Assemblyman Angelino represents the 121st  Assembly District, which includes parts of Broome County, Delaware County, Madison County, Chenango County and Otsego County. Follow Assemblyman Angelino on Facebook. (File photo)

As we head into June, the legislative session is finally wrapping up here in Albany. I know many of you will be breathing a sigh of relief because that means the Legislature cannot pass any more legislation that hurts New Yorkers, but I urge you to pay attention in the coming weeks because this is when the Majority, mostly from downstate, jams through their controversial legislation that directly impacts upstate.

Here are a few of the items I think I will be dealing with in the last weeks of this year’s session. The HEAT Act, which will impose more taxes on natural gas use, could also lead to job losses in the natural gas industry and increased energy costs for homeowners and businesses. Another issue is changes to prison sentences and parole reform, allowing any inmate over the age of 55 to be eligible for parole.

This brings me to my overall concern: the vast majority of bills passed in the Assembly are created and passed by people who have no ties to upstate New York. And yet, they have no problem making decisions that directly impact our communities. It would be one thing if these bills were crafted with input from upstate legislators, but often, legislation that disproportionately affects us here is written by those who, except for their trips to Albany, have never ventured north of Westchester.

Let me give you a recent example: a bill that would prohibit dairy farms from operating with more than 700 cows was introduced by Assembly and Senate Democrats. One lives in Manhattan, the other in Brooklyn. This overregulation would force even more farms in New York to close down. I’m pretty sure there aren’t any dairy farms in Manhattan. These two legislators do not have the first-hand experience to understand what this will do to our economy.

Ham-handed rule-making from New York City is shameful and outrageous. No members from upstate and certainly none from the Assembly Republican Conference, which I may add includes former dairy farmers, were asked for their input on this legislation.

This, my friends, is only the tip of the iceberg, our entire way of life is under attack by downstate legislators who don’t know upstate culture and how we operate. Imagine if we tried to dictate how New York City operated even though we don’t live there or have the experience, they would be outraged, and rightfully so. New York is a massive state with vast cultural and geographical differences, and often my colleagues from downstate either don’t seem to understand that or don’t seem to care. They would rather play politics with a place they don’t understand.

They think upstate is just empty land at their disposal to do whatever they want; they don’t know this is home to millions of hard-working New Yorkers who want to preserve their way of life. In many ways, they view residents of downstate as more important than residents of upstate. Some of my constituents I’ve talked with believe upstate New York is being used as a colony for the needs of New York City.

I invite all my colleagues from downstate to come up and visit all parts of upstate, and hopefully,

they would learn something about our way of life and our upstate values, and in doing so, maybe they would come to understand the bills they pass in Albany have a real impact on the wonderful people who call upstate home.

Before this year is over, I also predict the Legislature will be called back to Albany to modify our current $254 billion budget because of federal cuts to money allotted to New York state.

Federal dollars make up approximately 35 percent of New York’s budget.

I can only hope my downstate colleagues will understand the damage they are doing, and if they don’t, I will continue to fight for upstate every day I am in the Assembly.