Dear friend,
Yesterday, I joined Governor Andrew Cuomo as he signed the landmark Property Tax Cap measure, which I sponsored and voted for, into law. This tax cap will help ease the burden that skyrocketing tax increases have placed on hardworking middle-class homeowners, senior citizens and small businesses throughout our state by limiting the growth of school and local taxes to less than two percent or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower.
While this much-needed legislation is aimed at protecting our taxpayers, it is important to note that steps have been taken to make sure our schools and our local governments are able to continue providing the critical services we all rely on. That is why the tax cap legislation that was signed into law included important mandate relief with $127 million in savings to local governments and the creation of a Mandate Relief Council to identify and repeal unsound, unduly burdensome laws and regulations.
This package has been my number one priority this year because it is a sensible way to help our families stay here on Long Island without harming the overall quality of life we all have come to expect and appreciate.
The enactment of the property tax cap is just one of the many key measures approved during the recently concluded 2011 Legislative Session -- a session many observers are calling the most productive in many years. Working with Governor Cuomo, we were also successful in passing a responsible on-time budgetthat achieved my key goals of reducing state spending and cutting taxes, as well as an historic ethics reform packagethat increased accountability and transparency for government.
While these changes to the Albany status quo were long overdue, there is much more work that lies ahead and I will be sure to keep you posted.
As always, your input on the issues that matter most to you and your family, and I encourage you to respond to this email if you have thoughts on this or any other state matter.
Sincerely,
John J. Flanagan
New York State Senator, 2nd District
P.S. If any of the links on this e-mail will not open in your Internet browser, please visit my web site (flanagan.nysenate.gov) for more information.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Tennessee Trumps Wisconsin: Kills Teacher Collective Bargaining. Dead.
by Kyle Olsen at the Andrew Breitbart Big Government Blog
To fix public schools, you have to control public schools.
And there’s little control when teachers unions, with their self-serving agendas, question every cost-cutting proposal and reform on the table.
That’s why so many state governments have taken swift action to limit the power of organized labor in public schools. Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Idaho and Michigan were the first, and Tennessee added itself to the list on Wednesday.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam affixed his signature on House Bill 130 and Senate Bill 113, ending collective bargaining and giving local school boards the full authority to operate their districts in the manner they choose. read more here
To fix public schools, you have to control public schools.
And there’s little control when teachers unions, with their self-serving agendas, question every cost-cutting proposal and reform on the table.
That’s why so many state governments have taken swift action to limit the power of organized labor in public schools. Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Idaho and Michigan were the first, and Tennessee added itself to the list on Wednesday.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam affixed his signature on House Bill 130 and Senate Bill 113, ending collective bargaining and giving local school boards the full authority to operate their districts in the manner they choose. read more here
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Silver's Poison Pill?
Sheldon Silver yesterday seemed to be sticking a poison pill in the fine print.
by E.J. McMahon 5/25/11 New York Post
If Silver insists on a hard expiration date for the cap, the governor will need to start again.
Silver and his allies in the state's teachers union were always seen as the chief obstacle to passage of the most popular initiative of the highly popular new governor. But hope resided in the coming expiration of New York City's seemingly perpetual but legally temporary rent regulations, last renewed in 2004.
The two issues -- a cap on property taxes outside New York City, and price controls applying mainly to apartments within the city -- obviously are unrelated. But since the renewal of rent control is a top Silver priority, it seemed likely all year that their fates would be linked in the end.
Sure enough, with the clock ticking on an as-yet unfinished rent-regulation deal, the speaker on Tuesday introduced his own tax-cap bill -- matching Cuomo's priorities in almost every significant respect.
Cuomo has been insisting all along on a broad, tight and permanent cap -- like the one passed by the GOP-controlled Senate in January. And the speaker's changes to the governor's basic tax-cap structure are relatively minor.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/poison_pill_for_the_tax_cap_lOdioQZXBPSedtxkzveoTL#ixzz1NTrcZRYE
by E.J. McMahon 5/25/11 New York Post
If Silver insists on a hard expiration date for the cap, the governor will need to start again.
Silver and his allies in the state's teachers union were always seen as the chief obstacle to passage of the most popular initiative of the highly popular new governor. But hope resided in the coming expiration of New York City's seemingly perpetual but legally temporary rent regulations, last renewed in 2004.
The two issues -- a cap on property taxes outside New York City, and price controls applying mainly to apartments within the city -- obviously are unrelated. But since the renewal of rent control is a top Silver priority, it seemed likely all year that their fates would be linked in the end.
Sure enough, with the clock ticking on an as-yet unfinished rent-regulation deal, the speaker on Tuesday introduced his own tax-cap bill -- matching Cuomo's priorities in almost every significant respect.
