AUGUST 17, 2009

LEGISLATURE CHAIR WONDERS WHY EXECUTIVE KEEPS BLOCKING REFORMS

The Legislature has initiated several reforms - recently unanimously approving the downsizing of seats. If voters approve, it will take effect after next year's U.S. census. Voters had overwhelmingly approved Charter reforms, now in effect. The Legislature also cut the current year's budget to keep taxes from being raised as the county executive had proposed. At the start of the year, an unavoidable legal challenge became necessary so the administration's tax bills wouldn't be sent incorrectly. A Supreme Court Justice agreed with the majority of the Legislature's legal arguments.

Several other laws have been successfully written and approved in the people's branch for cost savings and reforms, such as the Taxpayer Protection Act (led by Legislator Michele Iannello), the Library Protection Act, the Strategic Development Act, the Budget Accountability Act, merging youth services into the Human Services Department (led by Legislator Tom Mazur) and, recently, tougher bans on texting while driving (prompted by Legislator Tim Wroblewski). The Legislature supported economic growth and local job protection, but the executive paid for political ads, suggesting these are union oriented, when in fact it applies to any worker and follows state law.

I seated the 21st Century Commission last fall and the Legislature honored its work to make reform a reality. In our continued efforts to enact reform and address the wishes of our constituents, we unanimously voted to reduce the size of the Legislature to 13 members and increase the length of terms to four years from two. We found consensus to do this. If voters OK it, this would be a reduction of 35 percent in the size since it began. The Legislature was originally made up of 20 members, was downsized to 17 and reduced again to 15 in 2003. This year's ballot still has 15 district-based, two-year term seats. We also followed the Commission's recommendation in increasing the terms to four years from two years to devote more time to policy and less to campaigning. If the reform package is affirmed, it will take effect in the 2011 election cycle.

It is unproductive that this reform effort with such broad, bipartisan support would be vetoed by Executive Collins. As chair, I will call for a veto override at the September session to give the voters of Erie County the chance to vote on this local law.

Last month, the Legislature conducted its annual mid-year budget hearings in our continuing role of financial oversight. We started these mid-year budget hearings following the budget crisis of 2005. It is one of our fiscally prudent reform methods for working with the departments to make certain that spending and revenues are in line with established annual budgets. Legislator Bob Reynolds, who now chairs the Finance and Management Committee, will lead the 2010 budget deliberations. The Legislature has made drastic reductions in its own department budget, finding over a quarter-million dollars of cuts and cost savings. Like our citizens, we continue to live within our means.

For more information, visit www.erie.gov/legislature.

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