By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
Incumbent Assemblyman Chris Tague, R-102, is seeking re-election to his third full term in the state Assembly on Election Day.
“I was born and raised in Schoharie — I was a dairy farmer,” Tague said. “I sold my cows in 1993 and went to work for Cobleskill Stone Products where I worked my way from a laborer up to general manager for the company. When I was elected in a special election for the state Assembly in April 2018, I retired from my position at Cobleskill Stone, so I do this full-time.”
Tague graduated from Schoharie Central School District and until the last session in the Assembly, had been the only member of either the state Senate or Assembly to graduate from a BOCES program.
He decided to get involved in state government as a way of ensuring rural communities receive their fair share.
“I did very well for myself and my family. I was just fed up with what was going on in our state and felt that rural upstate New York has been underserved and their voices weren’t heard,” Tague said. “I decided to run for the Assembly and I was successful. My main thing has been making sure that rural upstate New York has a voice and a seat at the table.”
During his time in office, Tague said one of his accomplishments he is most proud of is working on agricultural issues.
“I am the ranking member on the state Assembly Committee on Agriculture, and I think during the COVID crisis a lot of the information I put together in a bill out of my Food Insecurity/Farm Resiliency program ended up being what we now call the Nourish NY program,” Tague said. “Also, the fact that I have been fighting to get whole milk put back in our schools — that is another area. Leader [William] Barclay and I are co-sponsors of the Inflation Reduction Plan, which would help our small businesses, help our communities, help our senior citizens.”
Tague has also worked to bring rural issues to his downstate colleagues, he said.
“Probably the biggest thing is realizing that a lot of our suburban and city members in the state Assembly and the Senate are not familiar with rural upstate New York nor how important agriculture is,” Tague said. “I have done my ‘farm tour’ — this year was the fifth farm tour that we did.”
The annual tour brings together lawmakers from across the state, students involved in 4H and FFA (Future Farmers of America), local and state farm bureaus, and other agriculture-based entities for a tour to learn the needs and challenges farmers face.
“The Farm Laborers Wage Board is a perfect example of an ill-advised program,” Tague said, referring to a state decision to reduce the threshold at which farmers must pay overtime to their workers from 60 hours to 40 hours.
“Many of the folks that were in favor of it in the majority, from New York City, have since changed their mind and a lot of them tell me it was because they went on my farm tour and they spoke to the farmers personally, and now they get it,” he said.
Tague said when he first ran for office, he was told he would not be able to get much done as a Republican because he was in the minority party.
“I disagree. I have brought in anywhere from a half a million to a million dollars in funding for local libraries, school libraries, school funding,” he said. “In Greene County, we brought in funding for the county office building to make it accessible to folks who are handicapped. I was able to secure money for the Thruway exit in Catskill.”
Tague added he has secured funding for numerous projects, including monies allocated to school districts, funds to help build a new firehouse in Schoharie County, and for other organizations in the 102nd Assembly District.
“As far as the funding end goes, I think I have been able to do as much as just about any other member and I have tried to put it where I think it counts the most,” he added.
With inflation and gas prices remaining high, Tague said economic growth can be spurred by building on one of the district’s most viable industries — agriculture.
“We need to embrace agriculture,” he said. “Agriculture is still the number one economic driver in upstate New York.”
Broadband is another key issue Tague wants to continue focusing on. There are still many areas that are underserved, he said, and lack of broadband access can pose a safety and security issue as well as being a necessary function of daily life.
“Broadband in today’s world is a necessity because people don’t have landlines anymore,” he said. “When you have an emergency and you have to get in your vehicle to drive three miles down the road to call 911, that’s a serious issue.”
Tague said he has reached across the aisle to work with his Democratic colleagues in the area to secure funding for broadband.
As the nation continues to grapple with issues related to abortion and reproductive rights, Tague said he does not believe the issue will impact residents in New York, where he says abortion rights are safe.
“I am pro-life — I was born and raised a devout Irish Catholic, however I feel that somebody that has been raped or has gone through sexual abuse or incest, I believe they should have a choice — between them and their doctor — whether to have an abortion,” Tague said. “I also believe that if the mother or the child has a life-threatening situation, that between her and the doctor they should be able to make that choice. I don’t believe that anything in New York is ever going to change. Right now, abortion is legal up until the day of birth. That’s not going to change — it has been codified here in New York.”
He does believe late-term abortions should not be allowed, except in cases of rape, incest or a life-threatening situation.
Tague said he does not support a federal abortion ban.
“I think it’s nowhere near the business of the federal government to be making those kinds of decisions for all the states,” he said. “I actually believe the Supreme Court got it right — I think shifting it back to the states was the right decision and I don’t understand why anyone else doesn’t see it that way.”
Watch the full interview with Republican candidate Chris Tague, running for re-election to the 102nd Assembly District, at https://theupstater.com/interview-assemblyman-chris-tague/
Election Day will be Nov. 8.
