Assemblyman Brian Curran's wish list for 2017

By far, one of the best solutions to political corruption is the passage of term limits for all state elected officials.”

Brian Curran, Assemblyman

Now that the 2017 legislative season is here, Assemblyman Brian Curran recently outlined what he wants to accomplish this year.

Curran said his top priorities include passing ethics reform, cutting property taxes and obtaining more funding for schools. He is also hoping to pass Brittany’s Law — which would create a public registry for felons convicted of domestic violence-related crimes — but that has been a battle. “It is unfortunate that Brittany’s Law continues to fail to pass the Assembly,” Curran said. “It has passed the New York State Senate for the past six years.”

The law is named for 12-year-old Brittany Passalacqua, who was murdered in Geneva, N.Y., in 2009 along with her mother, Helen Buchel, by Buchel’s boyfriend, John Brown. Though the law has gained some support, Curran was pessimistic about getting it approved. “Unfortunately, the Assembly is living up to its historic reputation of being hesitant and sometimes unwilling to pass strong public protection legislation that protects the general public from violent offenders,” he said. “Unless there is a strong outcry from the public, it is my fear that the Assembly majority will again refuse to allow Brittany’s Law to come to the floor of the Assembly for a vote.”

A lifelong resident of Lynbrook, Curran represents the 21st District, encompassing Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, and parts of East Rockaway, Baldwin, Franklin Square, Freeport, Hewlett, Malverne, Oceanside, South Hempstead and West Hempstead.

Term limits

Curran said he is also a big believer in term limits. He added that more work still needs to be done to clean up Albany because of the corruption that continues to plague New York politics — despite many ethics laws put into place since he was elected in 2010.

The current solutions, he said, aren’t enough, since he believes that adding campaign financing systems and barring outside income for legislators would lead to more corruption, not less.

“By far, one of the best solutions to political corruption is the passage of term limits for all state elected officials,” Curran said. “Recent history has shown that corruption exists due to the ability of elected officials to stay in office for decades [as they] accumulate too much power and influence within the political and governmental system. Term limits prevent that accumulation.”

Property taxes

In an effort to stop people from leaving Long Island because they can’t afford it, Curran said he is focused on helping to lower property taxes to keep homeowners here. Though the state does not have direct taxing authority on property (because counties, towns or villages and their school systems levy the taxes,) Curran believes the state affects taxpayers by imposing costly mandates on the municipalities in which they live. In turn, those municipalities place the burden on taxpayers.

He said the state government must enact a moratorium on mandates for five years, or provide funding for mandates that become law in order to stop local government from increasing taxes.

“Until property taxes are controlled and lowered, New York state will continue to lose residents and businesses to other less-costly states,” Curran said. He refered to a report released last week by United Van Lines, an American moving company, which revealed that nearly two-thirds of its customer moves involve New York homeowners moving to other states. That percentage was higher than all other states except New Jersey and Illinois.

According to Curran, high taxes, a lack of affordable housing and a weak job market are the reasons New York is losing most of its senior and millennial population. “In addition to ending unfunded mandates, the Legislature must also continue to pass legislation that will encourage municipal districts to pass budgets within and below the tax cap,” he said.

State aid

In addition to fighting for lower taxes, Curran said he intends to secure Long Island’s fair share of educational aid from the state. Though Nassau and Suffolk counties educate roughly 17 to 18 percent of New York students, Long Island only receives 11 to 13 percent of total state aid, according to Curran.

“Every year that I have been in Albany, it has been a fight to secure Long Island’s fair share of educational aid from New York state,” Curran said. “The Nassau and Suffolk County Assembly and Senate conferences will again fight for additional funding for educational aid for Nassau and Suffolk schools that were not allocated by the governor in his executive budget.”

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