Since the passage of the 2009-10 Enacted Budget, I have been hearing from thousands of constituents and Nassau County residents that the budget was poorly designed and will negatively impact their way of life. These same people have asked what I would have done differently to develop a better budget. I wanted to take a minute to respond to this last question and explain why Albany must think outside the box and look for new solutions to old problems.

First and foremost, although we have passed budget reform measures before, most recently in 2007, it is clear that the legislative leaders ignored these reforms and went back to three-men-in- a-room deciding a $131 billion budget. Any and all reforms, which I have spoken out for and discussed below, are essentially moot when there is no way for rank-and-file members of the legislature to voice these issues to men behind closed doors who present the budget for us to vote on less than 48 hours before votes are taken and counted.

Next, it is fundamentally necessary for the legislature and the governor to have a better understanding of the value of taxpayer’s dollars. When the majority in the legislature supports a $10 billion increase in spending during the worst economic crisis in 80 years, it clearly does not recognize just how hard it is for families to stretch their own dollars and make ends meet. If Albany politicians understood the value of a dollar, we would have reduced government spending and forced agencies to do more with less.

Reducing government spending should have been Albany’s highest priority when passing this budget but, unfortunately, it was not. Instead, spending increased at three times the rate of inflation and the governor increased taxes in order to justify those spending increases. The minority conference in both legislative houses supported rolling back these tax increases, but our amendments to roll back the increases were rejected along party lines.

At a time when household budgets are stretched as tight as possible, the government should be allowing taxpayers to keep more of their own money. The legislature could have done this by capping property taxes. This idea was rejected by legislative leaders who actually eliminated the Middle Class STAR rebate checks for thousands of Nassau County property taxpayers. To thousands of property tax owners in Nassau, the $154 million in STAR rebate checks given to taxpayers is a true economic stimulus, which is even more necessary during these difficult economic times.

To add insult to injury, the Comptroller’s office says there is over $407 million in accrued employee benefit reserves which could have been released by the legislature for school aid because they are no longer necessary. Yet, the governor still chose to eliminate the STAR rebate for middle-class families and further drive this state toward the brink of fiscal collapse.

Lastly, I would eliminate the unfunded mandates the state places on counties who in turn pass them on to taxpayers. Unfunded mandates put a stranglehold on school budgets and leave administrators little room to be creative and tailor their schools to the needs of their community. I fought to eliminate unfunded mandates, but was ignored by the New York City legislative leaders who negotiated this budget behind closed doors.

As seen by the number of Assembly majority members who joined Assembly minority members in voting against this year’s budget, it seems legislative leaders should be getting the message that we are fighting the same problems year after year with no new solutions or results. Each new year brings about news of deficits, rising property taxes and people leaving New York. The same tax-and-spend policies are clearly not working and we must break this cycle of insanity. I will continue working with both political parties to change the way Albany does the work of the people, on behalf of the people who demand and deserve better.