Assembly Minority members will be returning to Albany tonight and tomorrow morning in hopes of completing important unfinished business that wasn't resolved in the final weeks of the 2007 legislative session, according to Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco (R,C,I-Schenectady, Saratoga).

"Day 1 started out with a bang, but the final week of session was a joke in the Assembly. We spent most of the time debating marijuana and gay marriage and not the issues that have real impact for the great majority of New Yorkers such as skyrocketing property taxes and job creation," said Tedisco.

Tedisco put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

"For 12 years, the Speaker criticized Gov. Pataki for not being in Albany to do work. Well, what's his excuse now? Gov. Spitzer is here. The Senate is here. Assembly Minority members are here. Where are he and his members? It's time he stops being the agent of delay, stops blocking common sense legislation and comes back to work and let's get results for the people of New York State," said Tedisco. "At his inauguration, Gov. Spitzer spoke of the state being like Rip Van Winkle the past 10 years. If that's true then the Speaker is Mr. Sandman because he's the one who put the legislature to sleep with his tactics of delay and obfuscation. And he's doing it again."

Tedisco said while Speaker Silver and Assembly Majority members took up controversial issues like legalized medical marijuana and gay marriage in the final week of session last month, issues with wide-spread support such as a new Article X power plant siting law, an Upstate jobs plan, property tax relief and increased penalties for habitual criminal offenders all were put on the back burner by Silver. Also, legislation dealing with congestion pricing for New York City, capital punishment for cop killers and a bill to save Bellevue Woman's Hospital in Schenectady were also blocked.

Last week, Tedisco traveled to Washington D.C. with NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Bruno to meet with the undersecretary of the Department of Transportation who said Bloomberg's traffic congestion plan was the most extensive and comprehensive plan he had seen to reduce congestion and pollution. New York City stands to lose more than $500 million in federal aid if the proposal is not acted on by July 16th.