As I prepare to enter my first legislative session in the New York state Assembly, I carry with me the voices, concerns and aspirations of the people who call the North Country home. Our region’s challenges are well known: rising costs, strained infrastructure, workforce shortages, housing pressures and the ongoing struggle for fair recognition and investment from Albany and Washington. But I reject the idea that these challenges define us. What defines us is how we meet them, together.

We can dwell on the inequities we’ve faced, or we can roll up our sleeves and get to work. I choose the work. And I choose it because every day across our communities and the greater North Country, countless people are already doing just that. From small business owners to educators, from first responders to farmers, from local leaders to volunteers, this region is powered by individuals deeply invested in its future. They are not waiting for someone else to fix problems; they are tackling what they can with the tools they have. What they need now are the resources, support and attention that allow them to go further. That is the work I am heading to Albany to fight for.

I enter this session with a practical lens. Not rose-colored ones. No single lawmaker, no matter how determined, will solve every issue. Meaningful progress is built through collaboration, persistence and building coalitions grounded in respect and shared purpose. My role is to amplify our needs, build bridges, and educate partners across the state, because the North Country’s success strengthens New York’s success.

If there is one truth I know about the 115th Assembly District, it’s that we are resourceful. Our greatest asset is not a single industry, institution, or program. It is the people who choose to live here, work here, raise families here, study here and invest their futures here. Our communities are resilient not because we have had it easy, but because we have learned how to adapt, innovate and persevere.

Yet it is also true that our region has not always received its fair share. Rural communities like ours have too often been overlooked in state budget and policy debates. We face unique challenges that are difficult to address with cookie-cutter solutions and we have not always been given the opportunity to meet these challenges with models that will work here in the North Country. That must change and I intend to help change it.

My guiding philosophy is straightforward … Plan the work. Work the plan. As your representative, I will operate on a continuum listening first, learning second and leading with intention. Accessible leadership matters. Government only works when people can reach it, question it, shape it and trust it. That is why I will continue meeting with folks from all perspectives and begin a series of town halls early in the new year.

We won’t always agree. That is the reality of an honest, functioning democracy. But we cannot allow disagreements to become dysfunctional. The North Country’s needs are not a single issue, nor are they partisan. When we move beyond the politics of blame and focus on solutions, even those we have yet to discover, we create space to keep progress moving forward.

As I enter the session, affordability is front and center. Hardworking families and small businesses keep the North Country vibrant, yet costs continue to climb. That is why I introduced my first bill to stabilize electric costs for New Yorkers by restricting unreasonable rate and fee increases and establishing stronger auditing and enforcement powers. We must also expand access to affordable childcare, prioritize housing affordability for renters, first-time homebuyers and seniors, and cut unnecessary red tape that burdens small businesses. A healthy regional economy must lift everyone.

Safety must remain a right, not a luxury. We must support the police officers, first responders and corrections professionals who protect our communities. I am unwavering in my belief that all state employees deserve safe work environments. We must also stem the flow of opioids into our communities while strengthening addiction, treatment and recovery services. A safer North Country is a stronger North Country.

And we must safeguard the future our children will inherit. That means protecting rural healthcare from harmful federal cuts, investing in our public schools and the trades, repairing roads, bridges and water systems, and ensuring every household, no matter how rural, has access to affordable, reliable broadband.

These investments are not merely repairs. They are commitments to the generations who have built their lives here and to those who will follow. This work will take all of us, united in a common purpose. And while it will not happen overnight, the work continues.

This is our home. This is our fight. And this is our future.

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Michael Cashman is the Assemblyman representing the 115th District which includes Clinton and Franklin counties and portions of Essex County.