Assemblyman D. Billy Jones looks out from the balcony of the Olympic Center in Lake Placid during a visit with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on June 27. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

SARANAC LAKE — With the legislative session over, Assemblyman Billy Jones visited Saranac Lake on Tuesday and spoke about some of the top issues facing his district.

–

Housing

–

The state Legislature passed a $237 billion state budget on April 20 with a slew of measures aimed at addressing the affordable housing crisis.

Jones said on Tuesday there wasn’t as many North-Country specific housing policies in the budget as he would’ve liked. The government needs ways to address the shrinking housing stock — something that’s impacting local businesses’ ability to hire newcomers, he said.

he said.

Jones said a good example of a local housing project is Fawn Valley, a development of 22 owner-occupied homes, in Lake Placid. The project, spearheaded by Lake Placid housing nonprofit Homestead Development Corporation, has income qualifications meant to gear its units to local essential workers and keep housing costs affordable.

Incentives for housing nonprofits like Homestead Development could be the key to increasing the North Country’s housing stock, Jones said. Finding ways to help out landlords and tenants is key, too. He also said he supported land banks and renovations of zombie properties — approaches to increase the housing stock.

Jones said.

Housing quality is often an issue, too, Jones added.

he said.

For years, Jones said, the biggest concern of local and state leaders was to get people to move to New York. Now, the state — and specifically, the North Country — has the people, but not the housing to support them.

Jones said.

He added that potential climate migration to the North Country putting further strain on the housing stock is a but his attention is on with regards to housing.

–

STRs

–

Short-term vacation rentals, which have proliferated in the North Country in the past decade and eaten into the availability of long-term housing, are negatively affecting the housing crisis, Jones said.

Jones said. “I personally don’t know how you stop that, but I do know some of the steps we’re taking are going to push back on that.

he added.

The STR bill, currently awaiting Hochul’s signature to pass into law, creates a statewide registry of STRs, allowing municipalities to track how many STRs are operating in their area. It would also allow sales and occupancy taxes to be collected on STR stays. Essex County already collects occupancy taxes on STR stays.

–

Camp Gabriels Amendment

–

Jones’ with the Assembly’s last session was its failure to pass an amendment allowing abandoned prisons in the Adirondack Park like Camp Gabriels in Brighton to be sold. A constitutional amendment must be passed to remove Adirondack prisons from the Forest Preserve before they can be sold, and amendments require passage by both state houses in two successive legislative sessions before they can be presented to voters on a ballot. The amendment regarding Camp Gabriels passed the state Senate in May but the Assembly failed to pass it before its session ended.

he said.

The Senate will need to pass the amendment again in its next session, restarting the process for a sixth time. Once the Assembly also passes it in the same session, both houses will need to pass the amendment again in a second consecutive session before the amendment goes before Hochul and voters.

Jones, a former corrections officer, has been leading the fight to pass the prison amendments since he was elected in 2016.

he said.

–

Prison closures

–

Five state prisons are set to close as a result of the 2024 Public Protection and General Government Bill, part of the 2024-25 state budget. The facilities which are on the chopping block have not been announced, but when they are, they’ll have 90 days’ notice of their closure rather than the legally-mandated year’s notice.

Jones said he has little information on the impending prison closures.

he said.

Jones, along with state Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, and Assemblymen Matt Simpson, R-Horicon, voted against the bill. Local leaders — North Elba town Supervisor Derek Doty, St. Armand town Supervisor Davina Thurston, Harrietstown town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach and Saranac Lake village Mayor Jimmy Williams — also voiced opposition to a possible closure of Adirondack Correctional Facility earlier this year, writing a letter to Hochul.

The combination of the possible prison closures and the failure to pass the prison amendment is another Jones said.

he said.

–

First responders

–

A little-mentioned topic that he wants to hear more people discussing, Jones said, is the aging and shrinking population of volunteer organizations that hold the North Country’s small communities together, such as volunteer fire departments, EMS and Rotary clubs.

Jones said. “If you lose them, then you have to go to a paid staff. … I guarantee you, once — or if we ever do — lose those services, then your average person is going to pay attention to it. Because, you know what? Their taxes are going to go up.

Jones added.

He said that communities should start paying attention to this issue now to avoid a future hit to their bank accounts — recruiting younger volunteers to take over and creating incentives for young volunteers.

he said.

–

SAFE Act

–

Jones co-sponsored the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act in the Assembly this spring, which Hochul signed into law on June 20. The act requires social media companies to restrict their addictive algorithmic feeds for users under 18 and also prohibits the sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling the personal data of minors except under specific exceptional circumstances.

The SAFE Act addresses concerns of parents across the state, Jones said, as well as his colleagues in the Assembly.

Jones said.

While some opponents of social media regulation argue it’s a parent’s job to regulate a child’s social media usage, not the government’s, Jones said families and the government need to work together on the issue.

he said.

He added that social media use can be for kids and adults alike.

he said.

–

Campaigning

–

Social media has affected the way politicians campaign, govern and behave, too, Jones said.

he said.

Jones added he tries to keep things light and informative on his social media pages and stay away from political fights, though it is sometimes tempting.

he said. “It’s tempting at times to get into the mud, but I think, through eight, nine campaigns now, we’ve never gone there and I don’t envision us going there, either.

Jones added.