This article reports on a pair of New York state bills proposed by Senator Joe Griffo and Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon to help Central New York and the Mohawk Valley recover from severe weather, including an EF-2 tornado in Rome in July 2024 and multiple roof collapses during the winter of 2025.
The measures, S.7761/A.8780, are currently in committee and would broaden financial assistance for affected communities while expanding state resilience programs and introducing a new insurance resiliency incentive aimed at lowering future disaster risk.
What the bills seek to accomplish
The legislation targets a broad set of stakeholders affected by extreme weather, aiming to shorten recovery times and bolster long‑term resilience across central New York.
The sponsors emphasize that the state must mobilize resources to rebuild quickly when disaster strikes and to reduce the financial burden on households and local organizations resilient against repeated shocks.
Key provisions and beneficiaries
The bills would provide grants to small businesses, farms, owners of multiple dwellings, homeowners associations, and not‑for‑profit organizations that suffered direct physical damage from extreme weather.
In addition, the packages would expand and strengthen the state’s Resilient and Ready Storm Damage Recovery and Resilient Retrofit programs, broadening eligibility and enhancing support for emergency home repairs and reimbursements to homeowners impacted by both current and future events.
- Grants to cover direct damages for the above groups, helping them rebound from disasters more quickly.
- Enhanced emergency home repair assistance and reimbursements to homeowners facing extreme weather impacts.
- Expansions to existing resilience programs to streamline access to funds and technical support.
Insurance resilience and mitigation incentives
The bills would create a Central New York property/casualty insurance resiliency incentive program designed to encourage insurers to offer discounts for mitigation measures and to provide loss‑mitigation tools and services to policyholders at free or reduced cost.
This approach aims to make disaster risk reduction more affordable and accessible for residents and organizations in the affected region.
- Incentives for insurers to discount premiums when mitigation steps are implemented.
- Access to no‑cost or low‑cost loss‑mitigation tools and services for policyholders.
Program expansions and implementation goals
Expanding the Resilient and Ready Storm Damage Recovery and the Resilient Retrofit programs would translate into more robust funds for emergency repairs and longer‑term weatherproofing.
Senator Griffo underscored the necessity of state resources to help communities rebuild and recover after disasters.
Assemblywoman Buttenschon noted that the legislation is designed to assist those unexpectedly affected by extreme weather, including the recent EF‑2 tornado and subsequent roof‑collapse events.
Why this matters for Central New York and the Mohawk Valley
In a region already grappling with the aftereffects of severe storms, these proposals aim to link disaster relief with proactive resilience.
By coupling direct grants with resilience programming and an insurance incentive, the bills tackle both immediate recovery needs and long‑term risk reduction.
“We need state resources to help communities rebuild and recover when disaster strikes,” said Griffo, highlighting the urgency of coordinated state support.
“This legislation aims to assist those unexpectedly affected by disasters,” Buttenschon added, emphasizing the broad reach of the proposed measures to homeowners, businesses, and organizations across Central New York and the Mohawk Valley.
As these bills advance through committees, residents and local leaders will be watching how funding is allocated and how mitigation measures are prioritized.
If enacted, the legislation could serve as a model for integrating disaster relief with proactive resilience across other regions facing similar weather-related risks.
Here is the source article for this story: Local lawmakers advocate for legislation that would assist communities hit hard by extreme weather