This opinion piece originally appeared in The Post Standard | syracuse.com.

Throughout Central New York — from communities across Onondaga and Oswego counties to neighborhoods throughout our region — one issue rises above the rest: affordability. I hear it far too often from students stretching their grocery budgets, parents deciding which bills can wait, and small business owners trying to keep their doors open. For too many families, it’s not a matter of getting ahead, it’s a question of simply getting by. 

Just outside of my Senate district, the City of Syracuse is already contending with the nation’s highest child poverty rate among cities with more than 100,000 residents. Across the broader region, families are feeling the strain. According to a new poll by No Kid Hungry New York, a majority of Central New York residents said their physical health (55%) and their mental health (68%) have suffered due to the rising cost of food. The study also found that more than half (53%) have taken on additional debt in the past 12 months just to afford groceries. Every one of us should find these numbers unacceptable.

Putting food on the table, paying rent on time, and keeping the lights on are not luxuries. They are the basic building blocks of stability. These are not abstract challenges — they are daily realities that should shape every policy decision we make in Albany. As a lawmaker, I have a responsibility to do all I can to ensure my constituents have that stability.

But as we work to help families across Central New York, we must also confront long-term challenges including an issue of great concern: our growing waste problem. Packaging has increasingly become part of everyday life as the products we order online are delivered encased and protected to our doors. Since 1960, the amount of waste produced by Americans has more than tripled according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And we’re running out of places to put it. Not far from here in Seneca Falls, New York’s largest landfill, Seneca Meadows, has become a flashpoint as waste from across the state continues to pour in, spurring a complex debate over its future. 

For too long, the conversation in Albany has been framed as a tradeoff — suggesting that we must choose between protecting our environment and protecting affordability for working families.

For communities across Onondaga and Oswego counties, that is a false choice. We can and must do both. We need a path forward that reduces waste without driving up costs. We can’t keep advancing ideas that aim to build a more sustainable future while making life more expensive for the people we serve. Smarter waste systems reduce inefficiencies, lower long-term costs, and create more resilient local economies.

The Affordable Waste Reduction Act represents a more balanced approach. It would invest in modern recycling infrastructure, expand access for households, and strengthen markets for recycled materials, all funded by packaging producers. By improving the system first, we can reduce waste without increasing costs at the checkout line.

It’s for these reasons that I voted against an alternative bill being pushed in Albany called the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA). Independent studies show this bill would dramatically raise grocery costs for families of four to the tune of $732 per year. At the same time, it risks limiting access to everyday products and packaging that families rely on to keep food and household goods safe and affordable. For families already struggling to make ends meet—including those relying on programs like SNAP—that’s a risk we cannot take.

Small business owners across our region have also made their concerns clear. Many operate on thin margins, and new costs on manufacturers don’t just disappear, they move through the supply chain. For some businesses, that could mean raising prices, cutting staff, or struggling to stay open in an already difficult economic environment.

We must address our waste challenges, but we must do so in a way that works for families, small businesses, and our local economy. That means choosing a balanced path forward—one that delivers environmental progress without making life more expensive for the people we serve.