Cuomo has been insisting all along on a broad, tight and permanent cap -- like the one passed by the GOP-controlled Senate in January. And the speaker's changes to the governor's basic tax-cap structure are relatively minor.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/poison_pill_for_the_tax_cap_lOdioQZXBPSedtxkzveoTL#ixzz1NTrcZRYE
A Tax Cap & Mandate Relief
A legislative column by Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R,C,I-Smithtown)
Throughout this legislative year, there has been a push by the Assembly Minority Conference and the state Senate’s Majority to pass a property-tax cap. The proposed tax cap would keep property taxes at a 2% increase or 120% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower. While a cap is important to limit the growth of Long Island’s sky-high property taxes, only the tax cap will drive all interested parties to the negotiating table to produce comprehensive mandate relief in order to keep these rates low.
School districts are overburdened with paperwork and government red tape, which the state forces upon them without funding. Schools then pass these additional costs on to taxpayers through property-tax increases. In Governor Cuomo’s current property-tax-cap legislation, there is no direct answer to the problem of unfunded mandates and schools are worried that, with cuts to state education aid, they will, inevitably, have to continue to make cuts in classroom instruction in the effort to afford those unfunded mandates.
However, I see any cap on property taxes as a necessary first step to bring all the stakeholders to the table for true mandate relief. This tax-cap legislation will begin to force the hand of Albany to address the burdens faced by school districts with unfunded mandates. Some of my fellow lawmakers do not want to pass the tax cap without direct mandate relief – but there will be no mandate relief without a tax cap.
It is time for the state to take action to save struggling taxpayers and provide relief for school districts and local governments. The governor’s property-tax cap will lead to unfunded mandate relief and force a hard look at the cost-drivers that have created some of the highest property taxes in the nation. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues to pass both a genuine property-tax cap and long-needed mandate relief as soon as possible.
As always, I urge constituents to contact me about this or any other state matter. You may reach me at my Smithtown office at 631-724-2929.
Throughout this legislative year, there has been a push by the Assembly Minority Conference and the state Senate’s Majority to pass a property-tax cap. The proposed tax cap would keep property taxes at a 2% increase or 120% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower. While a cap is important to limit the growth of Long Island’s sky-high property taxes, only the tax cap will drive all interested parties to the negotiating table to produce comprehensive mandate relief in order to keep these rates low.
School districts are overburdened with paperwork and government red tape, which the state forces upon them without funding. Schools then pass these additional costs on to taxpayers through property-tax increases. In Governor Cuomo’s current property-tax-cap legislation, there is no direct answer to the problem of unfunded mandates and schools are worried that, with cuts to state education aid, they will, inevitably, have to continue to make cuts in classroom instruction in the effort to afford those unfunded mandates.
However, I see any cap on property taxes as a necessary first step to bring all the stakeholders to the table for true mandate relief. This tax-cap legislation will begin to force the hand of Albany to address the burdens faced by school districts with unfunded mandates. Some of my fellow lawmakers do not want to pass the tax cap without direct mandate relief – but there will be no mandate relief without a tax cap.
It is time for the state to take action to save struggling taxpayers and provide relief for school districts and local governments. The governor’s property-tax cap will lead to unfunded mandate relief and force a hard look at the cost-drivers that have created some of the highest property taxes in the nation. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues to pass both a genuine property-tax cap and long-needed mandate relief as soon as possible.
As always, I urge constituents to contact me about this or any other state matter. You may reach me at my Smithtown office at 631-724-2929.
Unions Win Big
The voters decided to elect three candidates sponsored by unions over two proven Trustees on Tuesday, May 17th. The ramifications of the vote will be enormous to the people and students of Smithtown.
Four contracts will be decided by the new, union-backed Trustees in the coming months, and several top administrators will be hired by the Board. Superintendent Edward Ehmann will retire next spring. Mary Cahill, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction & Administration; Dr. Meryl Ain, Assistant to the Superintendent for General Administration and Planning; and District Clerk Mary Wilson are retiring this June.
The Board's actions on both the contracts and hiring will impact the SCSD for years to come. When those overseeing the running of SCSD's business are so comfortably tied to the unions working for the district, it appears that the taxpayers of Smithtown are slightly under-represented.
Four contracts will be decided by the new, union-backed Trustees in the coming months, and several top administrators will be hired by the Board. Superintendent Edward Ehmann will retire next spring. Mary Cahill, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction & Administration; Dr. Meryl Ain, Assistant to the Superintendent for General Administration and Planning; and District Clerk Mary Wilson are retiring this June.
