Albany, NY – Yesterday, joined by fellow legislators, local town and county highway superintendents and employees, as well as representatives from the New York State County Highway Superintendents Association and State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways across the state, Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon
advocated State leadership to increase the State’s investment in local transportation infrastructure, joining calls for a much needed $250 million boost to the Consolidated Local street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) and the maintenance of all existing local highway and bridge funding programs in the 2026-27 State Budget. “Local roads are essential!,” said Buttenschon echoing advocates’ slogans. “The main thoroughfares of
our communities, for many of us, local roads are the only connection for our families to jobs, schools, and the essential services used everyday. However, our State’s local highway system faces enormous needs, and our municipalities are feeling it. We cannot afford to fall further behind, we must fully fund CHIPS and increase State support as a whole for our local highway departments.” Local highway departments maintain 87% of New York’s 97,000 miles of highways and more than half of the state’s 17,200 highway bridges, yet only 14% of the local road system is eligible for federal aid. The combined pavement and bridge needs of New York’s local governments exceed $100 billion, a gap that continues to widen as inflation drives up the cost of highway construction materials. According to NYSCHSA and NYSAOTSOH, it costs five times more to rebuild a bridge and sixteen times more to replace deteriorated pavement than to keep infrastructure in a state of good repair through regular preventive maintenance.
Governor Hochul’s proposed Executive Budget keeps CHIPS and all local highway program funding flat, holding steady at last year’s level despite the real erosion caused by inflation. Meanwhile, 48% of all vehicle miles traveled in New York are on local roads, yet less than 12% of the gas taxes and fees paid by drivers flow back to maintain them. And, as more EV drivers take the road without paying gasoline taxes, this disparity will only grow.
Assemblywoman Buttenschon is advocating the State leadership to include the following investments in the final 2026-27 budget:
● Combine CHIPS, Extreme Winter Recovery, and State Touring Routes into a “Combined CHIPS” program with a $250 million increase, totaling $1,138.1 million:
○ Increase CHIPS by $250 million to $898.1 million
○ Maintain Extreme Winter Recovery funding at $100 million
○ Maintain State Touring Route funding at $140 million
● Combine local PAVE-NY and Pave Our Potholes into a “Combined POP” program totaling $250 million:
○ Maintain local PAVE-NY funding at $150 million
○ Maintain local Pave Our Potholes (POP) funding at $100 million
● Maintain the Marchiselli program at $39.7 million
● Maintain the local BRIDGE-NY program at $200 million
Beyond providing safer and faster travel in our local communities, the economic case for investing in local roads is clear: every $150 million increase in local highway funding supports up to 4,200 highway construction-related jobs. In previous BRIDGE-NY rounds, the number and value of project applications far exceeded available funding in every region of the state, providing clear evidence that need vastly outpaces current resources.
“Every pothole, deteriorating bridge, and crumbling road is more than a safety concern and a potentially expensive inconvenience, they are symptoms of chronic underfunding, and the cost of inaction will only continue to grow,” said Buttenschon. “This $250 million increase in CHIPS is more than an ask, it is a necessity to restore the real purchasing power to our local highway departments and to protect the safety of every New Yorker.”
About Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon:
Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon proudly represents New York’s 119th Assembly District, encompassing the cities of Utica and Rome as well as the Towns of Floyd, Deerfield, Marcy, and Whitestown. From a lifelong educator and former Dean of Public Service and Emergency Preparedness at Mohawk Valley Community College, to a small family farm owner, Buttenschon brings decades of experience advocating for equity, access, and opportunity across public health, education, agriculture, and emergency services. In the Assembly, she serves as Chair of the Committee on Small Business and as a member of the Agriculture, Education, Higher Education, and Veterans’ Affairs Committees, where she champions bipartisan solutions to improve quality of life. Her work reflects a steadfast commitment to ensuring that every family in her district and beyond can live with dignity,
support, and a voice in their future.
