Among the highlights of the 2005 Legislative Session are several Englebright measures that will strengthen the Megan’s Law Sex Offender Registry.

• Requires law enforcement agencies to compile and maintain a listing of sex offenders in the area to notify vulnerable organizations (schools, day care centers, camps, libraries, etc.) (A.2252-A/Englebright) (Awaiting the Governor’s Signature.)

• Requires that public notices concerning Levels 2 and 3 sex offenders include any aliases the offender is known to use in an attempt to hide his or her identity. (A.2664/Englebright) - (Chapter 318 of 2005)

• Requires day and overnight children’s camps to run Megan’s Law background checks on prospective job applicants. A.5209/Englebright (Chapter 260 of 2005)

More Americans die each year from hospital-acquired infections than from auto accidents and homicides combined. Under this law, hospitals will be required to report infections acquired by patients. Increased reporting will help identify medical errors and enhance patient safety, thus saving lives and bringing down the costs of health care.

	Assemblyman Englebright worked with AARP local reps Thelma and Bill Hall of Old Field to pass the Prescription Internet Act.

To help consumers - especially seniors - get their prescription drugs for less, Assemblyman Englebright sponsored the new law that requires that updated drug retail price lists from area pharmacies be posted in a database on the website of the State Board of Pharmacy. As there is often a large difference in prescription drug prices from retailer to retailer - sometimes in excess of $50 per prescription - the measure could potentially save the informed consumer hundreds of dollars per month.

The financial misdeeds that were discovered in school districts on Long Island have brought about a crisis in confidence in the integrity of our public education system. This year the legislature passed two laws that require schools to be more fiscally accountable.

The first law (Ch. 267 of 2005) requires that every school district be audited by the State Comptroller (OSC) at least once by March 31, 2010. After that date, schools will be audited based on an OSC audit plan and risk assessment process that will assess and evaluate financial practices. Any findings of fraud or abuse will be reported to the Commissioner of Education, and state and federal prosecutors. The law would also require schools to make the final OSC audit available to the public.

The second measure (Ch. 263 of 2005) will further increase the oversight of schools throughout the state. The law:

• requires school board members to be trained on their financial oversight responsibilities;

• requires school districts and BOCES to establish an internal audit function;

• requires audit committees in school districts;

• mandates that school districts select an external auditor through a competitive request for proposals process;

• establishes a five-year engagement limitation on contracts between a school district and the external auditor; and

• improves annual external audits by requiring direct school board involvement.

VaSean’s Law was named in memory of 11-year-old VaSean Alleyne, the victim of a drunk driver who could not be charged with a felony under current law. VaSean’s Law will strengthen provisions of the current law to make it easier for District Attorneys to prosecute drivers for vehicular assault and vehicular manslaughter when serious physical injury or death is caused by a person driving a vehicle while intoxicated or impaired by the use of a drug. Under terms of this legislation existing state law would be improved by removing the element of criminal negligence now required to prosecute crimes of vehicular assault and vehicular manslaughter. The measure would provide that a person who drives while intoxicated and kills or seriously injures another person because of that intoxication would be guilty of vehicular manslaughter or vehicular assault. The bill would also create a statutory presumption that any driver who kills or injures another while drunk is guilty of a felony.

As a member of the Health/Aging Joint Budget Subcommittee Assemblyman Englebright helped to negotiate a budget agreement that ensures New Yorkers’ access to quality, affordable health care while easing the burden on local taxpayers.

These included:

• Rejecting the Governor’s "sick tax" on nursing;

• Rejecting the Governor’s proposed cuts to hospitals, nursing homes, home care;

• Increasing efforts to collect $20 million in rebates owed the state by pharmaceutical companies;

• Creating a preferred drug list that protects consumers by giving physicians the final say in prescribing medicine;

• Creating a cap on the growth of local Medicaid costs to save Suffolk taxpayers over $200 million over the next 4 years.

Assemblyman Englebright also fought to ensure that the New York’s Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program (EPIC) remains strong and independent of the Medicare Part d prescription drug program. Should individuals opt first for Medicare Part D, EPIC will remain an option to help fill in the large "doughnut hole" or period where the individual is not covered under the Medicare Part D Plan. EPIC will still remain as a stand alone program should an older adult not choose a Medicare Part D Plan.

As the baby boomer generation becomes the senior boomer generation, Assemblyman Englebright, Chair of the Committee on Aging, has been advocating for strengthening the programs that support the independence of older New Yorkers. However, for the last four years the fight was to keep important existing programs from being drastically cut or eliminated. This budget year, Assemblyman Englebright’s advocacy resulted in increases in program funding for the following programs:

• Home delivered meals - $1 million

• Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) - $1.2 million

• Green Thumb Program - $360,000

• Expanded in-home services for the elderly program (EISEP) - $10 million this year, $15 million commitment for next year

• Access to Home program - $10 million - to help persons of all ages with disabilities make home modifications that will help them remain independent

• Long Term Care Reform -$2.2 million in funding for the New York Answers program to develop a single access point for long-term care.

One of the most important jobs of a state legislator is to advocate for state aid for our schools to ensure that students have an opportunity to achieve greater academic success while keeping a check on the rise of school property taxes. The year 2005-06 spending plan provides over $848 million more in funding to public schools than last year - approximately $354 million more than the Governor proposed. The Legislature restored the Governor’s cuts for various expense-based aids, funds that local schools already spent in anticipation of state reimbursement, including educating students with disabilities.

The governor had proposed a cut in state school aid for our assembly district. Assemblyman Englebright’s work during the budget process helped school districts within the 4th Assembly District see an increase of $3,731,567 in school aid over the year 2004. That is an increase of $4,575,728 over what the Governor proposed.

As a member the Higher Education Committee, Assemblyman Englebright worked to protect access to a college education by rejecting the Governor’s severe cuts to financial aid, costly tuition increases and a plan to make tuition increases automatic. Especially significant was the legislature’s rejection of the Governor’s proposed fifty percent cut in TAP Tuition Assistance Program as well as a proposal that would penalize TAP-eligible students who take 5 years to graduate.