Among the bills delivered to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for approval this week are those renaming two bridges in Randolph in honor of Sgt. David Lockwood and Corp. William James Hillard.

Both pieces of legislation were sponsored by Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, and Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, and were passed with overwhelming bipartisan support earlier this year.

Lockwood was a decorated war hero and veteran of the Vietnam Conflict. He was a recipient of the Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Service Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters, Silver Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Expert Rifle (M-14) Badge. Lockwood graduated from Randolph Central School and attended Jamestown Community College before being drafted into the U.S. Army.

Lockwood returned to Chautauqua County after his service and eventually graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He passed away in 2018, leaving behind his wife, Patricia, two daughters and four grandchildren. The Randolph Town Board approved a resolution in 2020 asking to have the bridge named after Lockwood.

The bridge crosses over Schoolhouse Road in Randolph.

“Today’s particularly interesting because the bridge on this road that will be part of the naming of this route, was actually a project that Sgt. Lockwood worked on as an engineer,” Borrello said on the Senate floor.

“He actually had a hand in building the bridge that will now bear his name.”

Hillard was born on March 1, 1948, and killed in action in Vietnam on March 15, 1969. He was a June 1966 graduate of Randolph Central School and sang in the school choir.

Hillard was a construction equipment repairman with Company B, 26th Engineer Battalion, at Chu Lai. The 26th Engineers were combat engineers who supported the 23rd Infantry Division and Vietnamese forces operating in the I Corps area. The 26th Engineers were also known as the “White Lions.”

Before Vietnam, Hillard was a Peace Corps volunteer, trained at the University of California-Davis, and sent to Maharashtra, India, in February 1967 as part of the India 41 food production project. He was sent into a remote rural area alone without a working knowledge of the language. He returned in October 1967. Two months later, on Dec. 9, 1967, he married the former Rosemary Brain of Randolph.

Hillard earned the Purple Heart and two Bronze Star Medals with one oak leaf cluster. His other awards included the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal with 60 date bar, the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

The bridge that will be renamed for Hillard is the I-86 bridge over Main Street in Randolph.

“In peacetime and in war, Corp. Hillard devoted his young life to serving others and to serving his country,” Borrello said on the Senate floor. “He embodied the ideals of honor, duty and courage which exemplify men and women who serve in our nation’s armed forces.”

Other legislation sent to Cuomo for approval this week include:

¯ A.2355/S.1042 to change the way the state calculates partial unemployment. Under current law, unemployed New Yorkers’ weekly benefits are reduced by 25% for each day an individual works, regardless of the hours worked. Anyone who worked four or more days — even if they only worked one hour per day — would have to forfeit their entire weekly benefit.

The legislation would change the current system by basing unemployment benefits on weekly earnings rather than the number of days worked during a week.

“All three or four of the states surrounding us, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey all have this type of system, and it’s been proven that by being in the workforce, out working part-time jobs, you (get) a full-time job much sooner than you do if you’re just sitting home watching TV,” said Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-North Syracuse and sponsor of the bill in the Assembly. “So, it has been, you know, I think it’s 15% or 18% quicker with people getting off unemployment insurance. And when you do reduce the amount of your unemployment benefit by the amount over 50% of your benefit, you are stressing the Unemployment Trust Fund much less. So, there are several ways that it helps businesses.”

While several Republicans voted with Democrats on the bill, Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, was one of 20 Republicans to vote against it in late January. Goodell’s issue with the bill hasn’t wavered in several floor debates — that dollar-for-dollar deductions once someone earns a certain amount can provide a disincentive to work more.

“And so, this bill sets up a somewhat of a perverse financial incentive,” Goodell said. “It says to employees, get a part-time job but make sure you don’t make more than you’re making on unemployment, because if you get a part-time job and you make less than unemployment, you keep 100 percent of the income. And if you earn more, you lose 100 percent. It just doesn’t make sense. So, strongly support the concept, but it needs to be balanced. And we’ve offered legislation that makes that balance and, unfortunately, this legislation doesn’t accomplish that. Love to work with the sponsor to support that concept, but am constrained to vote against this particular version.”