Eroding local control: the danger of Albany’s power grabs

Yet again, Democrats have used the cover of darkness to trample on local communities’ rights and voices. In the dead of night, legislators from the majority slipped through a sweeping piece of legislation called the Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment, or RAPID, Act, under the guise of streamlining the approval process for major renewable-energy and electric-transmission facilities.

The bill would grant the kleptocrats in the Capitol a trump card, allowing them to force projects on New Yorkers. Sound familiar? Remember the failed Hochul-control housing power grab? Or the failed Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act power grab?

The RAPID Act would strip municipalities and elected officials of their control, putting decisions about the siting and development of massive renewable-energy facilities in the hands of the Albany supermajority. It would establish a single forum for reviewing and permitting projects, leaving towns and villages with little more than a token role in the process.

I support the growth of renewable energy, but we cannot sacrifice our safety, health, or communities to satisfy the desires of unelected bureaucrats sitting in an office in Albany drawing lines on a map. Albany doesn’t know what’s best for our community; we, the people of Long Island, know what’s best for our communities. We understand the unique needs of our environment, our infrastructure and our quality of life.

One of the most alarming aspects of the RAPID Act is how it would impose additional burdens on our communities while simultaneously being empowered to ignore them. If a municipality raised concerns about compliance, the state could hold a hearing, but ultimately, the Office of Renewable Energy Siting would have the authority to overrule local regulations. RAPID would shift the burden of ensuring compliance with laws and regulations, but would strip away their power to enforce those laws. This is not genuine consultation; it’s a bureaucratic charade designed to placate communities while Albany seizes control.

Under the RAPID Act, municipalities would be prohibited from requiring renewable-energy developers to obtain local permits, consents, or agreements typically necessary for projects of this magnitude. This would include road use agreements and other local safeguards that protect our communities’ infrastructure and environment. In essence, our towns and villages would be sidelined while Albany dictated the terms.

It’s not surprising that Democrats are resorting to cloak-and-dagger tactics to seize more control. None of the proposals that steal control from elected officials and give them to the bureaucracy — such as the Faith-Based Housing Act and Hochul’s failed Mao-esque land grab — have survived transparency, so the only way to disenfranchise New Yorkers is to do so secretly. We would never stand for the stripping of our God-given democratic rights, and so we were denied the right to have our voices heard.

Our towns and villages aren’t just places on a map; they are where we raise our families, build our businesses, and enjoy our quality of life. The RAPID Act threatens to change all that by erasing the local control that has protected our communities for generations, and turning our communities into nothing more than dots on a bureaucrat’s map. Where we see a park where our children play, Hochul’s minions see a dot. A wetland nature preserve that protects surrounding communities from flooding? Another dot. A church, a synagogue, a mosque? Just one more dot on a map.

We must ask ourselves: Who is better equipped to make decisions about our future? Local officials who know and care about our community, or bureaucrats in Albany who view us as just another point on a spreadsheet? We need renewable energy, but it must be implemented in a way that respects the voices of the people who live here.

In the Assembly, I will continue to fight Albany Democrats against the erosion of local control. We, the people of Long Island, deserve to have our voices heard.

Jake Blumencranz represents the 15th Assembly District.