The newly minted Border Caucus, made up of state senators who represent areas abutting Canada, is already hard at work, penning a letter in objection to a federal plan to charge $5.50 for every boat or airplane traveler from Canada or Mexico.

They wrote a letter to U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, to "express our strong disapproval."

The letter is below. You may notice that the one Democrat on the Border Caucus, Sen. Timothy Kennedy of Buffalo, is not a signatory (Sen. David Valesky is an IDCer).

That naturally piqued my curiosity. A spokesman for state Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, told me that Mr. Kennedy hadn't gotten back to them in time before the letter went out.

A spokesman for Mr. Kennedy, though, said that they decided to go their own way, sending a WNY-specific letter.

Seems like we need to work on some cross-aisle partnerships while we're working on those cross-border partnerships. But hey, I'm sure it's all just innocent happenstance.

Here's the letter.

International Border Caucus Re Canadian Visitor Tax

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