LAKE PLACID — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, Friday visited the Mirror Lake Beach House to promote her recently introduced legislation — the Rebuild Rural America Act of 2023 — to invest $50 billion in rural economic development, infrastructure, schools, hospitals and small businesses.

The bill — co-sponsored by senators Tina Smith of Minnesota and Dick Durbin of Illinois — is designed to address the challenges specific to rural America and make it easier for rural communities to access federal funding and other resources.

“New York’s rural communities face a variety of unique challenges, but too often, the federal government has failed to adequately support them,” Gillibrand said. “My Rebuild Rural America Act will invest $50 billion into rural America to help communities build schools, expand child care access, catalyze private investment, train workers for in-demand jobs, and bolster critical infrastructure. I look forward to getting this legislation passed in the Farm Bill this year.”

Joining Gillibrand in Friday’s announcement were village Mayor Art Devlin, Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake), Adirondack North Country Association Executive Director Elizabeth Cooper and Lake Placid’s Jim McKenna, who is the CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism and co-chair of the North Country Regional Economic Development Council.

Read the full story in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.