To the Editor:

The 2011 Legislative Session wrapped up Friday, June 24, and our final week in Albany saw some very late nights filled with debate and discussion on issues of great importance and controversy.

The following are some policy highlights of the recently concluded 2011 Legislative Session.

SUCCESSES:

The 2011 Legislative Session achieved real progress on tackling some of New York state’s most pressing fiscal and governmental challenges.

This session we:

• Closed a $10 billion deficit without resorting to tax increases or borrowing;

• Passed an on-time state budget for the first time in years;

• Made the “Power for Jobs” program permanent;

• Reduced spending and began rightsizing state government;

• Restored $3.5 million in critical agriculture investments

• Enacted a real property tax cap

• Implemented a rational SUNY tuition policy to help families better plan for future education costs, while keeping SUNY a national leader in educational excellence;

• Passed bi-partisan ethics reform.

I am pleased that many of these accomplishments were important cornerstones of my 2010 campaign. However, while these initiatives are better than what New York had, I believe that we can do more.

Despite passing a two percent property tax cap, New York’s property tax crisis remains due to the absence of significant relief from unfunded mandates and Albany-imposed cost drivers.

The unfunded mandate relief contained in the session-ending omnibus bill was insufficient; it did not address two of Albany’s biggest cost drivers: Medicaid and pensions.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Going forward, we need to:

• Remove Medicaid mandates off the backs of localities;

• Enact defined-benefit, defined-contribution pension reform;

• Pass a state spending cap to ensure Albany lives within its means; and

• Move forward with a true economic development and private sector job creation plan that puts the hundreds of thousands of unemployed New Yorkers back to work.

The focus of our legislative work over the next several months must be advancing a public policy agenda that translates each of these priorities into a reality for the better, more affordable New York state we all deserve.

Now that session has ended, I will be available to spend more time with my constituents in the 122nd Assembly District.

I hope to see many of you at county fairs, festivals and parades.

Feel free to also stop by my district office or drop by one of my mobile offices that I will be holding once a month throughout the district.

You can also call my office at 315-493-3909, or email me at blankenbushk@assembly.state.ny.us.

Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush

122nd District