chris collins

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) announced $630,000 in federal funding from the Federal Aviation Administration for the Genesee County Airport. The grant will fund the construction for approximately 700 linear feet of taxi lane necessary to provide access to the new T-hangar areas at the airport.

“Supporting local governments with the cost of maintaining, repairing and building critical infrastructure is an appropriate use of federal tax dollars,” Congressman Collins said. “Local taxpayers send a lot of their hard-earned money to Washington and it is only proper that we get a share of it back to assist with projects that are important to our local communities.”

“The grant not only supports local construction jobs, but it allows for the construction of the aprons that are needed to erect additional facilities necessary to address Genesee County's long-standing waiting list for hangars,” said Timothy J. Hens, Superintendent for the Genesee County Highway Department. “More hangars means more activity at the airport, which is good for the county, and good for the businesses based at and around the airport.”

The Congressman’s office remains available to assist any local government pursuing a federal grant.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today questioned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator, Honorable Robert W. Perciasepe, at a Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing on the EPA’s overreaching rule proposal entitled “Definition of the ‘Waters of the United States’ Under the Clean Water Act.”

“The problem is the public doesn't trust the EPA, farmers don't trust the EPA not to overreach, Congress doesn't trust the EPA,” said Congressman Collins during today’s hearing.

“Deputy Administrator Perciasepe and the EPA fail to recognize that their agency’s overreach is causing real harm for farmers and stalling business development across our country,” Congressman Collins said. “When I visit with farmers in my district, the heavy burdens under the Clean Water Act come up each and every time. When the bureaucrats at the EPA decide to call a divot in the ground that fills with rain a ‘navigable waterway’ under the CWA, we know our federal government has run amuck. The fact that the EPA and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers are now looking to formally broaden the definition of ‘navigable waters’ is an insult to hard working farmers all across this country.”

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (formerly Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.).

“The Supreme Court’s ruling today is a victory for our First Amendment rights and the free exercise of religious beliefs,” Congressman Collins said. “Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate is an intrusion on the religious freedoms of private employers, and was decided to be what many of us expected: unconstitutional. The Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., case is another example of this Administration’s hubris and extreme overreach into every corner of our lives.”

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today is blasting a proposal by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that will significantly hurt the local cheese industry. The FDA is contemplating banning cheese makers from the centuries-old practice of aging cheese on wooden boards. This process is commonplace among artisan cheese makers operating across New York’s 27th Congressional District.

“This is just the latest example of a federal government hell-bent on regulating everything it can get its hands on,” Congressman Collins said. “The process of aging cheese on wood boards is older than the federal government itself. Once again, the bureaucrats in Washington who are totally out of touch with the real world are arbitrarily introducing new rules and regulations that will hurt local economies, cost people their jobs, and stall business growth.”

Approximately 15 to 20 percent of the cheese made by Yancey's Fancy in Pembroke, NY, (Genesee County) is aged on wooden boards. The company recently announced a major expansion aimed at increasing production of the very cheeses aged through the process targeted by the FDA. The company currently employs 120 people.

“The proposal that FDA has made to ban the use of wood for curing cheese will negatively impact our plans to grow the natural side of our specialty cheese business,” said Brian Bailey, VP of Operations for Yancey's Fancy. “My understanding is that the rule was going forward without any discussion with the cheese industry, and apparently without any consideration to the impact that such a ruling would have.

"There is a far greater tonnage of cheese imported into the United States that is cured on wood than what is made in the United States, yet I haven’t heard of any ruling to address that issue either. There is plenty of science that supports wood as a safe material for curing cheese but I’ve seen no evidence to date that science has been considered...Producing safe, quality food is as much our mission and goal as it is FDA’s. Our existence depends on it.”

Congressman Collins is sending a letter to the FDA encouraging them to abandon this proposal immediately. A significant amount of cheese imported from abroad is aged on wood boards and currently not subject to FDA’s scrutiny of this particular aging process. In reacting to the proposal, American cheese makers said the FDA was not acting on sound science or law.

Press release:

"For too long, Western New York's veterans have been denied the honor of being laid to rest among their fellow heroes right here in our community," Congressman Chris Collins said. "Today's announcement of a veterans’ cemetery in Pembroke finally rights that wrong. This location will allow veterans from all around our region to be properly and locally honored for their service to this country."

Background: The VA has selected a 132-acre parcel on Indian Falls Road in the Town of Pembroke (Genesee County) as home for the long-anticipated Western New York Veterans’ Cemetery. Currently, the closest veterans’ cemetery is located in Bath, approximately 100 miles away.  

