SOURCE:
https://libn.com/2026/03/20/long-island-lobby-coalition-1-billion-albany/
By David Winzelberg - March 20, 2026
The Blueprint:
The Long Island Lobby Coalition requested over $1 billion in funding from Albany to address regional needs.
The coalition includes small business owners, civic leaders, labor, environmental groups, and transportation advocates.
Funding requests include support for chambers of commerce, wastewater, solar power, affordable housing, and transportation improvements.
The coalition met with bipartisan state senators, assembly members, and Governor Hochul’s policy team.
The Long Island Lobby Coalition made its annual trek to Albany last week to ask for more than $1 billion to address a plethora of issues facing the region.
For 18 years the coalition of small business owners, civic, labor and environmental leaders, planners, nonprofits, students and transportation advocates has lobbied state elected officials for greater investment in the needs of Long Island, especially since residents and businesses here collectively contribute billions more to Albany than the region receives back from state funding.
“Middle class, working class, poorer residents and business owners cannot afford to pay for their life. We have heard from well over 1,000 of them sharing with us recommendations on how to make expenses just a little bit easier as costs continue to increase,” Eric Alexander, founder of the Long Island Main Street Alliance and co-chair of the Long Island Lobby Coalition, said in a statement. “Long Island continues to give radically more in taxes, fees and surcharges to Albany than it receives. We need some of these resources back to help ease the pain of ongoing inflation and the economic malaise that has plagued working people since the advent of Coronavirus.”
Specifically, the coalition asked Long Island’s state representatives to fund local chambers of commerce and downtowns through the Internet Sales Tax, Small Business Savings Accounts, “Shop Local” campaign, and more money for the arts and local municipalities. The group also asked for increased wastewater funding, Environmental Bond Act funding directed to Long Island and to expand solar power initiatives.
Also on the coalition’s agenda was affordable housing funding for ADU’s Community Land Trusts and affordable multifamily projects, support for the Governor’s Child Care initiative, mental health, nutrition, and social work staff. Its transportation advocates pushed for reductions in the cost of automobile insurance, funding for buses, pedestrian safety and Long Island Rail Road fare discounts paired with more investment in train stations and a freeze on congestion pricing tolls.
On this trip, the coalition met with State Senators Monica Martinez and Siela Bynoe of the majority delegation and with minority Senate delegation members Jack Martins, Mario Mattera, Dean Murray, Steven Rhoads, Alexis Weik and Anthony Palumbo.
A bipartisan meeting was held with Long Island’s Assembly delegation including members Thomas Schiavoni, Jodi Giglio, Joseph Destafano, Rebecca Kassay, Doug Smith, Phil Ramos, Jarett Gandolfo, Michael Fitzpatrick, Michael Durso, Steve Stern, Keith Brown, Noah Burroughs, Ed Ra, Judy Griffin and Michaelle Solages.
The last meeting was held with a dozen members of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s policy team led by her Chief of Staff Karen Persichilli Keogh.
“This terrific coalition speaks with one voice in Albany so that our message can be amplified and effective. Long Island represents 15% of the state’s population, yet we are undervalued when it comes to state funding for our infrastructure, addressing the needs of small businesses and providing valuable services such as buses, and preserving open space,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment and co-chair of the Long Island Lobby Coalition, said in a coalition statement. “We work together to make sure Long Island is heard and responded to.”
Randi Shubin Dresner, CEO of Island Harvest Food Bank said she asked the governor and state legislators to include $150 million, total, for the Hunger Prevention & Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) and Nourish NY in this year’s budget.
“In addition, we’re asking that funding be included to transition SNAP EBT cards from the old mag-stripe technology to modern chip-enabled cards, to help prevent the theft of SNAP benefits,” she said.
“Working people on Long Island are feeling the squeeze of rising costs from housing and childcare to transportation and food,” John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor, said in the statement. “Investments in our downtowns, infrastructure, and transit are investments in the people who keep our communities running every day. It is only fair that the essential workers of Long Island see a real return in the form of family-sustaining jobs, stronger communities, and real relief from the affordability crisis.”
The Long Island Lobby Coalition was founded in 2009 as an alliance working together to advance improvements to Long Island’s environment, economy and investment in local communities. Since its founding, 23 bills on the coalition’s agenda have been enacted into law, and over 40 budget and regulatory proposals were approved along with funding for Long Island infrastructure projects.