Making the budget process more open and timely

To end New York’s unacceptable string of late budgets, Ramos sponsored legislation and a constitutional amendment to reform the budget process (A.1, A.2):

• moving fiscal year start from April 1 to May 1

• enacting a contingency budget if one isn’t adopted by May 1

• requiring a two-year appropriation for education aid to help schools plan ahead

Bringing all sides together

For the 2005 legislative session, the Assembly – in a spirit of true bipartisanship with the house’s minority – adopted a series of internal rules changes that will dramatically improve the way the Assembly operates.

The new rules will require a joint conference committee to achieve a more timely state budget and help ensure a public review of state spending.

Reducing the Medicaid burden

Last year, the Assembly reached an agreement to have the state pick up the local cost of the Family Health Plus program, saving Suffolk County nearly $7 million this year alone. Ramos is also urging the governor to use his influence with the president and Congress to deliver a fairer Medicaid reimbursement rate for New York.

Ensuring Empire Zones do their jobs

Empire Zones need to get back to the business of creating jobs and revitalizing struggling communities, and that’s why Ramos sponsored legislation (A.6):

• mandating annual job creation reports

• reconfiguring zone boundaries to better assist distressed communities

• requiring the state Department of Taxation and Finance to certify that businesses receiving tax benefits are legitimate

Bringing accountability to our election process

Ramos supports legislation:

• implementing the Help America Vote Act to make voting easier and more accurate (A.5, A.119, A.120, A.121, A.122)

• limiting special interest campaign contributions and providing matching funds to candidates (A.4)

• reforming the state’s judicial selection laws to ensure that the most qualified judges serve (A.7, A.8)

Ending sweetheart deals for the politically connected

Billions of taxpayer dollars are at stake when it comes to awarding state contracts – but no one’s held accountable for how they’re awarded. That’s why Ramos supports expanding the definition of lobbying to include any effort to influence any public official regarding procurement of goods or services, construction, or the sale or purchase of land, as well as implementation of rules and regulations, and executive orders (A.9).