Local Government Updates

The New York State Senate’s Bipartisan Task Force on Hurricane Sandy Recovery today visited communities on Long Island to tour storm damage and speak with local officials, business leaders, and individuals about the progress and challenges of the ongoing recovery efforts.

Today’s meeting focused on Hurricane Sandy’s impacts in Nassau and Suffolk counties and included tours of Freeport, Island Park, and Oceanside to view the extensive storm damage and recovery efforts. This was the second meeting of the Bipartisan Senate Task Force for Hurricane Sandy Recovery, which first met on December 10, 2012, in the Rockaways in Queens.

The following is from Senator Jack M. Martins:

I hope that you had a happy and safe holiday. As we approach the new year, I wanted to remind you of the new laws that will be taking effect on January 1, 2013. These new laws include greater protections for domestic violence victims, a new tax exemption to encourage use of solar energy and a measure to allow eligible colleges and universities in New York State to self-insure their students for health insurance.

The new laws taking effect include:

I received an e- mail from Afghanistan in late October – actually from one of our local guys from New Hyde Park who is currently stationed there.

He serves in what is uniquely known as one of the Navy’s “Force Reintegration Cells.” It’s not what you might think, though. His unit actually distributes small grants and community funding for local projects, most of the time using the former insurgent fighters as laborers on the projects. Each leaves the fight “honorably” and each represents one less fighter or suicide bomber for the Taliban. As he notes in his message,

“As a native New Yorker, I was very skeptical at first, but I have to admit, that the program is working. We’ve peacefully removed 5,000 insurgent fighters from the battle space…”

Awards Going to Winthrop Hospital and Town of Hempstead For Belmont Area Revitalization

Senator Jack M. Martins announced that projects in the Seventh Senate District that will create jobs will receive critically important state funds through the second round of Regional Economic Development Council awards.