LUPINACCI BREAKS DOWN 2015 STATE BUDGET

After countless hours of heated debate and negotiations, Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R,C,I-South Huntington) felt uneasy about several sections of the 2015-16 State Budget.

“Most of these budget bills were given a ‘message of necessity’ by the governor, which did not give lawmakers much time to analyze them and factor in potential impacts our districts will face. It’s frustrating to know that our governor is more concerned with his legacy and passing an on-time budget than fixing the loose ends in this year’s budget.”

Lupinacci continued to voice his displeasure after voting against the education legislation in the budget, which includes a new teacher evaluation system based on student state test scores and classroom teacher observations by peer teachers, principals and an independent evaluator.

“The governor’s education reform proposals are not the answer for our devoted teachers and students. The future employment and livelihood of our teachers should not be based on high-stakes student tests, and bringing independent evaluators into classrooms would just create another unfunded mandate that local school districts don’t need,” said Lupinacci, who is a former South Huntington School Board Member.

Lupiancci’s frustration did not stop there; he went on to discuss how the proposed ethics reforms did not go far enough.

“I’ve been calling for ethics reform for months. Lawmakers in Albany need to be held to a higher standard so we can regain the public’s trust. After Sheldon Silver resigned from his position as speaker, many Democrats were very vocal about reform in the Assembly, but have since backpedaled on that promise and did not implement any serious ethics reform.”

Lupinacci did conclude with a few positive comments regarding the budget after he voted in favor of strategies to help fight crime and drug abuse on Long Island, and higher education funding. “Keeping our families out of harm’s way has always been a top priority of mine; funding crime prevention initiatives and treatment services for alcohol and substance abuse are essential to keeping our streets and families safe. On another good note I voted in favor of higher education opportunity program awards, increasing library aid, and the Liberty Partnership, which will help lower our high school dropout rates,” said Lupinacci.

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