Alfonse D'Amato

Thank you, Senator Skelos

Posted

On May 12, eight days after turning himself in on federal corruption charges, Dean Skelos stepped down as majority leader of the State Senate.

Skelos began serving the people of the 9th Senate District, on Long Island’s South Shore, in 1985. His decision to step down came after Senate Republicans held a closed-door meeting to discuss the future of the party and the state. Stepping aside was the right decision, and the best move for the state’s Republican Party.

I’ve known Dean Skelos for almost 40 years. He was first elected to the State Assembly when I was elected to the U.S. Senate, in 1980. Long Island — especially the South Shore, where we both grew up and had roots — was important to us.

Although these are tough times, we must not forget that Skelos has been a true champion for the people of New York, especially us Long Islanders, for 35 years. During his five-year tenure as majority leader, the Senate passed five consecutive on-time budgets and ended a period of true dysfunction when New York City Democrats ran the state.

Over those five years, the state eliminated a $10 billion deficit left by the Democrats, and created a surplus. Skelos worked tirelessly to reduce taxes on the middle class and promote New York’s businesses. This led to an increase in job creation around the state and allowed the middle class to continue to live in New York, raise families and thrive here.

In addition, in 2011 Skelos enacted the historic tax cap that limits increases in local property tax levies to roughly 2 percent or the rate of inflation. This forced fiscal discipline on the local level, and has saved taxpayers thousands of dollars per year.

Skelos’s extensive list of accomplishments could match or surpass that of any elected official in the history of New York state. He took part in the creation of the STAR program, which provides New York homeowners with partial exemptions from school property taxes. In addition, he introduced the EPIC program, which helps more than 265,000 income-eligible seniors age 65 and older to supplement their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D drug plan costs.

Page 1 / 2