By Darrel J. Aubertine
Central and Northern New York can expect to benefit from a pair of changes announced by Gov. David Paterson last weekâ€â€Âthe first will make the Enhanced Driver License available on Sept. 16 and the second will nearly double the funding allocated to snowmobile trail development this year.
The new Enhanced Drivers Licenses will comply with the federal government’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and be available through the Department of Motor Vehicles for $30 more than a regular license. This new identification will meet pending federal requirements that anyone crossing the border have identification with both a photograph and proof of citizenship. It will not be a requirement for anyone to pay the extra money for this enhanced license, but purchasing it for a total of $80 will give you one ID that you can use to drive and travel internationally by sea or by land.
Knowing the federal government would not back away from these new requirements, we called for a reasonable alternative and this is it. The enhanced license will not cost as much as a passport, will not take as long to get, and will be more convenient. A new passport card, which is valid only for sea and land travel as well, will cost you $45, and a standard passport book for all travel costs $100, not counting photographs and any fees to expedite the process. With the Enhanced Driver License, anyone making frequent or unplanned trips across the border will not need separate documentation to drive and prove their citizenship.
This will improve travel across our 17 shared land border crossings considering Quebec and Ontario also offer Enhanced Drivers Licenses for their citizens. Cross border commerce is important for the economies of both countries and ease of travel in both directions will improve the already strong trade relationship that supports more than 450,000 jobs statewide. This enhanced license is a step in the right direction toward demonstrating our commitment to both commerce and homeland security.
A day after the license announcement, the governor came through for our snowmobilers, showing that he understands the economic impact and importance of this industryâ€â€Âa point I, and several colleagues, have emphasized through letters, phone calls and conversations with his office. He announced that a change in the way the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation distributes grant money for snowmobile trail maintenance should free up about $5.3 million for local clubs in 2008-09, compared to less than $2.9 million in 2007-08.
Under the former procedures, Parks and Recreation set grant levels and reimbursements based on revenue estimates and did not distribute the money collected after the estimates were met. This change is intended to ensure that the surplus money is dedicated to trail maintenance through additional grants. Additionally, the governor said efficiencies and other funding sources will allow the state will draw a total of $1 million over the next three years from money used on state-owned trails and dedicate it to the local trail grants.
It is very important that these trail systems are maintained and developed by our local clubs. The impact on our local economy is tremendous each winter and the clubs depend on this money to do the work necessary to keep this sport strong. Volunteers groom the trails and post the signs. These grants pay for this by redistributing the fees snowmobilers pay to register their sleds.
This is a dedicated fund that should only be used for trail development, but the governor reached into this pot of money for $1 million this year to help bridge budget gaps. Both the procedural change and the reallocation of funds show that the governor heard the outcry of opposition and this serves as a reasonable solution to close a projected shortfall in the program and also make sure a similar sweep does not happen again.
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