Local lawmaker holds budget session

State Assemblyman Brian Curran held the first of seven local public forums on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed state budget at East Rockaway Village Hall on Feb. 11, telling the half-dozen residents in attendance that while he was glad to see the state had “pulled itself out of the hole,” it was in when he first joined the legislature.

Curran, who represents the 21st assembly district that includes portions of Lynbrook, Valley Stream, Rockville Centre, South Hempstead, Baldwin, Oceanside, East Rockaway and Malverne, said that when he frist we

“When I first went to Albany, they were $10 billion in the hole,” he said. “They’ve been in the hole every I’ve been there, until this year. They have more money than they can spend.”

He said that the surplus was welcome news for a state still on the mend, but it didn’t mean the work was over — in fact, he said, the state still faces an economic crisis, and implored the governor and his fellow lawmakers to cut New York’s high taxes before it is too late.

“There is no future for New York as the tax capital of the world,” Curran said. “I know that is rhetoric, but I believe it because I’ve seen the migration rates of both young and old residents out of the state along with businesses in the past eight years. If we don’t stop and if we don’t make it for our younger and older residents to stay here, we’re going to see people leave, and basically that will ruin our tax base, and then I don’t know how the governor will pay for everything he wants to pay for.”

Questions on education

Although very few residents attend the session, questions on education dominated the conversation.

“I wasn’t surprised at all that education came up so frequently tonight,” Curran, “It has always been the primary interest and concern for Nassau residents, particularly in this assembly district. It really always has been, and I, along with the other Long Island representatives, we always try to reflect that in our budget.”

Many of the questions raised focused not on the dollar and cent figures contained in the year’s budget, which was presented by Cuomo on the same day as his State of the State address in January. Instead, residents told Curran of their frustrations regarding the Governor’s decision to withhold figures on state aid for education until law makers pass his education reform package into law.

“We’re being steamrolled, we’re not at all being listened to,” said Chris Webster, a teacher and an East Rockaway resident. “I don’t think he (Cuomo) is thinking practically about students. He says he’s an advocate for students, but he’s not and I’m very frustrated with that.”

Curran said he “did not believe” that all four points of the governor’s plan would be approved, and that the governor’s strategy to pass his educational bills was unfair to many.

“It’s kind of an outrageous move,” Curran said. “It hurts the school districts, and it hurts the taxpayers and what it’s going to result in, is force the school district’s to baseline their aid from last year, assuming that there will be no increase in state aid, because they cannot count on that money. So what happens is the school district’s cost will go up, and without an. increase in state aid, that cost will get passed on to tax payers.”

Governor’s education reform plan

In the Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address, he outlined his four-point plan for education reform. Cuomo has tied school aid to the plan, requiring the Legislature to pass all four points of the plans in order for schools to receive an increase in state aid money. He also is refusing to release “runs,” or projections, for each district’s aid figure until all of the points are passed. The four points were:

1. Teacher Tenure. Cuomo has proposed extending the teacher probationary period, the time which teacher’s must serve before being eligible for tenure, from three to five years. Teachers also must receive five consecutive effective or highly effective ratings in the State teacher evaluation system to be eligible for tenure.

2. Teacher Tenure Hearing. The new proposal would also expdite the tenure hearing process. It would also automatically revoke the teaching certificate of anyone convicted of a violent crime and make it easier to remove a teacher after two “ineffective” ratings.

3. Teacher Evaluation. Under the new measures, local tests used to rate teachers would be eliminated entirely, meaning 50 percent of a teacher’s rating would depend on classroom observations, while the remaining 50 percent would be based on State testing results.

4. Charter Schools. The proposal would increase the charter school cap from 460 to 560 students, would raise charter school tuition by $75 and would remove the limit on charters issued in each region.

Curran against campaign finance reform

Curran also spoke at length on campaign finance law, which was recently changed include more public funding.

“In the governor’s budget, he created a voluntary system in which campaign donations up to $175 are matched,” he said. “For every dollar a candidate receives in private contributions, it is matched by $6 of public money…I am vehemently opposed to any campaign finance system. I think it’s the worst thing we’ve seen in the past few years, it leads to more corruption…in a time when we’re withholding money from our schools, we shouldn’t be giving that money to match donations.

He balked at the idea that public funding would cut down on corruption, saying it would only lead to more.

“The general feeling is that it would end corruption,” he said. “When they first brought it out, one month after that, Malcolm Smith, the head of the senate, was arrested for trying to buy his way into the mayoral race of New York, but he didn’t even want to be mayor. What really he wanted was to get his name on the ballot, so when he lost, he would have all these campaign funds, and he ride out his time in Albany and he could live off those. Those campaign funds aren’t very restricted. You can eat on them, you can travel on them … you can do a lot on them.”

‘Two-way street’

After the forum had ended, both Curran and those in attendance said they were glad for the chance to have an honest conversation with someone on the other side.

“These sessions between residents and their representatives are so important, there have to be things like these,” Webster said. “I’ve been trying to get through and speak with the governor directly, but I can’t get through to him. By speaking to Brian and coming to an event like this, I feel like my voice is heard a little better. Maybe it’s just for my own satisfaction, but I think it’s a good thing.

Lynbrook resident Chris D’Ambrosio agreed with Webster.

“These can definitely be a big help, I think more people should be at an event like this,” he said. “You can ask and get answers to questions on a lot of topics and just feel more involved and engaged with your government.”

Curran said he valued the time spent talking with residents.

“I take questions from the floor and try to answer them the best I can, but really after they ask me a question, I have even more questions for them,” he said. “I want to know where they stand with certain issues coming up in this budget... It’s a two-way a street, I obviously come into something with an opinion but I always have an open mind to different things I hear from people I speak with, and will always take that into consideration.”

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