Press release from Sen. Charles Schumer's office after the jump:

Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected a site for the long-awaited Western New York Veterans’ Cemetery. The cemetery will be located on a 132-acre parcel at 1232 Indian Falls Road in the Town of Pembroke, Genesee County, just north of the Pembroke Thruway exit.

This veterans’ cemetery will be the first and only of its kind in the Buffalo-Rochester area, and will save thousands of military families from having to travel upward of 100 miles to visit their loved ones at what is now the closest veterans’ cemetery in Bath.

Schumer, along with various veterans groups, have led the charge to bring this much-needed veterans’ cemetery to Western New York. They've argued that a lack of a national veterans’ cemetery within a 75-mile radius of Buffalo and Rochester meant that it is long past time to establish a national veterans’ cemetery at a closer location for the hundreds of thousands of veterans living in the region.

The site is located approximately 30 miles from Buffalo and 48 miles from Rochester. The cemetery will provide a fitting burial option to approximately 96,000 currently underserved veterans and family members living in Western New York.

Schumer said this site selection is great news for the many thousands of deserving veterans living in Buffalo, Rochester, and beyond. With this new cemetery in Pembroke, these veterans and family members will be able to have a proper military burial near their homes in Western New York, and their families will be able to pay their respects without having to travel over 100 miles – something that can be a tremendous burden for many families.

“I am pleased that after four years of hard work, we finally have a site in place," the Senator said. "After serving our country so valiantly, and for so many years, it is only appropriate that we develop a national shrine, on a beautiful piece of land right in our backyard, for our veterans’ final resting place.”

Schumer has long argued that it is critical for a veterans’ cemetery location to be located in Western New York. He has pushed the VA as well as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to decide on a site and conduct the necessary environmental reviews as quickly as possible. Half of New York’s veterans are 65 years of age or older, and it’s well overdue to plan for their future and to ensure that they are treated with the honor they deserve.

Schumer has heard from local veterans groups that veterans in Western New York desperately want to be buried in a national shrine, but don’t want to force their families to travel far away to visit, at potentially great hardship. Some veterans have reported that families are delaying interring the cremated remains of their loved ones, with the intention of making this new cemetery their loved one's final resting place.

Today, more than 22 million veterans are eligible for the honor of burial in a national cemetery. Veterans with discharges other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children, may also be eligible for burial in a VA National Cemetery. Those who die on active duty may be buried in one, too.

Schumer joined with Western New York vets for years in calling for the VA to locate the first federal veterans’ cemetery in the region. Around 2009-2010, the VA updated its burial policy, which changed the threshold of veterans required to construct a new national cemetery to 80,000 veterans within 75 miles of a proposed site.

With this new policy, the region was more than qualified, with 96,000-plus veterans in Western New York who live beyond 75 miles from the nearest available national cemetery -- in Bath. Moreover, a total of nearly 300,000 veterans across Western New York could be served by this cemetery. Schumer has fought from the start to push the VA to move forward in finding a site for this cemetery, and he has pushed the process through a variety of roadblocks.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) helped the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Genesee County regain its tax-exempt status, something it should have never had revoked in the first place. The CCE of Genesee County contacted Congressman Collins’ office after it was notified by the IRS that its tax-exempt status was being revoked without an explanation.

After months of back and forth, Collins’ office determined that the IRS mistakenly placed CCE of Genesee County on an "Auto-Revocation" list. The issue has now been resolved and the agency’s tax-exempt status has been restored.

“On behalf of CCE Genesee, I am extremely thankful and grateful for the persistent and timely support, and active intervention with the IRS in resolving the erroneous revocation of our tax-exempt status,” said Beverly Mancuso, executive director of CCE Genesee. “Attempts to resolve this were unsuccessful until I reached out to Congressman Collins’ office. I am extremely relieved to have this matter successfully addressed and behind us, hopefully once and for all. I cannot even imagine how much time and effort was required on the part of the Congressman’s office, but our association is more than thankful.”

“Unfortunately, the IRS is an example of big government bureaucracy at its worst, and I am grateful my office was able to help Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County get out of a mess it never should have been in,” Collins said. “Our office is always available to constituents and local agencies who are having a trouble navigating the federal government to get an answer or resolve a problem.”

