The Remarks of Speaker Sheldon Silver

Opening of the 229th Legislative Session

The Assembly Chamber
Monday, January 9, 2006

Thank you, Majority Leader Tokasz.

Chairman Farrell. Minority Leader Tedisco. My Colleagues.

Allow me to launch this, the 229th session of the New York State Assembly, by wishing each of you, your families, and all of our collective staff members a new year filled from start to finish with good health and good spirits.

With us this afternoon, in the rear of the Chamber, are the dedicated men and women of the 2006 Assembly Intern Class. Let's give them a warm and hardy welcome.

Interns, welcome to the State Capitol. Welcome to Albany.

I assure you that we are committed to making your experience in the People's House of the State Legislature a rewarding one.

I know I speak for the Members when I say that we look forward to the contributions you will make to the work of this House.

Joining our interns are the new academic directors of our program:

• Helen Desfosses, Interim Dean of the Rockefeller College of Public Policy at the State University at Albany;
• And, Dennis Smith, Associate Professor of Public Administration at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Although they could not be with us here today, we are privileged to have two such accomplished public policy experts guiding our interns.

We look forward to working with Helen, Dennis, and our interns to make this a productive and successful year.

There has certainly been a lot of talk about "legacy."

As I contemplated what I would say this afternoon, a member of our Counsel staff handed me this piece of paper. It is copied from the historical record of this State's 1915 Constitutional Convention.

What I have here is the testimony of Edgar Truman Brackett, State Senator from nearby Saratoga Springs. Let me paraphrase for you a little of his public remarks.

"Gentlemen of the Committee, who are the members of your Legislature? If you want something done in the way of relief, where do you go? You go primarily to your Assembly Members.

You may sneer at the Assembly. You may find fault here and there. But when the book is closed and the record is made, it still stands that the Legislature of the State - particularly the members of the Lower House - are the people who most truly represent the citizens of this State."

These words are as true and vital today: January 9th, 2006, as they were 91 years ago when they were delivered on the floor of the Constitutional Convention, as they would have been in 1777, when - under our State Constitution - this body was established.

They are words that elucidate, in a simple but profound way, the crucial role we play in sustaining Democracy and the obligation we have as a body to remain independent of all but the will of the people.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when you cut through the hype and the cynicism, it is easy to see that the very essence of self-government in this state lives and breathes and empowers our Democracy from right here, from this chamber, and from all of us working together.

My colleagues, in our study and in our debate;

In our commitment to outreach and to public hearings;

With our leadership in government reform, including our leadership in reforming this Legislature;

With our leadership in education, health care, jobs, higher education, public safety, civil rights, environmental protection, and virtually every other issue that is critical to New Yorkers;

We - you and I - the leaders of the People's House of this State Legislature, we keep this government on its proper path and carrying out its proper function.

We will continue to do that work in this session.

My goal for 2006 is for this House to build upon the solid progress and the real reforms we achieved in bipartisan fashion last year.

Since good government is open government, let's agree to joint public conference committees on all legislation that passes both Houses where differences exist between our bill and the Senate's bill.

Let's go to conference committee, iron out our differences, and give New Yorkers the productive and professional government that they deserve.

It makes sense since television viewers across the state are now able to watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of floor action in both houses of the State Legislature, including public hearings and joint conference committees, on a dedicated channel, twenty-four-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. This is in addition to our web casts.

Let me take a moment to thank Senator Bruno, Senate Minority Leader David Paterson, Deputy Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, former Assembly Minority Leader Charles Nesbitt, and our current Minority Leader Jim Tedisco, for their leadership and commitment in making this channel possible.

Let me also commend all of the members of the Assembly Working Group on Television.

Together, with dedication and leadership, we have at last made possible this statewide broadcast capability.

May this success be the first step toward a 24-hour-a-day New York State public affairs channel for the benefit of all New Yorkers.

Continuing on the topic of reform:

Last year, we lead the way in passing the first on-time budget in 20 years.

We must do it again!

Last month, I asked the Governor to submit the Executive Budget early so that together with the Senate, we could complete the final state budget by March 31st.

We will continue to make the budget process open and accessible to New Yorkers by recommencing the joint, public conference committees.

We will continue to advance reform of the State's campaign finance system.

We will further build upon the ethics reforms accomplished in the during last year.

And I am telling the Governor right here and right now: SIGN THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES REFORM BILL INTO LAW THIS WEEK!

Let's allow the sunlight in so that we can dispel the dark shadows within our government.

On the critical issue of violent crime, let us agree on this:

More and tougher penalties are essential, but protecting people from harm is most important.

Today, we will take up the toughest and most comprehensive "gun-crime-prevention" package in the history of this State.

Our goals are simple:

Get the most lethal weapons off of our streets.

Get illegal guns out of our neighborhoods.

Keep firearms away from convicted felons.

Please, let's ensure that armor-piercing bullets are banned in the State of New York.

It is beyond outrageous that this State provides its police officers with bullet-proof vests and allows "cop-killer" bullets to be purchased legally.

These bullets are not a necessity for any New Yorker. Let's ban them for good!

As we better protect New Yorkers from gun violence, we must also better protect our most vulnerable citizens from the horror and suffering inflicted by sexual predators.

As a father and as a grandfather, I have devoted a good part of my life to looking out for and protecting children.

