Mr. Slater is advocating for total CHIPS Funding to be raised to $898.1 million, to help municipalities offset inflation-driven construction costs that have risen in recent years. Despite these rising costs, the governor’s executive budget does not allocate any additional funding to CHIPS this year, leaving funding flat.

“Our local highway departments are being asked to maintain more roads and bridges with fewer real dollars,” said Mr. Slater, a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee. “When construction costs have skyrocketed and funding remains unchanged, the purchasing power of CHIPS continues to erode. If we don’t act now, the cost to fix these roads in the future will only grow.”

Local governments maintain nearly 87% of New York’s roads and more than half of its bridges, yet the documented annual local highway funding gap exceeds $2.69 billion statewide. The need is particularly urgent in the Hudson Valley, which falls within Department of Transportation Region 8. Region 8 has been rated as having the worst state roads and bridges in New York and also contains more lane miles than any other region in the state, placing additional strain on local infrastructure.

“When I served in the State Assembly, CHIPS funding had been flat for nearly a decade. I worked with local highway superintendents to make sure towns and villages had the resources they needed. The issues we faced then are the same ones we are dealing with today: rising costs, aging roads, and the need to protect Hudson Valley taxpayers,” said Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17).

“This funding is not a luxury for counties like Putnam. It’s the backbone of our ability to maintain safe, reliable roads and bridges,” said Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne. “Our taxpayers already do their part and deserve a fair return on that investment. Make no mistake, delaying or underfunding CHIPS only drives up long-term costs and puts additional pressure on local taxpayers.”

A host of local highway superintendents also called for the additional funding for CHIPS.

Somers Highway Superintendent Nick DeVito said, “This is first and foremost a safety issue. It’s also a fiscal responsibility issue, and ultimately a fairness issue. Region 8 has approximately 24,000 lane miles of local roads—the largest of any region in the state. A $250-million increase in CHIPS funding would go a long way, and we would put it to work immediately to keep our residents safe.” 

Yorktown Highway Superintendent Dav praised lawmakers for adding $50 million in last year’s budget in CHIPS funding statewide. “For the Town of Yorktown, that translated to about $51,000—roughly a 10% increase in funding. To put that into perspective, we maintain more than 400 lane miles of road as one of the largest municipalities in the lower Hudson Valley. That funding made a real difference. Just imagine what a $250 million increase could do.”

Rep. Slater outlined several key reforms to strengthen and streamline the program, including restoring CHIPS purchasing power to reflect inflation, combining duplicative local highway aid programs to reduce administrative burdens and increasing the CHIPS bidding threshold to expedite projects and improve efficiency.

“The Hudson Valley cannot afford to fall further behind,” Rep. Slater added. “Investing in CHIPS is about protecting public safety, supporting economic growth and ensuring taxpayers are not saddled with even higher repair costs down the road. We need a budget that reflects the real needs of our communities and delivers meaningful support for our local roads and bridges.”