(A group of fifth graders from Public School 203Q, The Oakland Gardens School, visited Albany to learn about State government. Assemblymember Mark Weprin showed the Assembly Chamber to the students, parents, and teachers.)

The Legislature“s 2006-2007 education budget, which is now law, provides New York City schools with record increases in their school budgets. The budget is a clear victory for New York City school children, as it fulfills the capital funding requirements outlined in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) court decision. The Assembly’s capital construction program, EXpanding our Children’s Education and Learning (EXCEL), provides $2.6 billion for capital construction on top of building aid. Of the capital program, $1.8 billion goes to New York City to modernize our schools. The agreement will help fund the cost of New York City’s current capital plan by securing building aid payments to the City.

Assemblymember Weprin fought for a record $1.362 billion increase in education funding over last year, including a nearly seven percent increase in formula-based school aid. New York City schools will receive over half a billion dollars more than they received last year. This includes $220 million more than the Governor’s proposed budget for New York City.

The Legislature’s 2006-07 budget provides a $50 million increase to expand universal pre-K classes, bringing total funding to $254 million for this program, which has proven to have lasting results on young children’s education. New York City will receive $25 million of the increase, which will enable the City to serve an additional 7,500 four-year-olds.

The budget also continues $140 million for class size reduction grants for overcrowded schools and provides a $20.5 million increase in aid for students with limited English proficiency.

The Legislature restored cuts to several worthwhile programs, providing increases over the Governor’s budget of:

• $148 million for special education
• $26.7 million for Teacher Centers and $4 million for the Teacher Mentor Intern Program
• $6 million for the Employment Preparation Education program

The Appellate Court’s recent ruling demands that the Legislature act now to ensure New York City children have access to a sound, basic education - and the enacted budget takes a first step toward complying with that ruling.

"Our budget delivers the improved educational facilities our schools need to achieve higher educational standards," Weprin said.

Assemblymember Mark Weprin fought for a budget that makes significant investments in New York’s higher education system.

It will help strengthen higher education and ensure that all students have access to an affordable college education by adding an additional $239 million in State support to State University of New York (SUNY), City University of New York (CUNY), and community colleges.

A major accomplishment of the Legislature’s bipartisan agreement is a $131 million increase in operating aid to block Governor Pataki’s proposed tuition hikes for SUNY and CUNY. The budget also creates a new Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to help part-time students at all SUNY, CUNY, and independent four-year colleges and universities. In addition, overall operating aid for SUNY and CUNY has gone up, allowing for more faculty.

The budget invests $763 million more than the Governor proposed in funding for the capital improvement needs at SUNY and CUNY institutions. SUNY would receive nearly $465 million and CUNY $302 million, including $3 million for the renovation of the Science Building at Queensborough Community College.

(left to right: Councilmember James Gennaro; Assemblymember Mark Weprin; Carol J. Hochberg, Board Member Emerita and past President, JEHLL; Howard Johnson; Dave Sookram, Board Member, JEHLL)

The Jamaica Estates-Holliswood Little League (JEHLL) Annual Awards Breakfast at Queens College featured former New York Mets star Howard Johnson. The third baseman, who helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series, signed autographs and spoke to the little leaguers.

Assemblymember Weprin also spoke to the aspiring big leaguers about how little league baseball teaches the values of hard work, team play, and sportsmanship.

(left to right: Assemblymember Mark Weprin and Vice President Chris Koetzle, SSA)

Support Services Alliance (SSA), a small business membership organization serving thousands of members statewide, presented Assemblymember Mark Weprin with the Champion of Small Business Award. Mr. Weprin was pleased that SSA chose him to receive the award, given this year for the first time.

"Small business is truly the engine that drives New York State’s economy," said Assemblymember Weprin. "I will continue working to foster a climate that encourages small business growth and development in New York State."

The SSA offers nearly 20 different programs and services designed to help small businesses grow. Assemblymember Weprin is Chair of the Assembly Small Business Committee and a leading advocate for business development in the state.

New Yorkers finally saw the State’s 4 percent sales tax on clothing and footwear eliminated on April 1. Since the New York City portion of the sales tax was previously discontinued, clothing and shoes under $110 are now tax free in New York City.

The regressive state sales tax on clothing and footwear cost working families hundreds of millions of dollars every year, and since several other states have made clothing purchases exempt from state sales tax, New York businesses found it hard to compete for shoppers. The repeal of this tax will encourage people to shop at local businesses, which in turn will help the entire area’s economy to grow.

The end of sales tax on clothing and footwear items under $110 will mean a total of $600 million in savings statewide and an estimated $230 million in savings for shoppers in New York City.

The Legislature’s recently passed budget contains $600 million in tax relief for New York families in the form of a child tax credit. The child tax credit provides up to $330 for each child between four and seventeen years of age for those families who qualify for the federal per child tax credit. Assemblymember Weprin believes that the child tax credit will provide some relief to working families who are raising school-age children in an ever more expensive world.

