SAUGERTIES – Throughout Pat Ryan’s 18th Congressional District, in Orange, Ulster and Dutchess counties, there are many economic issues that affect his nearly one million constituents.
There are incremental increases at stores rarely noticed because of the infrequency of some purchases, and then there are needs like gasoline that are glaring due to recent global energy markets responding to President Trump’s comments after he went to war with Iran about six weeks ago.
And Ryan, as the guest speaker Thursday at the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce monthly breakfast, wondered aloud to business owners at a packed banquet hall at Diamond Mills about their prospects in Trump’s tariffed economy.
“Feeling like life is more affordable right now?” he asked. “Anybody want to raise their hand?” No hands were raised. “Okay,” he said, “that’s what I thought.”
Inflation and affordability, which will be streaming in opposite directions for months to come, have become a federal issue, according to Ryan.
“I think this a big and hard problem that obviously the government can’t fully solve in its own,” said Ryan. “But what we have, unfortunately the federal government, I think, has compounded the problem rather than alleviated the problem. And that’s incredibly frustrating.”
So now Ryan said he’s working to take the sting away at the checkout counter by working with Republican Mike Lawler, of the 17th Congressional District, in a bipartisan manner during these partisan times.
“(It’s) called the Lowering Grocery Prices Act to try and really wrap our arms around what continues to drive up food costs and how do we actually bring them down,” he said. “That is growing in bipartisan support and sponsorship, and we’re trying to push that through.”
The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 that Trump’s tariffs are not constitutional, and Ryan said he’s working on proposed legislation called the Small Business Relief Act to blunt the effects of those obstacles imposed on the economy.
“That is focused on ensuring there are no more tariffs for small businesses and getting and figuring out how to get that money back to you all,” he said.
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