Brian’s top priority in Congress is fostering economic development in Western New York and bringing jobs to the hardworking people of Western New York. He firmly believes that with hard work, determination, and focus, our region’s best days are ahead of us.
Brian is leading the fight for sustainable economic growth throughout Western New York. In calling upon regional leaders to recognize the development fatigue impacting the area, he is setting a new standard for quality project management and completion. Brian's “use it or lose it” approach acknowledges the need for efficient expenditure of development funding during these tight fiscal times.
In the 110th Congress, Brian was named Co-Chair of the Revitalizing Older Cities Task Force in the House of Representatives. The Task Force was formed to assist older industrial cities like Buffalo that are struggling with the changing economy. The Task Force is taking a proactive look at a wide cross-section of issues to promote federal policies that inject opportunity and optimism into regions like Western New York.
One of the first issues the task force took on was the issue of vacant housing, an issue of particular importance to the City of Buffalo. Through decades of industrial decline, civic disinvestment, and suburban decentralization, the neighborhoods surrounding Buffalo’s urban nucleus have hollowed out. Block after block is riddled with chronically vacant homes, many which have been abandoned for years. There has been little practical guidance from the federal government on this issue, forcing local stakeholders to deal with the problem amidst decreased federal funding.
Brian has taken the challenge of vacant housing head on. Accompanied by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate, Brian introduced H.R. 3498, the Neighborhood Reclamation and Revitalization Act. This bill would provide micro-targeting grants for vulnerable neighborhoods so local officials can address the vacant housing problem one block at a time. Brian believes that by addressing the vacant housing problem in a collaborative way that includes local government officials, community groups, block club and the like, the citizens of Buffalo and the inner ring suburbs can take back and stabilize their neighborhoods.
