Letter to the Editor From Senator Flanagan Regarding New York State Budget
April 7, 2009
Dear Editor: On Friday, the New York State Senate Majority followed the lead of the Assembly and put the final touches on the worst budget that our state has ever seen. As the representative for the 2ND Senate District, I voted no to every component of this budget because it is bad for Long Island, bad for those who work and bad for anyone who owns a home.
What I, along with my Senate Republican colleagues, did vote yes for were some budget amendments that would have made the budget more acceptable for Long Islanders. All that was needed was for a couple of Democratic members to join with us in our efforts to protect our residents. Unfortunately, none of the Democratic members of the Senate – including those who represent Long Island - joined our efforts and wasted the opportunity to restore the property tax rebate program, remove of costly income tax increases and eliminate taxes and fees that will increase our cost of living.
Of greater importance to those who failed to join our efforts to protect Long Islanders was keeping the changes to the Rockefeller Drug Laws in the budget. The budget that they silently approved is more concerned with protecting drug dealers than protecting the taxpayers of Long Island.
There was a better way and that is why I joined with my colleagues to offer the Better Plan for New York in early March. This is a plan that would tax less, spend less and create needed jobs. But, due to the lack of openness during this process, this plan was never even discussed in public. To be clear, no part of the budget that was crafted by three New York City politicians without any input from the rank-and-file legislators was debated publicly by any legislator from either party.
Instead this budget plan, which will increase state spending to $132 billion, was put together in secret by Governor Paterson, Speaker Silver and Majority Leader Malcolm Smith. These discussions were so closed that most members of the Legislature were kept in the dark regarding the year-to-year spending increase of $10.5 billion or nearly 10 percent which is 7 times above the rate of inflation and approved with very little detail.
Clearly, the state has failed this time but we need to look at today as a new start for the good of all New York. There is still much work to do to overcome our current economic issues and it is time to put party aside.
I am still ready to work with my Senate colleagues from every party because our residents deserve better than the budget that was just passed. And I invite everyone to visit my website at www.senatorflanagan.com to send me an e-mail or to call my office at 631-361-2154 to offer their input because, unlike how this process was undertaken, we need everyone’s voice to come up with the best plan for our future.
Sincerely,
John J. Flanagan
New York State Senator, 2nd District
Posted by News LI Editor · Filed Under Politics
Have a press release or local story you would like us to review? Let us know about it!
| You can Bookmark & Share this page by clicking here: |
|
More Long Island News
-
Long Island Exchange is the leading resource on Long Island New York for news and business. Find Long Island news, check local weather, real estate, classifieds, and auto dealer listings for Long Island.
News Comments for this Article
Got something to say? Be sure you've read and understand our (Terms of Service)
You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. More...
