Every decade the state goes through the highly political process of redrawing district lines for the state legislature. This year, the process has left many in Ulster County upset, after Senate lines carved up the county. Our Beth Croughan has more.

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NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- Right now, Ulster County has two State Senators: John Bonacic and Bill Larkin. But if the state commission charged with drawing the lines, LATFOR, has its way, there will be four different state senators in the county.

"That's simply bad representation and bad government," explained New Paltz Central School District Board of Education Trustee Daniel Torres.

Torres said the proposed lines will hurt schools in the area, because they’ll no longer have one advocate to go to with their problems. This week, he took the issue to his fellow trustees who passed a resolution voicing disapproval with the lines, sending a copy straight to Albany.

"Albany has a lot to do with the school districts. And we look for our legislators to help us, to get us funding, when we have issues," Torres explained.

Torres is not the only one upset with the lines. The head of SUNY New Paltz’s Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach, Dr. Gerald Benjamin, also said Ulster County will lose influence in Albany if this plan goes forward. And he doesn’t see why the county couldn’t serve as a significant portion of a senate district.

"What this does is closes down the opportunity to have a Senator from our county, I live in Ulster County, from our county for at least a decade," Benjamin explained. "So we come to ask the question, why are we the step child of redistricting in Ulster County?"

LATFOR is currently holding hearings on the proposed lines. After that, they put the final maps before lawmakers. And if passed, they would go to the Governor who says he will veto the lines unless they are vastly changed from this first proposal.