The Remarks Of Speaker Sheldon Silver

Coalition For Community Services Advocacy Day

Empire State Plaza, The Albany Room, Albany, NY
Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Good evening and thank you, Luke [Nasta] for that generous introduction, and thank you, ladies and gentlemen for that warm reception.

Luke Nasta. Assemblyman Mike Cusick. Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz.

Commissioner Karen Carpenter-Palumbo. Members of the Legislature.

Officers, Providers, Clients, Staff and Friends of The Coalition for Community Services.

Tonight, we honor the memory of a great leader and a good friend.

Knowing John Lavelle as I did, I'm not surprised that on this night in Albany which is dedicated to his memory, the City is about to be pelted with two feet of snow, the first significant snowfall of this winter season.

November ... December ... January ... the first twelve days of February ... dry as a bone.

Tonight ... blizzard!

You know, if you listen closely, you can almost hear John laughing.

Like all of you, I miss John Lavelle.

He was a leader in the finest tradition of New York leaders.

The gruff demeanor and the tough exterior belied John's enormous heart; a heart that beat in synchronicity with that of his predecessor, the late Betty Connelly.

John focused his leadership and his wisdom on those most in need of compassion and justice:

The families and children who depend upon public education and public health care;

The addicted, and those fighting the temptation to turn to drugs and alcohol, gambling and violence;

The aged, the mentally ill, the homeless, the forgotten and the ignored.

John was a champion of this Coalition and together with Assembly Members Mike Cusick and Janelle Hyer-Spencer, formed an influential leadership triumvirate in the Assembly.

Like Governor Eliot Spitzer and Governor David Paterson, like myself, like most if not all of the members of the Legislature, John Lavelle believed that you never give up on people. Not one! Not ever!

If he were here right now, I know that John would want me to express how proud we are of those men and women - and especially all of the young people - who have completed and are currently undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

Admittedly, I do not know what you are going through.

I was certainly inspired by the remarks of the young woman from Brooklyn.

I do appreciate that addiction treatment is a difficult process to endure and I firmly reject the notion that celebrities are the only ones who deserve a second chance.

To have the "guts" it takes to walk the road to recovery;

To strive - each and every day - to free yourselves from the shackles of addiction;

These are the marks of a truly wise and a truly heroic human being; one capable of realizing any dream and achieving any goal.

We will never give up on you. Please do not give up on yourselves or each other.

For as long as I have been Speaker and for as long as I am the Speaker, the New York State Assembly has been - and will continue to be - at the forefront when it comes to funding addiction treatment in New York State.

Last year, with the leadership of Assembly Member Jeff Dinowitz (the Chair of our Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse), the Assembly included in the enacted budget funds to support the Co-Occurring Disorders Centers of Excellence pilot program, a program that has proven to be successful.

We ensured that funding was also included to continue and expand the methamphetamine prevention initiative, also a successful program.

We will continue to support these programs.

Unfortunately, right now, more attention is being directed to the evolving relationship between the Governor and the Legislature than is being paid to the issues and the challenges this State must address.

What I tell you now, I say on behalf of the entire Assembly Majority, and let me be crystal clear about this:

Whatever disagreements exist - and are perceived to exist - between the branches of this government, they are insignificant when compared to the toll that drugs, alcohol and gambling addiction have taken and are taking on our State, on our communities, on our families and on our children.

I assure you that the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor share that sentiment.

Remember, we spent twelve years fighting an administration that cut the health care New Yorkers depend upon.

We worked hard to help elect Governor Spitzer and Lieutenant Governor Paterson.

We share their commitment to reform.

In fact, many of the reforms the Administration is advocating are measures we have advanced in the past.

We believe that the Executive Budget is a good first step.

We are pleased with the support the Governor has included for the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, because it is support we have spent years fighting for.

We hope that the dollars saved from the efficiencies the Administration is looking to achieve, will be reinvested in community treatment.

We support the Coalition's call for an "Anti Drug Abuse Council," and we believe that Lieutenant Governor Paterson would make an outstanding Council leader.

We will look closely at your Statewide Adolescent Public Health Initiative, because we know how important it is to expand treatment and prevention services for our young people.

All in all, we look forward to working with the Governor to pass the fair, equitable, on-time budget that you want, that we want, that New Yorkers need and deserve.

We must not allow anything to detract from the work ahead of us. To do so would be an insult to the overworked and underpaid counselors who are striving each and every day to undo the damage of so-called "modern living."

You are on the front lines of the battle against addiction. You define public service.

We could not hope to succeed without you.

On behalf of the New York State Assembly and in memory of our friend and colleague, Assemblyman John Lavelle, I promise you that we will do everything in our power to ensure that this is an extraordinary year for New York State.

To the Coalition for Community Services, its providers and its clients, let me close by saying that we will never give up on you. Don't give up on yourselves.

And please, be careful driving home in the blizzard.