Another successful year for the Long Island Lobby Coalition!

This year’s successes include:

TCEP Ban in Children's Products

On June 21, 2013, NYS passed an act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to expanding the TRIS-free children and babies act. The expanision would included additional children's productions to those identified in the previous bill passed in 2011. In 2011, New York State banned the Tris chemical TCEP in children’s products, becoming the first in the nation to address the issue. This important initiative for the protection of children’s health has led to a push by various leaders and organizations to also ban the harmful Tris chemical, TDCPP, and the expansion of the Tris-Free Children and Babies Act.

Tris, a collective of three toxic chemicals TCEP, TDCPP, and TCPP, is often found in children’s products such as strollers, nursing pillows, plastic toys, car seats, changing table pads, and other popular baby and children’s products. It has been linked to cancer and can have harmful effects on the liver, kidney, bone marrow, and brain. Tris is often released into waterways through sewage emissions and is toxic to fish and other marine life. Over time, products containing these chemicals release the toxins, which attach to dust particles in the air. According to various studies and research, children who are exposed to Tris-containing products can ingest up to ten times as much of these chemicals as adults due to their tendency to put their hands and other objects into their mouths and their small size and developing bodies.

Sponsored by: Senator Gristanti and Assemblyman Sweeney

Cosponsored: Assemblyman Galef, Thiele, Weisenberg and Senatetor Boyle

Transportation "Lock Box" Legislation Strengthened

After the diversion of about $260 million in NYC transit funds back in 2011, the legislature passed a “lock box” bill, which would prohibit any diversion or misuse of the funds. Despite the legislation, MTA and public transportation dedicated funds have since been allocated elsewhere and the law was later changed in December of 2011 rendering it ineffective.

However, the legislation attracted support from other New York State regions and transit agencies. As a result, legislators and supporters statewide sought the passing of a new bill which would expand the “lock box” bill to public transportation systems across the state. The bill's purpose is to "prohibits diversion of resources from dedicated funds derived from taxes and fees that support the MTA, the NYC transit authority and their subsidiaries in certain instances."

Now, the New York State Assembly and Senate unanimously passed a “lock box” bill, which would require detailed statements on the impacts of the each diversion in order to improve accountability and prevent future diversions of public MTA funds. These statements will provide information on how the diversions will impact transit riders, which funds will be diverted, and the cumulative scope and impact of diversions.

Though the bill cannot stop legislators from using transit dedicated dollars, it will make the diversion process more transparent, protect revenue sources, and decrease the chances of added fare hikes and service cuts.

Sponsored by: Senator Golden and Assemblyman Brennan

Co-Sponsored by: Assemblywoman Schimel

Northport Sewage Treatmant Plant funded

A $1.5 million grant from the State of New York was secured for Northport Village to pay for an upgraded sewage treatment facility and relating infrastructure. Upgrading the sewage treatment plant will help rid harbors of the toxic blooms that has plagued the waterways for years.

Due to high nitrogen levels present in the water, for which the sewage treatment plant is partly responsible for, Northport Harbor has been a hub for red and brown algae tides. These blooms have been occurring exponentially every year, increasing in severity, contaminating the waterways and shellfish leading to various health hazards to those who consume the shellfish. It has also caused many problems for swimmers, boaters, fishermen, and any who resides on or near water. These improvements will help reduce nitrogen levels, eventually reopening the clam beds, bathing beaches and protect public health.  

Northport and Centerport Harbor blooms contribute to the larger problem in the Long Island Sound which contains one of the most significant algae bloom threats on the East Coast. These sewage treatment plant upgrades will not only benefit the environment, but also the taxpayers of Northport and East Northport as they will be protected from the substantial increases in sewer costs that would result in larger tax burdens. It will help small businesses located by the water and/or rely on the water to keep their businesses running and also, most importantly, ensure the safety of the public who consume shellfish and local residents who live on or near water.

Funding for the grant was made possible by the EPA.

Red Light Cameras in Nassau and Suffolk County

- Since 2009, when the state authorized the installation and operation of 50 red light cameras in both Nassau and Suffolk County as part of a demonstration program, there has been a significant difference in traveler’s safety across the Island. In 2011, another 50 cameras were installed in each county.

According to Nassau County Traffic Safety Board report, the cameras have reduced accidents by as much as 12-16% at 40 intersections. The cameras help slow down and prevent highly dangerous traffic accidents, and has helped constrain aggressive, reckless drivers that contribute to “T-Bone” accidents, that is accidents which combine both speed and right angle impacts caused by ignoring traffic signals and signs. Red light running has resulted to 113,000 injuries and 676 fatalities in the U.S. in 2009, and two thirds of those victims were passengers, other motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians.

The red light camera includes in the picture a Date of Violation, Time of Violating, Length of the previous yellow light, Approximate Speed, Signal Phase, Length of red light, and Traffic Lane of Violation. The red light camera is very concrete, it does not carry points and does not go on your motorist record, it cannot be pled to a lesser offense, and cannot be reduced.

Nassau version of bill sponsored by: Assemblyman Lavine and Senator Johnson

Nassau version of bill co-sponsored by: Assemblypeople Hooper, Schimel, and Weisenberg

Suffolk version of bill sponsored by: Assemblyman Eddington and Senator Foley

Suffolk version of bill co-sponsored by: Assemblymen Fields and Sweeney

LIPA Clean Energy Programs Preserved

- LIPA’s existing Clean Energy programs are a vital component to the region’s small businesses, residents, and educational institutions. The programs provide energy efficiency and renewable alternatives that both reduce energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and grow our economy.