The Board's actions on both the contracts and hiring will impact the SCSD for years to come. When those overseeing the running of SCSD's business are so comfortably tied to the unions working for the district, it appears that the taxpayers of Smithtown are slightly under-represented.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Rossi & Carlin for School Board!
Smithtown Taxpayers Education News wholeheartedly endorses Board President Bob Rossi and fellow Trustee, Neil Carlin, for election on Tuesday, May 17th, for the SCSD Board.
Also on the ballot is the uncontested seat held by Gladys Waldron for 33 years. We endorse no one for this position.
There are two referendum questions with a 'yes' or 'no' for both--they cannot be split. They are: to extend the walker area slightly--an elementary student now is eligible for busing if living next door to the school, this would extend the distance to 1/2 mile, with similar changes for older students; and to go back to the state required 15 mile distance for mandatory busing to private and parochial schools, rather than the 20 miles Smithtown previously agreed to in a referendum.
The budget and contingent budget are the same, so voting it down will only force the taxpayers to pay for a re-vote. Support the budget.
Get to your polling place on Tuesday--Accompsett El, Smithtown El, St James El, or Nesconset El.
Also on the ballot is the uncontested seat held by Gladys Waldron for 33 years. We endorse no one for this position.
There are two referendum questions with a 'yes' or 'no' for both--they cannot be split. They are: to extend the walker area slightly--an elementary student now is eligible for busing if living next door to the school, this would extend the distance to 1/2 mile, with similar changes for older students; and to go back to the state required 15 mile distance for mandatory busing to private and parochial schools, rather than the 20 miles Smithtown previously agreed to in a referendum.
The budget and contingent budget are the same, so voting it down will only force the taxpayers to pay for a re-vote. Support the budget.
Get to your polling place on Tuesday--Accompsett El, Smithtown El, St James El, or Nesconset El.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A Quiet School District Investigation
Sgt. Schultz: “I Know Nothing!”
Spurred by a friend’s request to the Administration to investigate charges of ethics and policy violations, Rick Schlomann and another Smithtown citizen, Stan Meyer, spoke before the general meeting of the Board of Education on Tuesday, May 10th.
Mr Schlomann read Policy 1511 which prohibits politicking in schools on school time by staff. The policy exists to protect the students. He asked Superintendent Ehmann if he had followed through on this investigation.
Mr Ehmann acknowledged that the Administration had looked into the charge and took ‘appropriate action,’ indicating that the details were ‘not for public disclosure.’ At this point the District’s attorney, Eugene Barnosky and Assistant Superintendent for Personnel, Karen Ricigliano, added that, “in one or two instances corrective action was taken, counseling letters, (and) documentation was provided so that will not occur again.”
In other words, the policy was violated.
Mr Schlomann tried to dig deeper and discover what names were on the petitions, to no avail; they hadn’t asked.
Upset by this revelation, Mr Meyer said, “I think you gave a political definition, not a legal definition, because if anyone benefited, we should know.” He didn’t know why a blanket of secrecy was covering the candidates’ identities, and was dissatisfied to hear that is was not a question the district asked. We are not to know who was petitioned for by district employees, in schools, on district time; only the petitioners were reprimanded.
It stinks. And the stench carries far in this election year when contracts are up, the board could be flipped, and the union has everything at stake.
Spurred by a friend’s request to the Administration to investigate charges of ethics and policy violations, Rick Schlomann and another Smithtown citizen, Stan Meyer, spoke before the general meeting of the Board of Education on Tuesday, May 10th.
Mr Schlomann read Policy 1511 which prohibits politicking in schools on school time by staff. The policy exists to protect the students. He asked Superintendent Ehmann if he had followed through on this investigation.
Mr Ehmann acknowledged that the Administration had looked into the charge and took ‘appropriate action,’ indicating that the details were ‘not for public disclosure.’ At this point the District’s attorney, Eugene Barnosky and Assistant Superintendent for Personnel, Karen Ricigliano, added that, “in one or two instances corrective action was taken, counseling letters, (and) documentation was provided so that will not occur again.”
In other words, the policy was violated.
Mr Schlomann tried to dig deeper and discover what names were on the petitions, to no avail; they hadn’t asked.
Upset by this revelation, Mr Meyer said, “I think you gave a political definition, not a legal definition, because if anyone benefited, we should know.” He didn’t know why a blanket of secrecy was covering the candidates’ identities, and was dissatisfied to hear that is was not a question the district asked. We are not to know who was petitioned for by district employees, in schools, on district time; only the petitioners were reprimanded.
It stinks. And the stench carries far in this election year when contracts are up, the board could be flipped, and the union has everything at stake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)