Making the budget process more open and timely

To end New York's unacceptable string of late budgets, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sponsored legislation and a constitutional amendment to reform the budget process (A.1, A.2):

• moving fiscal year start from April 1 to May 1

• enacting a contingency budget if one isn't adopted by May 1

• requiring a two-year appropriation for education aid to help schools plan ahead

Curtailing procurement lobbying

Billions of taxpayer dollars are at stake when it comes to awarding state contracts - but no one's held accountable for how they're awarded. That's why Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz supports expanding the definition of lobbying to include any effort to influence any public official regarding procurement of goods or services, construction, or the sale or purchase of land, as well as implementation of rules and regulations, tribal state compacts and executive orders (A.9).

Ending state authority abuses

To end abuses of the public trust by state authorities and public benefit corporations, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sponsored a measure (A.3):

• creating a public authority inspector general to oversee authorities

• restricting lobbying on awarding of authority contracts or spending taxpayers' money

Ensuring Empire Zones do their jobs

Empire Zones need to get back to the business of creating jobs and revitalizing struggling communities, and that's why Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sponsored legislation (A.6):

• reconfiguring zone boundaries to better assist distressed communities

• requiring the state Department of Taxation and Finance to certify that businesses receiving tax benefits are legitimate

• mandating annual job creation reports

Reforming Rockefeller Drug Laws

To build on last year's agreement on the Rockefeller Drug Laws, the Assembly will continue to work for a more meaningful and comprehensive reform of these much-criticized laws by restoring judicial discretion in the prosecution of drug offenses.

Restoring the public's faith in elections

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sponsored legislation:

• limiting special interest campaign contributions and providing matching funds to candidates for statewide office, state Legislature or delegate to a constitutional convention who limit contributions and spending (A.4)

• implementing the Help America Vote Act to make voting easier and more accurate (A.5, A.119, A.120, A.121, A.122)

• reforming the state's judicial selection laws to ensure that the most qualified judges serve (A.7, A.8)

Improving the Assembly's legislative process

For the 2005 legislative session, the Assembly - in a spirit of true bipartisanship with the house's minority - adopted a series of internal rules changes that will dramatically improve the way the Assembly operates.

The new rules will require a joint conference committee to achieve a more timely state budget and help ensure a public review of state spending.