyed in recent years.
“We are going to be a model for the rest of upstate. We’re going to help grow the rest of this state,” he said.
To a local Chamber of Commerce crowd, Bruno also made clear the Albany area would not be short-changed this year because of all the extra help it has received in the past. He noted that Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer’s State of Upstate speech the day before in Buffalo failed to mention any projects or special focus for the Albany area, as he did for other upstate areas.
“It seems that there was some message that Albany has had its share and maybe we have to look past Albany,” Bruno said of Spitzer’s speech. “Well — it’s not going to happen.”
Bruno also took credit on behalf of Senate Republicans for many of the ideas that Spitzer promoted in Buffalo.
In his first local appearance since the death of his wife last week, Bruno found a receptive audience as he read from the News series and defended the flow of money to his region.
“It is OK when it comes into the Capital Region,” Bruno said of the money flow.
The crowd applauded heartily.
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