A full week after the Assembly was supposed to have completed its work, the gavel finally came down on this year's last session just after midnight. The indictments of former Speaker Sheldon Silver and Majority Leader Dean Skelos meant that almost nothing got done in the first few months of the year, leaving too much for the end. The delay cost our taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

Despite the general atmosphere of inaction, I'm proud to have helped get passed, by the Assembly and the Senate, important legislation that has the potential to stop the Kiryas Joel annexation. It now sits on the governor's desk.

Because it took a sluggish and complacent Albany an entire legislative session to get its priorities straight, we had to wait until the final night to pass a much-needed, four-year extension of the property tax cap, which already has saved New Yorkers over $7 billion, and enact a $1.3 billion tax rebate for homeowners. I worked hard to help accomplish this crucial tax relief for our citizens struggling to afford the cost of living in the Empire State.

My first session as the 98th District's Assemblyman has convinced me more than ever that we need public pressure to overcome Albany's failures – that's how we passed the KJ annexation oversight legislation. In the next session, I'll need my constituents’ support to push ahead with meaningful ethics reform and a program of cost savings and further tax relief that will truly transform our state’s economy and bring jobs back to New York. Working together will make the crucial difference.