Congressman Josh Riley 

Congressman Riley is leading a bipartisan effort in Congress to fix the H-2A visa program, which allows farmers to hire guest workers on temporary contracts. This system has left out our many dairy farmers and apple growers in Columbia County and elsewhere.

His Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act would cut red tape and give farmers greater flexibility to respond to changing labor needs. It would also strengthen protections for immigrant farmworkers, many of whom have been a critical part of our community for decades but are now being targeted by ICE. 

Another bill by Rep. Riley would push back on corruption in Washington. Among other things, his Drain the Swamp Act would bar the president, vice president, members of Congress, and their immediate families from owning or trading stocks; ban public officials from betting on political events and other government actions in prediction markets; and forbid presidents, their immediate families, and their businesses from suing the federal government without bipartisan approval from Congress.

State Senator Michelle Hinchey

Recapping the legislative session, Senator Hinchey said it was an incredibly busy one with 61 of her bills passing the State Senate—nearly half unanimously. Of those 61 bills, 31 passed both the Senate and Assembly and now await the governor’s signature. 

Among them is the AI Labor Information Act, which would make New York the first state to make corporations be transparent about their use of AI and its impact on our workforce. Another is the Advancing the Baby Food Safety & Transparency Act. It would ban baby food with unsafe levels of heavy metals and requires manufacturers to test baby food and formula for heavy metals at least once a month and make the results public.