Press release:

"The internet has revolutionized the way we live and obtain information largely because it has been readily accessible and free from unnecessary government regulation. Today's ruling by the FCC paves the way for Internet 'fast lanes' which will create one Internet for the haves and one Internet for the have-nots. I am hopeful there will be enough public and Congressional backlash to block this proposal to help ensure that the Internet remains easily accessible and a tool to build economic opportunity."

Congressman Chris Collins met with some of the 81 students from the 27th District who submitted original works of art in the annual House of Representatives art contest. The reception was held at Genesee Community College in the lobby of the Genesee Center for Arts. Above, Collins with Melanie Perkins, of Warsaw, and below, Makennah Aquino, of Batavia.

The winners are:

• First place: Hailey Kilian from Iroquois HS
• Second place: Jacob Weed from Kendall HS
• Honorable mentions: Siena Pullinzi from Batavia HS and Alphonso Butlak from Lake Shore HS.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today announced the availability of approximately $1.4 million in grant funding to support Specialty Crop programs in New York. The funding is a part of the Farm Bill passed by Congress earlier this year.

“Specialty Crop farming is a large part of the agricultural community in New York’s 27th Congressional District,” said Congressman Collins, a member of the House Agriculture Committee. “This grant program will help our fruit and vegetable farmers, along with their partners, develop new ways to bring products to the market, helping farms grow and increase profits.”

The federal block grant funding provided through the Farm Bill is allocated directed to each state. Congressman Collins encourages interested applicants to apply directly to the New York State Department of Agriculture. Grant applications are due in early May.

A proposed rule change by the EPA regarding "navigable waters" could have a serious impact on agriculture and local taxpayers, Chris Collins said today during a press conference at Stein Farms in Le Roy.

He was joined by Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau, Dale Stein, owner of Stein Farms, and County Legislator Shelly Stein.

Norton said farmers have been fighting the proposed rule changes for years; and years ago even won a court case on what Congress intended when it passed the Clean Water Act in 1972.

"The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress was very specific at that time on what navigable water was," Norton said. "If you can run a canoe down it, if you can have commerce effected on that water, then it's navigable. A pothole is not navigable. A pond is not navigable. The puddle out there in the drive way is not navigable."

The proposed rule change -- being pushed by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers -- would redefine "navigable water" as any body of water that stands for at least four days and could eventually drain into a navigable waterway.

"If Dale Stein wanted to regrade his driveway to make it level and get rid of the puddles, he would have to call the Army Corps of Engineers and get a permit," Collins said. "That would probably cost him $250."

Norton said the EPA is using a scientific study to back its position that hasn't even been peer reviewed.

If the proposed rule changes go through, then any agriculture work affecting what the EPA has classified as navigable waters would have to be approved and reviewed, at great cost and delay to farmers.

The same rules would apply to cities, villages, towns and counties.

"(The rule change) is also going to effect everyone who is a taxpayer and I think they're (the Administration) going to find they're on the wrong side of the issue," Norton said.

Dale Stein said he's already going through a similar issue with land the farm leases from another property owner. Because some government official signed the wrong piece of paperwork 29 years ago, Stein is unable to open some irrigation ditches needed to properly, in an environmentally sound manner, farm the land.

"Now we're in the process of trying to get through all that so we can farm it correctly," Stein said. "It's just another giant bureaucracy to try and get the proper permit, and if somebody makes a mistake along the line, our children 30 years from now could be paying for it."

The proposed rule change could put farmers out of business, Shelly Stein said.

"Should the EPA be successful in gaining this rule change to classify each temporary puddle as navigable water, our daily farm operation activity would stop," she said.

The good news is public pressure works, Collins said.

He's already received bipartisan support for a letter he's drafted to the EPA and the Corps of Engineers opposing the rule change. More than 160 members of Congress have signed on and he believes, with public support, more will follow.

"There's no doubt that when you can raise the awareness on any issue, the chances of stopping the absurdity of it dead in its tracks is improved," Collins said. "I've got at least a level of optimism that we an get them to re-look at this rule."

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins voted today in support of the House Republican Budget, including a provision that he secured to protect Medicare Advantage from future cuts.

“I was proud to vote for a budget that makes necessary reforms and structural changes to Medicare in 2024 to strengthen the current program and sustain it for future generations,” said Congressman Collins. “To protect Medicare Advantage, I personally fought for a provision to prevent cuts to this program so many WNY seniors rely on.”

The Republican House Budget balances in 10 years, saves taxpayers $5 trillion by shrinking big government and cutting wasteful spending, and reduces the country’s historic debt.

