Eric Massa was joined by Chairman Collin Peterson [MN-7] of the House Agriculture Committee at news conference that address agriculture, the Binghamton shootings and broadband.
Massa began the conference by noting that the budget that passed the House removed did not have the $500K gross revenue limit on agriculture subsidies. After some other remarks, Rep Peterson joined the call. He spoke about Massa's role in changing the proposed revenue limit on recipients of farm subsidies, characterizing Massa as someone who "stepped up to the plate" to address problems with the bill.
Peterson noted that the issue was simple. As drafted, the budget limited subsidies to farmers with $500K or less gross income. Because farming is a high-expense, low-profit business, the budget should have limited adjusted gross income (AGI). The final bill reflects that change.
At the start of the conference, Massa also mentioned the recent mass murder in Binghamton, and cautioned against a "sprint" to find new laws to address the issues raised there. When pressed by a Buffalo News reporter, Massa noted that the Binghamton shooter had licensed weapons and that he doesn't favor any expansion of current gun control laws when they aren't being enforced.
I asked Massa two questions about broadband. First, in the rural areas of the 29th, how is the infrastructure going to be built to get those areas updated? In the urban area, what can be done to combat monopolistic pricing practices of providers like Time-Warner?
Massa said that the rural issue was being addressed in the 29th by funding in the recent Stimulus bill. Projects in Canandaigua and Cattaraugus, Chemung and Schuyler counties have being funded to bring broadband to those rural areas.
In Rochester, Massa said that the monopolistic practices of providers are "very much on our radar". He doesn't have a specific plan yet, but he plans to work across party lines to engage the issue, and that we should "stand by" for more information.