Western New York representatives in the New York State Legislature are urging Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to divest the state pension fund from any Russian-owned businesses or those who do business with that nation.
State Sens. Tim Kennedy and Sean Ryan and Assemblymembers Bill Conrad and Jon Rivera joined representatives of the local Ukrainian-American community inside the Ukrainian-American Civic Center in Buffalo to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine and call on the state to increase its economic pressure on the Russian Federation.
Earlier this week, DiNapoli announced the state would bar any new investment, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the legislators appearing together Friday say Albany should take it further.
“We need to strike back in the pocketbooks of tyrannical people,” said Rivera. “This is one step closer, and this is going to be just one more thing that we're going to be doing in our role to prevent more death, more, the more grave attack on our democracy.”
The Buffalo gathering came on the same day that a bipartisan group of 31 state senators sent a letter to DiNapoli urging further action. Ryan and Kennedy are among those co-signing the letter.
Joining the local legislators was Yuri Hreshchyshyn, chair of the Buffalo chapter of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
“We all have to stand together against this criminal kleptocracy that's rooted in the Kremlin in Moscow,” Hreschchyshyn said. “And in this case, this does not have to hurt. There are plenty of American businesses, New York businesses that we can invest in. And this money needs to come out of any kind of interest in Russia and back to the United States.”
He acknowledged higher oil prices, an in turn higher gasoline prices. Some local gas stations were selling at $4.00 per gallon as of Friday morning. But Hreschchyshyn says meanwhile, 15,000 Ukrainian men and women had died to date, and the situation was growing only worse.
“They're all steered by Mr. Putin in Moscow. He needs to be taken down. He's gone crazy, without a doubt,” he said. “The nuclear issue is a great concern. If somebody in Russia doesn't take a stance against this criminal enterprise, we may all be facing very, very dire consequences.”
During a separate appearance in Buffalo Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul expressed her support for full divestment from Russian entities.
“I called for divestment as well as ensuring that there are no state contracts whatsoever with any Russian companies. I said as one of the largest economies largest GDPs in the world, New York State has an important voice,” Hochul said. “And we're going to add our weight to the economic sanctions that have been imposed onto Russia in the hopes that they will understand the folly of what they're doing, that this will impair their ability to be the economic powerhouse they once were. This is going to be a severe economic consequences and we will do our part to stand in defense of freedom, and to support the individuals who are out there on the front line defending those same values that we share as New Yorkers.”
Hochul has also repeatedly spoken of welcoming Ukrainian refugees to New York. Ryan says legislators are working to secure more financial support for the agencies who assist refugees.
“We're going to make sure that additional funding for the refugee resettlement agencies will be prioritized in this year's budget, and that the money goes to places like Journey's End, Jewish Family Services, Catholic Charities and these other places that have been resettling people in our communities for generations,” Ryan said.
