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100 days in office approaches for Murphy
  
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By Jamie Larson
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
COLUMBIA COUNTY — U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-20th District, spent Wednesday, two days before his 100th day in office, making appearances in Columbia County talking business, the environment, and the health care debate, to mark the symbolic political milestone.
Murphy started the day at the groundbreaking of Harrier Hill Park in Stockport, then headed to Greenport for a tour of the recently operational Local Ocean fish farm, and finally sat down to issues affecting the county with the Register-Star at his southern district office on Warren Street in Hudson.
After his appearance in Stockport, Murphy said seeing land preservation facilitated by private groups, as opposed to government, is an effective way to get the job done.
“As we’ve seen over time and all over the county, there was a lot of developmental sprawl,” Murphy said, “and people are really responding to that and trying to find balance. We want to be able to have space to develop new manufacturing and new retail and housing but at the same time I think it’s important to preserve some green space in an organized way. It’s exciting to be a part of one that’s been successful.”
Murphy continued that he loves to see people not just relying on government to fund these types of projects but going out and raising money on their own for environmental projects they care about.
Local Ocean in Greenport, Murphy’s next stop, is a start-up indoor Mediterranean saltwater fish farm, housed in a rehabbed Kaz Industries warehouse. They recently received their first batch of baby fish, and the congressman along with Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, toured the sterile tanks holding the tiny fish in a lab of the main tank room.
Local Ocean Vice President Raymond Mizrahi said the tiny fish will be platter sized in a little more then four months. “Aquaculture is a whole other world.” Murphy said, “It’s farming but it requires a lot of very careful maintenance.”
The techniques used at Local Ocean are state of the art, and the first time ever used in the United States. There is only one other operation in the world like it in Israel. Baer said it’s encouraging to see a a new business taking root in the county, and says it should provide incentive for other businesses to come to Columbia County.
Murphy said it’s important to see the start-ups in his district first hand because, “When you go talk to the entrepreneurs, the people that are building the businesses, and you see their facilities, you just get a much better sense of what’s actually going on,” Murphy said, “you can talk about it in a board room or a meeting space all you want but when you get out and see it it’s just dramatically different. It’s a great kind of business here. We want to preserve our rural heritage here in Columbia County and the 20th District. Aquaculture is a part of that but at the same time its got some proprietary technology that can make a very profitable business.”
Murphy said there’s a natural market for this and because it’s providing a service that isn’t available elsewhere, there is the potential to grow to a large size and be a profitable and job-creating enterprise.
As a first time congressman who got elected on a message of creating jobs, Murphy discussed the tools at his disposal to help a small business like Local Ocean.
“There’s a whole range of stuff that me and my office can do in regards to helping small business. The Local Ocean guys have to work with the FDA and USDA and DEC to get permitted to do this and we can help put them in touch with the right people to do that.”
An issue facing small business, the county and the nation, is the raging debate in Congress over how to reshape the health care system. Murphy had some disagreements with President Barack Obama’s initial plan and discussed where their ideas differ as well as agree. “The president and I are very close in terms of what we’re trying to do in terms of health care, in terms of ways to control cost without harming quality, that’s the key to providing access. We have 50 million Americans without health care through an insurance plan primarily because they can’t afford it,” Murphy said, “I know how important it is for small businesses to have affordable quality health care for their employees. They’re almost all wanting to provide health insurance for their workers but it’s very hard in New York for small businesses, particularly those with 50 or less employees, to get affordable health care the way our system is set up.”
“The first draft of the House bill that we saw five weeks ago, I thought had a pretty good mechanism for providing a basic plan for help from the government for people that can’t afford it at all,” He continued, “but I didn’t think it went nearly far enough in terms of reforming the system to lower costs as much as we can. There are a number of things that we can do with respect to administrative reform, to make it simpler for doctors and hospitals to bill and get paid.”
Murphy says he has not yet come to the conclusion that a single payer plan is the way to go, He believes that there needs to be more competition in the health care market place, bringing in simpler plans that are more competitive, saying that this would drive costs down in the industry. He would also like to see reform of the current payment model, saying that currently patients are rushed through doctors offices so that money flows quickly. He says the focus should be put on paying doctors for making people well, which he says physicians tell him they would prefer. “They want to work towards good outcomes as opposed to making as many transactions as they possibly can.”
Murphy said the first draft of the bill didn’t do enough to address these issues. He also does not believe that existing insurance companies need to be completely restructured. “If your happy with the health care you have right now,” He said, “there’s no reason to change that. I don’t think we need to blow up the part of the system that’s working right now. If their happy with their current system they can do that, if not try and make some affordable options for them to chose something different.”
Murphy said the health care debate has been the most complex and challenging issue he has faced in his first hundred days. Given the history of health care reform legislation in America it will continue to be well into the rest of his term.
Those who missed the Murphy show in Columbia County Wednesday can catch the Saturday matinee at 11 a.m., when he holds a “Congress on Your Corner” event at Golden Harvest Farm in Kinderhook.
