A Message from Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner
June 18, 2009
While the New York State Senate is completely dysfunctional, the Assembly is hard at work doing the people’s business. This week, we held dozens upon dozens of committee meetings and acted on well over 300 bills. Among the important legislation we have passed this week is a measure improving New York City’s school governance by making the mayor and chancellor more accountable and giving parents a greater role in their children’s education, as well as a balanced and fair tax package for the New York City budget which includes relief for freelancers and entrepreneurs, and my own bill expanding the tax credit for wheelchair-accessible taxis.
I am also proud to report that my bill to require that residential tenants who have submetered electricty (A.7867) are provided with annual notice of their right to access the Public Service Commission’s complaint process without going through any other court or arbitration has passed the Assembly. This bill is part of my 5-bill package to reform the way that submetering works for residential rental tenants in New York, which I blogged about in May.
As well, my bill to prohibit the siting of a waste transfer station within 800 feet of a public housing project (A.6829) is advancing in the Assembly and has already been passed by two of the three committees it needs to go through before it can come to the floor. This bill would prevent the City from implementing its disastrous proposal to build a marine transfer station near Asphalt Green in the northern most part of my district.
All of this work is essential to the neighborhoods that I represent, and I am very pleased with this progress. It is therefore doubly disappointing that the bickering in the Senate has prevented that chamber from doing its job, holding up issues of critical importance to our community and to all New Yorkers. All legislators should be accountable to the people–and that means putting the people’s business before personal or professional interest.
Despite the chaos in the Senate, I will leave Albany this month knowing that I’ve done my part to serve the people of New York. I sincerely hope that the Senate can stop its petty fighting over who gets what title, and get back to work on helping our state weather this unprecedented financial storm.
–Micah Z. Kellner
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