The 2018 State Legislative Session began last week with Governor Cuomo’s State of the State Address. This week, the State Assembly will formally begin its legislative business. On January 17, the Governor will release his proposed 2018 Executive Budget proposal. It is a busy time in Albany.

This year will be the most challenging legislative session since the aftermath of the Great Recession. The State of New York is facing a budget gap of at least $4 billion.

The federal tax bill will further adversely impact New York State. We already are a donor state to the federal treasury. Each year, New Yorkers pay $48 billion more in federal taxes than they get back in services. Under the new federal tax law, New Yorkers will pay an additional $14 billion.

I applaud the Governor’s leadership in the fight against the ill-considered federal tax bill. Opposition has been bi-partisan in New York. However, I also urge caution as we seek to protect New Yorkers.

I disagree with the federal tax bill. However, too often the first reaction is to bring a lawsuit without consideration of the likelihood of success. The fact is that the U.S. Congress’ power to tax is broad. That was made clear in Justice Robert’s opinion in the Supreme Court case upholding Obamacare as a valid legislative act under the federal taxing power. The truth is that litigation against the federal tax bill will be costly and is unlikely to be successful.

With regard to replacing the state income tax with a state payroll tax, caution should also prevail. Let’s not be guilty of the same mistake as the U.S. Congress. It would be an error to rush through a payroll tax replacement bill without fully understanding all the impacts. Tax law is complicated. The law of unintended consequences can rear its ugly head. Further, the U.S. Congress always gets to bat last. Whatever action we take to avoid the federal tax bill can be subsequently counteracted in Washington.

The U.S. Congress will have to answer to the public for this tax bill. The remedy more likely will lie with the people at the ballot box, rather than the court house or the state house.

The State Legislature should focus on issues over which it has direct control, such as state taxes and local property taxes. We have made progress by reducing state income tax rates for the middle class to the lowest rate since 1947. The property tax cap has curbed local property tax levies.

We should build upon those accomplishments, by pursuing tax policies that make New York State more affordable and competitive. Our goal should be to reduce the state and local tax burden on small businesses and the middle class. This will ease the sting of the increased federal tax burden that many Long Islanders will bear.

My priorities for my Assembly District in 2018 will be to improve the daily lives of my constituents and make eastern Long Island a more affordable place to live. We need policies that balance our economy with our environment to create more jobs. I look forward to working on these priorities with my partner in Albany, State Senator Ken LaValle.

In the past few years, we have worked to guide state funding to our downtown business districts in locations such as Hampton Bays, Sag Harbor, Montauk, and Westhampton Beach to create jobs. We have also worked to direct funding to improve our state highways, such as repaving NY Routes 27 and 24.

In 2018, it is my goal to do more of the same. The construction of a new interchange on the Sunrise Highway for Mastic, Mastic Beach, and Shirley will begin design work this year. We have renewed the call for the State DOT to repave all of State Route 114 on the South Fork, and we will pursue funding to create bike lanes on Route 114 on Shelter Island. We will continue to work with our towns and villages to focus state capital funds on projects that create jobs.

Transportation is another key to economic viability. The implementation of a South Fork Commuter Train to reduce traffic on CR 39 will be finalized in 2018 with implementation soon after. In addition, we will seek capital funding for track infrastructure to permit even more trains to be added in the future. Public transportation will make it easier to recruit and retain workers on the East End.

Higher education is important to our region’s economic health. We need an educated workforce to compete. The renaissance of the Southampton campus under Stony Brook University is one key element. The campus is evolving into a center for quality graduate education in areas such as marine sciences, health sciences, and the fine arts. More than 600 students attended classes at the campus last year. In 2018, enrollment will continue to grow.

The renovation of the old Southampton Hall is the logical next step. The building is at the heart of the campus and has lain dormant for more than a decade. This facility can be the anchor for creative arts programming at the campus. Further, 2018 will also be the year we pursue a land lease at the campus as a first step toward a new state-of-the-art Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

We will continue efforts to promote a sustainable commercial fishing industry for Long Island, which began with a meeting with the DEC Commissioner on the East End in 2017. The Governor recently signed our legislation creating a Task Force to promote the marketing of New York Seafood. The Task Force will begin work in 2018.

In addition, we will advocate for New York’s fair share of fish under federal quotas, including litigation, if necessary. We will work to change New York State’s antiquated commercial fishing licensing and permit regulations to foster a sustainable and growing fishing industry. Commercial fishing is not just history and tradition. It is a part of our sustainable economic future.

On Long Island, in addition to fishing, the entire region’s economy depends on clean water. We have made progress with the amendment of the Community Preservation Fund to permit up to 20% of the fund to be used for water quality improvement projects and the enactment of a $2.5 billion State Water Quality Improvement Fund. That is only the down payment. It will take a sustained commitment to reverse the decades-long trend of declining water quality. In 2018, these funds must be rapidly deployed to replace old septic systems and cesspools, to clean up polluted sites, and to extend public water to those impacted by pollution. We will also pursue legislation to outlaw chemicals like methoprene and pentachlorophenol (PCP), as well as to eliminate the exemption for railroads from the ban on creosote.

Finally, all of the above mentioned initiatives and projects, with more jobs, better roads, increased public transportation, improved health care, better educational opportunities, and a cleaner environment will mean nothing if working and middle class people cannot afford to live here.

We educate our children, who then move away because of the lack of housing. A large part of our workforce, from small businesspeople and tradesmen to professionals, lives outside the area because they cannot afford the housing costs. It impacts traffic congestion, emergency services recruitment, job recruitment and retention, and the ability of families to stay on the East End.

The construction of workforce housing projects, to date, has only put a small dent in the demand for housing. The federal tax bill, with the cap on the deductibility of residential property taxes and mortgage interest, will only exacerbate the housing crisis.

We need an entire new paradigm for housing on the East End, one that does not seek to build our way out of the problem. We need the housing equivalent of the Community Preservation Fund that would create a revolving loan fund to assist local families with the costs of housing such as down payments, mortgage costs, and taxes. Such a program can bring our existing housing inventory within reach of local families. Legislation to permit our towns to create housing revolving loan funds will be introduced in Albany in the next month.

These will be some of my top priorities for 2018. No doubt, there will be many more issues to address, LIPA rates, education aid, energy, climate change to name a few. I look forward to the challenge that lies ahead.