To reach reporter Jamie Larson call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
Murphy started the day at the groundbreaking of Harrier Hill Park in Stockport, then headed to Greenport for a tour of the recently operational Local Ocean fish farm, and finally sat down to issues affecting the county with the Register-Star at his southern district office on Warren Street in Hudson.
After his appearance in Stockport, Murphy said seeing land preservation facilitated by private groups, as opposed to government, is an effective way to get the job done.
“As we’ve seen over time and all over the county, there was a lot of developmental sprawl,” Murphy said, “and people are really responding to that and trying to find balance. We want to be able to have space to develop new manufacturing and new retail and housing but at the same time I think it’s important to preserve some green space in an organized way. It’s exciting to be a part of one that’s been successful.”
Murphy continued that he loves to see people not just relying on government to fund these types of projects but going out and raising money on their own for environmental projects they care about.
Local Ocean in Greenport, Murphy’s next stop, is a start-up indoor Mediterranean saltwater fish farm, housed in a rehabbed Kaz Industries warehouse. They recently received their first batch of baby fish, and the congressman along with Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, toured the sterile tanks holding the tiny fish in a lab of the main tank room.
Local Ocean Vice President Raymond Mizrahi said the tiny fish will be platter sized in a little more then four months. “Aquaculture is a whole other world.” Murphy said, “It’s farming but it requires a lot of very careful maintenance.”
The techniques used at Local Ocean are state of the art, and the first time ever used in the United States. There is only one other operation in the world like it in Israel. Baer said it’s encouraging to see a a new business taking root in the county, and says it should provide incentive for other businesses to come to Columbia County.
Murphy said it’s important to see the start-ups in his district first hand because, “When you go talk to the entrepreneurs, the people that are building the businesses, and you see their facilities, you just get a much better sense of what’s actually going on,” Murphy said, “you can talk about it in a board room or a meeting space all you want but when you get out and see it it’s just dramatically different. It’s a great kind of business here. We want to preserve our rural heritage here in Columbia County and the 20th District. Aquaculture is a part of that but at the same time its got some proprietary technology that can make a very profitable business.”
Murphy said there’s a natural market for this and because it’s providing a service that isn’t available elsewhere, there is the potential to grow to a large size and be a profitable and job-creating enterprise.
As a first time congressman who got elected on a message of creating jobs, Murphy discussed the tools at his disposal to help a small business like Local Ocean.
“There’s a whole range of stuff that me and my office can do in regards to helping small business. The Local Ocean guys have to work with the FDA and USDA and DEC to get permitted to do this and we can help put them in touch with the right people to do that.”
An issue facing small business, the county and the nation, is the raging debate in Congress over how to reshape the health care system. Murphy had some disagreements with President Barack Obama’s initial plan and discussed where their ideas differ as well as agree. “The president and I are very close in terms of what we’re trying to do in terms of health care, in terms of ways to control cost without harming quality, that’s the key to providing access. We have 50 million Americans without health care through an insurance plan primarily because they can’t afford it,” Murphy said, “I know how important it is for small businesses to have affordable quality health care for their employees. They’re almost all wanting to provide health insurance for their workers but it’s very hard in New York for small businesses, particularly those with 50 or less employees, to get affordable health care the way our system is set up.”
“The first draft of the House bill that we saw five weeks ago, I thought had a pretty good mechanism for providing a basic plan for help from the government for people that can’t afford it at all,” He continued, “but I didn’t think it went nearly far enough in terms of reforming the system to lower costs as much as we can. There are a number of things that we can do with respect to administrative reform, to make it simpler for doctors and hospitals to bill and get paid.”
Murphy says he has not yet come to the conclusion that a single payer plan is the way to go, He believes that there needs to be more competition in the health care market place, bringing in simpler plans that are more competitive, saying that this would drive costs down in the industry. He would also like to see reform of the current payment model, saying that currently patients are rushed through doctors offices so that money flows quickly. He says the focus should be put on paying doctors for making people well, which he says physicians tell him they would prefer. “They want to work towards good outcomes as opposed to making as many transactions as they possibly can.”
Murphy said the first draft of the bill didn’t do enough to address these issues. He also does not believe that existing insurance companies need to be completely restructured. “If your happy with the health care you have right now,” He said, “there’s no reason to change that. I don’t think we need to blow up the part of the system that’s working right now. If their happy with their current system they can do that, if not try and make some affordable options for them to chose something different.”
Murphy said the health care debate has been the most complex and challenging issue he has faced in his first hundred days. Given the history of health care reform legislation in America it will continue to be well into the rest of his term.
Those who missed the Murphy show in Columbia County Wednesday can catch the Saturday matinee at 11 a.m., when he holds a “Congress on Your Corner” event at Golden Harvest Farm in Kinderhook.
To reach reporter Jamie Larson call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
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