There is nothing, nothing in this world, that I despise more than those who prey upon and harm the smallest, weakest, most vulnerable among us.

With all of our wisdom and all of our might, we must halt sexual predators before they strike and punish them with the utmost severity when they do.

The plan we have already announced and will be introducing this afternoon:

• Makes the penalties imposed on sexual offenders more severe;
• Institutes a civil commitment procedure that protects us from the most dangerous sexual predators:
• Requires extensive, mandatory treatment for sexual predators;
• Immediately stops the removal of sex offenders from the State Sex Offender Registry;
• Intensifies our monitoring of sexual predators;
• Increases community notification;
• And ensures better education for parents and children on how to identify and protect themselves from sexual predators.

Until Congress establishes a national, uniform, sex-offender registry, Megan's Law must be extended, now!

We will debate this bill later this afternoon.

In his State of the State Address, the Governor used words such as economic freedom, empowering families, independence, competitiveness, and opportunity. They're uplifting ideas with which to begin this year, but as the true representatives of the people, we are obligated to deal with the reality of their daily lives.

The reality is that thousands of our young citizens are departing our cities and towns because there is no opportunity.

The reality is that economic freedom and independence cannot exist where there are no jobs, where the gates of our colleges and universities are closed to those who cannot pay the admissions fee, where owning a home or starting a business is hampered by obstacles that seem insurmountable.

The reality is that our children, who are caught up in our under funded school system, cannot hope to compete with their counterparts here in the United States and around the world.

Frankly, generations of our students have already lost that competition.

Let's face the facts.

New Yorkers who have no access to affordable, quality health care and day care;

New Yorkers whose children have no access to good schools and good after-school programs;

New Yorkers who have no access to job training and cannot afford a college education;

Are not free or independent or competitive at all!

They need relief!

It is our job, our obligation, to provide the leadership that guides them toward that relief.

We will fight for the education funding that will enable this state to meet its constitutional and moral obligations to our children.

We will fight for full funding of universal pre-K, because we know that good, early education programs lead to long-term academic achievement.

Because the reality is that an educated workforce is this State's greatest asset, we will continue to invest in our outstanding SUNY and CUNY schools.

They are the best conduit we have for high-tech research and development, for high-tech business development and job creation, for lifetime learning and skills improvement.

We will again, act to bring about more effective economic development, job creation and job training across this State.

In the next week, we will take action to give seniors and low-income New Yorkers relief from their high energy bills. I call upon the Senate and the Governor to join us next week in delivering this much-needed relief to those New Yorkers who need it, and need it now!

We will ensure that affordable, quality health care is accessible to all New Yorkers.

We will focus the significant power of this State's hospitals, doctors and researchers on eliminating disease and disability by investing in the creation of the New York State Stem Cell Institute. We will take up that stem-cell legislation tomorrow.

We will provide targeted tax-relief to those who need it most.

We will work with Comptroller Hevesi to lighten the debt load we pass on to future generations.

And we will work with the Comptroller and Attorney General Spitzer to make government more efficient by making government more accountable to the taxpayers.

We stand ready to work with the Governor and the Senate to accomplish these goals, to provide New Yorkers with the relief they deserve, and in the process, help craft a legacy befitting the great citizens of our State.

2006 will be a politically charged year.

Spirited political debates are to be expected, but that does not mean that we can't work together.

That shouldn't mean that we can't get things done in preparation for the arrival of the new administration.

It is our obligation to work together to build a better, more prosperous state for our children and our children's children; a state where they will want to stay.

The challenges are plentiful. The work will be arduous.

The people have sent us here because they believe that we are up to the challenge.

I am absolutely confident that the People's House will once again acquit itself with success and dignity.

We are blessed, after all, with two extraordinary leaders to guide us in the completion of our duties.

In Paul Tokasz, we have a Majority Leader that has set the standard for every Majority Leader who will follow in his footsteps.

Paul, your skill, your savvy, your integrity, the class that you bring to the role of Majority Leader, are not only greatly admired and appreciated, they reflect - in the best and warmest light - the true character of this House.

Denny Farrell, I cannot imagine opening a session without your leadership and your wisdom.

Your innumerable contributions to the citizens of this State are what legacies are truly made of.

Only someone who has fought the good fight the way you have can truly appreciate the hope and the opportunity that comes with a new year and a new future.

Your wise counsel and your friendship are as invaluable to me personally as they are professionally.

Thank you for being the pillar of strength you are in this House, and thank you - in advance - for letting us lean on you, one more time.

To my colleagues across the aisle, let me say this:

Though we may not always - or often - see eye to eye, I know that you are an important part of the equation for success.

Minority Leader Tedisco, my congratulations once again on your election.

Be assured that I am interested in working with you to make this House as reflective of the people and as responsive to their needs as it can possibly be.

I am confident that we can work together to make this session even more successful than last.

Ladies and Gentlemen, who are the members of the Legislature?

We are the people who most truly represent the citizens of this State.

That is our legacy. It is a legacy in which I take pride; the pride that comes with being chosen by a majority of your colleagues to lead, and in doing so to shape that legacy.

My friends, to this day, I am honored - deeply honored - not only to be the Speaker of the Assembly, but to have your confidence in my ability and my vision for this House. I will do all that I can to be worthy of that confidence and to be worthy of leading this, the People's House.