"The House Republican Budget does what so few Washington budget proposals do – it actually balances,” Congressman Collins said. “The American people understand we cannot keep borrowing money from China to pay our bills, bankrupting our children and grandchildren’s future in the process.”

In an effort to get the economy moving and leave taxpayers with more of their hard-earned money, the House Republican Budget also includes significant tax reform, including lowering the top individual and corporate tax rates to 25 percent, and eliminating special-interest tax loopholes and the Alternative Minimum Tax. The Budget also protects Americans who have been hurt by ObamaCare.

“The GOP Budget includes tax reform to bring down rates and level the playing field for small businesses and hard working families,” Congressman Collins said. “And it relieves the burdens of ObamaCare for the countless Americans who have seen their premiums skyrocket, their coverage dropped, or their hours cut.”

“Those opposed to the GOP Budget will demonize it and suggest Congress continue to kick the can down the road. The American people want Washington to get its head out of the sand and deal with our out-of-control spending and staggering debt. The House Republican Budget does just that," continued Collins.

The House Republican Budget was passed by a vote of 219 to 205.

Press release:

"The people of Buffalo and Western New York have lost a true gentleman and friend. While not a local resident, Ralph Wilson keenly understood what it meant to be a Western New Yorker and how much the team he built means to our community. It was my great honor as a Member of Congress and as the former Erie County Executive to work with him, and I am deeply saddened by his loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and the entire Buffalo Bills organization during this time."

Press release from Assemblyman Steve Hawley:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today announced his opposition to Gov. Cuomo’s plan to give free college degrees to people in prison. The governor’s plan reflects the misplaced priorities of Downstaters who continue to ignore the needs of hard-working Western New York families. Instead of rewarding criminals, Hawley says the state should help the families who are taking on overwhelming debt to put their kids through college.

“The governor’s plan to give free college to convicts is one of the worst ideas I’ve heard during my tenure as an assemblyman. It’s insulting to middle-class Western New Yorkers who are taking on debts over $50,000 to go to college,” Hawley said. “This plan punishes law-abiding citizens while rewarding criminals. Not only is this idea wrong in principle, but it may cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. We should never ask taxpayers to pay for the college education of convicts while they are taking on debt to pay for their own.”

Press release Congressman Chris Collins:

“The Governor’s latest plan to fund college educations for convicted criminals with New Yorkers’ tax dollars is an insult to law-abiding citizens all across our state who are struggling to pay for higher education or find employment in this stagnant economy. This plan is just the latest sign that for a state that is the highest taxed and ranks among the worst in job creation, Albany has its priorities all screwed up.”

The Wall Street Journal: New Gov. Cuomo Initiative Will Fund College Classes in Prisons

UPDATE -- from Chris Collins:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) will introduce legislation to prohibit the use of federal taxpayer dollars to provide a college education to convicted criminals. The pending legislation is in response to Governor Cuomo’s announced plan to use taxpayer dollars to fund college degree programs for convicted criminals in New York State prisons.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons provides states with funding for educational and other programs at state prisons and correctional facilities. Collins’ legislation would ban states from using the federal taxpayer dollars to fund college degree programs for convicted criminals.

“We hear over and over again from politicians concerned about the growing cost of higher education and the amount of student debt our young people are sacked with after earning their degree," Collins said. "Strangely, many of these same politicians think tax dollars should be spent to give convicted criminals a free college degree.”

According to The Project on Student Debt, 60 percent of college graduates in New York State carry student debt. The average amount of student debt for New Yorkers is $25,537.  

Congressman Collins will formally introduce the legislation in the coming days. As the House moves forward with the Appropriations process later this year, Collins will also introduce a limiting rider to ensure no appropriated funds in a particular bill are used to fund college courses for convicted criminals. Collins’ bill would not ban states from using federal dollars to support GED or work training programs in prisons and correctional facilities.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) released the following statement regarding today’s report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that determines ObamaCare will reduce the number of full-time workers by approximately 2.3 million people through 2021.

“This report confirms what I have long believed, that ObamaCare is a flawed law and a drag on our economy. Americans have already begun to experience the devastating economic impact of ObamaCare. In New York’s 27th Congressional District constituents have shared with me stories of reduced hours and small business owners have told me they are afraid to grow and expand because of the uncertainty ObamaCare brings.