The allocation of $130 million annually is the strongest regional investment in green energy in New York State. Local efficiency programs, including home energy audits and the Small Business Direct Install are more active here than in any other region, and LIPA’s solar program has resulted in more solar installations on Long Island than the rest of the state combined.

It is important to ensure the funding for LIPA’s Clean Energy programs is preserved, or potentially strengthened, and that decisions regarding budgets and policies for those programs continue to be made locally, by Long Islanders.

Having borne some of the highest energy costs in the nation, our collective goal must focus on attempting to create for Long Island the best possible, yet feasible long term solution that both meets Long Island’s energy needs and provides a sustainable and financially competitive infrastructure.

Sponsored by: Assemblyman Sweeney

Co-sponsored by: Assemblypeople Hooper, Weisenberg, Englebright, Ramos, Lavine, Schimel, Goldfeder

Funding for Hurricane Sandy Victims

A bipartisan legislative agenda was sponsored by members from the Senate Republican, IDC and Democratic conferences. The measures include tax assessment relief for properties with severe and catastrophic storm damage, revisions to regulatory obstacles that slow down the rebuilding process, and improvement and continued examination of state insurance laws to help policyholders receive funds following a disaster, among others. The package includes a total of 22 bills which will provide vital financial assistance and resources to homeowners, businesses, local governments, school districts, others still recovering from the storm, and provide the tools to those responsible for disaster response needed to be more effective and efficient.

Legislation sponsored by Senator Dean Skelos which will expand the financing options available to the City of Long Beach to recover from the destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy, a bill sponsored by Senator Senator Phil Boyle which enacts the "Superstorm Sandy Assessment Relief Act" to allow eligible municipalities included  in the federal disaster declarations (excluding New York City) to offer a real property tax reduction to owners whose properties suffered catastrophic damage during the storm, and legislation sponsored by Lee Zeldin which permits Industrial Development Agencies (IDA) to include retail projects if a project is located within a county that has been declared a federal disaster area within 18 months of the project's approval by the IDA and the project involves a business directly or indirectly impacted by the disaster.

Thank you to both the Assembly and Senate for thier support of the Sandy Relief Bill.

Long Island Lobby Coalition

Tuesday, February 12th marked Long Island Lobby Coalitions’ 5th Annual Long Island Lobby Day. Nearly 50 participants, representing over 60 Long Island organizations, business leaders, environmentalists, civic associations, human services, senior and transit advocates, Smart Growth planners, labor groups journeyed to Albany to meet with elected officials in hopes of advancing this year’s unified platform. As with previous years, the platform included transportation, sewer infrastructure, energy and environment, small business, jobs and economic development and human services.  With the success of previous bills advocated for by this group and the need of Hurricane Sandy relief, the Long Island Lobby Coalition (LILC) felt it was necessary to also contain a post-Sandy component. 

Past and present supporters of the Long Island Lobby Coalition include:
AARP, American Communities Institute at Dowling College, American Planning Association—LI Chapter, Child Care Council of Nassau, Child Care Council of Suffolk, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Concern for Independent Living, Concerned Citizens of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Community, Congress for the New Urbanism—New York Chapter, Coram Civic Association, Cornerstone Church of God in Christ, Corridor Magazine, Dowling College, Elmont Chamber of Commerce, Empire State Future, EmPower Solar, Friends of Freeport, Friends of the Bay, Glen Cove Downtown Business Improvement District, Good Harvest Financial Group, Greater Smithtown Chamber of Commerce, Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., HIA-LI, Hicksville Chamber of Commerce, Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, Jubilee Recovery Center, Laible and Fitzsimmons Inc., Lake Ronkonkoma Civic Organization, Lindy Manpower, Long Island Business Council, Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL—CIO, Long Island Housing Partnership, Long Island Minority AIDS Coalition, Long Island Software & Technology Network, Longwood Alliance, Mastic Beach Property Owners Association, Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library, Middle Island Civic Association, Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, Neighborhood Network, Northport Village Merchants Association, NY Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, New York League of Conservation Voters, Plainview/Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce, Renaissance Downtowns, Roel Resources, Save the Forge River, Selden Civic Association, Signature Organization, South Yaphank Civic Association, Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, them TV, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Uniondale Community Council, US Green Building Council—Long Island Chapter, Verizon, Vision Long Island, Wading River Civic Association, Workforce Development Group, and the Youth of Ethical Societies, Long Island Chapter.

Part of the LILC growth can be attributed to several community groups from Freeport, Lindenhurst and Mastic Beach who signed on and/or took the journey to Albany as well.  These groups represented some of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy and are advocating for aide in various forms to help get life back to normal for residents.

Vision Long Island is proud to be a part of the annual Long Island Lobby Day and looks forward to continuing to work with local groups and communities to create opportunity for projects of signicance on Long Island. We applaud everyone who joined with us this year!

See also http://libn.com/youngisland/2013/02/13/long-islands-love-affair-with-albany/ for more on Long Island Lobby Day. And visit our website for a full copy of our lobby day platform, and look forward to a much more in depth write up on this year's Lobby Day coming up next week!

The LI Lobby Coalition was featured in Newsday in June.

If you are interested in signing your organization onto our coalition, please contact info@visionlongisland.org or call (631) 261-0242