REMEMBERING ROSA PARKS

Assemblymember Mark Weprin (right) joined Queens Borough President Helen Marshall (left) and Reverend Timothy Mitchell of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church (center) at a ceremony in Flushing to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Rosa Parks’s protest in Montgomery, Alabama. The ceremony included a 1950s-era bus for a re-enactment of Parks’s historic action.

CURBING GUN VIOLENCE

With Mark Weprin’s support, the Assembly passed two tough measures to increase penalties for those who injure or kill a police officer and to crack down on illegal gun traffickers. The Senate also passed the legislation and the Governor signed it into law.

The laws are a positive step forward in efforts to address gun crimes. Gun violence endangers our families and law enforcement officers; violent criminals must understand that injuring or killing a police officer will have severe consequences.

The legislation dramatically increases penalties for those who commit crimes against police officers, corrections officers, and specified peace officers who are working to protect the public. The tougher sentences include:

• life without parole for murdering a law enforcement official

• up to forty years to life in prison for first-degree attempted murder of a law enforcement official

• up to thirty years for aggravated manslaughter of a law enforcement official

New York’s law enforcement officers face a real threat from violent criminals who see police as targets. These new laws send a strong message that New York State will not tolerate harming police officers or running illegal guns. The agreement also includes tougher penalties for gun trafficking, including:

• making it a violent felony punishable by up to seven years in prison to possess three or more illegal guns (as opposed to twenty under the old law)

• increasing penalties for selling larger quantities of illegal guns

• closing a loophole that allowed criminals to sell illegal guns one at a time in order to avoid stiff penalties.

Assemblymember Mark Weprin has authored legislation to establish statewide regulations for kennels and animal boarding establishments. The issue of safety in kennels and animal boarding houses came to light when New York Post columnist Cindy Adams shared the story of her dog Jazzy, who died from the E. coli bacteria after visiting a kennel in upstate New York. Assemblymember Weprin and Senator Frank Padavan introduced "Jazzy’s Law" to ensure the safety of pets in New York State.

"Pets are members of their owners’ families," said Assemblymember Weprin. "We need to protect them as we would our loved ones." Adams is grateful to Weprin and Padavan for their work on behalf of pets from families across New York State. "It is my sincere hope that my loss and the tragedy that struck my family will save other families from going through the same pain. If this legislation could save the life of just one pet, it would be worth pursuing, and I believe it has the potential to save the lives of thousands of pets. I thank Assemblymember Weprin and Senator Padavan for all they have done to support me in this effort," said Adams.

(left to right: Senator Frank Padavan, Cindy Adams, Assemblymember Mark Weprin)

The bill would establish regulations for kennels, animal boarding houses, and grooming businesses that set standards of care for boarding animals, including housing, sanitation, feeding, watering, handling, and veterinary care; require kennel owners to maintain detailed records for each animal boarded; require kennel owners to obtain licenses to operate from the Department of Agriculture and Markets; require the Department of Agriculture and Markets to make annual inspections of all kennels throughout the state; and create civil penalties up to $1,000 for kennel operators who violate this law.

Assemblymember Weprin, Senator Padavan, and Cindy Adams were joined on the steps of City Hall by Debra Bresch, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; Jennifer Bristol, Animal Haven; and Maryanne Byington, League of Humane Voters of New York City to speak about the proposed legislation and advocate for its passage.

"New York State Legislative Proceedings" - unedited gavel-to-gavel coverage of both the Senate and the Assembly - now appear on Time Warner Cable, channel 159. The coverage also includes conference committee meetings and basic information about legislators. Additionally, budget hearings are on the air, bringing state government into the living rooms of New Yorkers.

As a longtime advocate for open government, Assembly-member Mark Weprin believes that expanding the televising of sessions is a step forward in the Assembly’s ongoing efforts to reform and improve the way Albany does business.

The Assembly will also continue live internet coverage of sessions, a service which has been available for four years. For more information regarding televised sessions and local air times, or to watch proceedings online, log onto the Assembly web page at www.assembly.state.ny.us.

NEW BUILDING FOR QUEENS CHILDREN’S PSYCHIATRIC CENTER

(left to right: David Woodlock, Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Children and Family Services; Assemblymember Mark Weprin; Keith Little, Executive Director, Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center; Anthony Liotta, Director of Community Services, Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center)

Assemblymember Mark Weprin attended a groundbreaking for the new building that will go up as part of Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center on Commonwealth Boulevard in Glen Oaks. The new community services building - which will be built with fourteen million dollars provided by Assemblymember Mark Weprin and Senator Frank Padavan - will offer an outpatient clinic as well as special services designed for those persons who are shifting from inpatient to outpatient status. Inpatient services will remain in the existing structure, which will undergo extensive renovations, also through State funding.

Last year, New York State agreed to provide Medicaid wraparound prescription drug coverage for the 600,000 dual Medicaid/Medicare eligible patients for any drug not covered under Medicare Part D. The Legislature’s budget continues the successful Medicaid wraparound coverage for another year. It also provides two million dollars for a Medicare Part D advocacy, outreach, and enforcement initiative, which will help seniors and the disabled to get the information and coverage they need - as well as assistance should they be denied coverage.