Already faced with increased premiums and higher deductibles, this report shows that ObamaCare is doing nothing to help our nation’s already struggling middle class. We cannot allow ObamaCare to slow economic growth and cost 2.3 million American jobs, as the Congressional Budget Office report predicts. This report makes it clear that our nation must address ObamaCare, and place a priority on reining in federal spending, so that we can empower our middle class and get Americans back to work.”

It's one of the lost gems of GOP talking points -- eliminate the federal Department of Education.

There was a time it was a common theme on the GOP campaign trail, but it hasn't been heard much in recent years.

Until today.

Rep. Chris Collins made that very point during a telephone press conference with local and regional media (per capita, Genesee County had the best representation with the Daily News, WBTA and The Batavian all on the line).

"I would wipe out the Department of Education tomorrow," Collins said. "That's money that's being squandered and washed away in Washington, D.C. That money should be moved back to the states, where the 10th Amendment says it should be."

What has Collins particularly riled about the Department of Education are the federal mandates flowing from the bureaucracy and piling up on local school districts, particularly Common Core.

Collins offered some advise to President Obama while making his point about the burdensome federal agency.

"I'd like to hear the president admit that Common Core is an abject failure," Collins said. "It's causing stress, strain and angst with our third- and fourth-graders. It's time to admit that the federal government should not have a role to play in the education of our kids under the 10th Amendment. That should be at the local level, letting parents and teachers decide how we educate our kids."

UPDATE: Here's a video response from Collins to the president's State of the Union speech.

It's a compromise that many thought a contemporary version of Congress could never pass, but Rep. Chris Collins said that even if he wishes some things were different, he plans to vote on a new farm bill that's ready for consideration by the full House.

The compromise bill was announced today and Collins held a telephone press conference to discuss his support of the measure.

"It's a very good bill, but there's something in it that pretty much everyone doesn't like," said Collins, who sits on the Agriculture Committee.

The 1,000-page bill ends decades of direct subsidies to farmers that paid out roughly $5 billion annually and replaces it with a crop insurance program designed to provide the same measure of financial management against disastrous weather or substantial price fluctuations. 

Several "outdated and ineffective dairy programs," according to an ag committee statement, are eliminated. Dairy producers will be able to voluntarily enter into a margin protection program that will not have government mandated supply controls.

Speaker John Boehner opposed the former programs as "Soviet-style" market manipulation.

The other major reforms in the farm bill deal with SNAP, better known as food stamps. The reforms are expected to eliminate $9 billion in fraud and abuse.

In all, supporters of the bill are claiming it will save taxpayers $23 billion.

Collins said it will particularly provide local dairy farmers a range of certainty around which they can plan production.

"Now they can plan farm activity around a new crop insurance program and they know what it's going to look like for the next five years," Collins said. "It's a big relief to have this move forward and come to a vote."

Those who wanted the regulation of catfish to be handled by the FDA instead of the USDA won't be happy with the bill, Collins said, which is an example of how the legislation won't make everybody happy.

There were some provisions that dairy farmer associations initially opposed.

But even the industry groups eventually came around and supported the bill.

A statement from Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation:

"That process is now complete. Despite its limitations, we believe the revised program will help address the volatility in farmers’ milk prices, as well as feed costs, and provide appropriate signals to help address supply and demand.

"The program that we have worked to develop establishes a reasonable and responsible national risk management tool that will give farmers the opportunity to insure against catastrophic economic conditions, when milk prices drop, feed prices soar, or the combination. By limiting how much future milk production growth can be insured, the measure creates a disincentive to produce excess milk. The mechanism used is not what we would have preferred, but it will be better than just a stand-alone margin insurance program that lacks any means to disincentivize more milk production during periods of over-supply.

Also unhappy, Collins said, will be those who think food stamps should never be touched.

"Let's be clear, no one who deserves food stamps is getting cuts," Collins said.

As an example, Collins noted that under the old regime anybody who received federal heating assistance, even if it was just $1 per month, was eligible to receive food stamps, even without any income or asset test. That ends with the new program, Collins said.

"It was a backdoor way for people to get food stamps who didn't deserve them," Collins said. "It's good government in this day of deficit spending that the money is going to go to the people who truly deserve it."

Asked if Democrats might to used the changes to SNAP as a campaign issue against those "heartless Republicans," Collins said, his message to them is go ahead and try.

"One thing for sure is that distortion of truth is what politics and commercials are all about more than substance," Collins said. "I'm sure there are those who will try to claim that this is a cut in food stamps for those who deserve it and if they do make that claim, it's a lie.

"Anyone who is opposed to this bill is somebody who is very partisan in nature and not interested in saving taxpayers money," Collins added. "I'd turn that back on anyone who wanted that debate and I'd turn it back in about two seconds."

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) has been named to the House Subcommittee on Space, his sixth subcommittee assignment.

“It’s an honor to join the Subcommittee on Space and I am grateful for the opportunity to work to develop policies that advance our nation’s space program,” Congressman Collins said. “Western New York is home to a growing number of companies that support our space program, and I look forward to using this assignment to champion that sector."

Under the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, the Subcommittee on Space has legislative jurisdiction, general oversight and investigative authority on all matters relating to astronautical and aeronautical research and development.

Congressman Collins is currently a member of the House Agriculture and Small Business committees and serves as Chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology.

In addition, under the House Committee on Agriculture Congressman, Collins serves on the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management and the Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture; under the House Committee on Small Business, the Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations; and under the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.

Press release:

After pressing for answers for months, Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) says the IRS will not force volunteer fire departments to comply with ObamaCare’s expensive employer mandate.

The Department of Treasury sent a letter to Congressman Collins this afternoon clarifying its policy.

For months, the IRS and Obama Administration refused to answer if volunteer fire departments would be subject to ObamaCare regulations, as volunteers are classified as employees by the IRS for tax purposes.

“The uncertainty of this classification left me seriously concerned about the potential impact ObamaCare would have on volunteer fire companies across the country,” Congressman Collins said. “Today I am glad to share that our nation’s volunteer fire departments will not be crippled by unnecessary costs brought on by ObamaCare, so they can focus on the important work of protecting our communities.”

In November of last year, Congressman Collins wrote a letter to the Acting Commissioner of the IRS seeking a specific exemption for volunteer responders. Earlier this week he spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of legislation (H.R. 3685) that would ensure volunteer service responders would not classified as full-time employees under ObamaCare.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in an effort to protect local volunteer fire departments from ObamaCare’s expensive and burdensome mandates. Collins is a cosponsor of legislation (H.R. 3685, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act), which will ensure volunteer service responders are not classified as full-time employees under ObamaCare.

“In November of last year, I wrote a letter to the Acting Commissioner of the IRS seeking a specific exemption for volunteer responders, but my office has yet to receive a reply,” Congressman Collins said. “Since the Administration will not correct this disservice to America’s volunteer EMTs and firefighters, we must act legislatively.”

For tax purposes the IRS classifies volunteer emergency responders as employees. With this employee designation, large volunteer fire departments will be subject to the ObamaCare Employer Mandate, forcing them to provide health insurance to their volunteers or pay a significant penalty.

“These unnecessary costs will cripple the strong volunteer fire community that protects Western New York and the rest of the country,” Congressman Collins said.

H.R. 3685 is sponsored by Rep. Lou Barletta (PA-11) and is currently in front of the Ways and Means Committee for consideration.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) criticized Governor Andrew Cuomo today on the House floor for continually delaying hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in New York.

Congressman Collins was speaking in support of legislation to limit the ability of the Obama Administration to regulate fracking. The Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act (H.R. 2728), which Congressman Collins voted for, prevents the federal government from imposing new and burdensome fracking regulations on states.

“In New York we are already facing significant challenges in regards to fracking at the state level. We do not need additional, burdensome federal regulations like those proposed by the Obama Administration, which are over-the-top and step all over the state’s authority to regulate this type of activity,” Congressman Collins said. “Federal ‘one size fits all’ regulations are designed to wrap fracking efforts in endless red tape which will do nothing but slow job creation, decrease domestic energy production and increase the cost of business. “

“States should control their own destiny when it comes to fracking,” continued Collins. “In New York, I remain baffled as to why Governor Cuomo continues to cater to the state’s fringe anti-business interests by upholding the moratorium on fracking. Across the border in Pennsylvania, the economy is growing leaps and bounds because they are taking full advantage of their strategic location along the Marcellus Shale. It is sad that New York is squandering this same opportunity.”

It is estimated that, if finalized, the new regulations being proposed by the Obama Administration will cost $345 million annually or $96,913 per fracking well.

The Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act also places parameters on a current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study related to fracking and potential impact on drinking water resources. The bill’s provisions will help ensure the EPA study produces an objective evaluation.

“There is a real and legitimate fear that the bloated bureaucracy at the EPA will once again produce an open-ended, biased and non-transparent study,” Collins said. “For any study to be helpful to both decision-makers and scientists, it needs to contain an objective risk assessment.”