Weisenberg challenged by Wanderer for Assembly seat

Lawrence resident Josh Wanderer wants the job that longtime incumbent Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) says nobody understands.

“There is a saying in business: ‘Pioneers get slaughtered, settlers get rich,’” said Wanderer, adding that he is willing to be the pioneer who tells others, “Long Island is not a piggy back and not an ATM. We have pockets of wealth and we have pockets of poverty and we have to stop [spending].”

His plan, the “10-10 pledge” calls for a 10 percent cut in state spending across the board — “No more sacred cows,” Wanderer said — and an accompanying 10 percent cut in taxes.

He is looking to turn back the clock, but not that far, he said, noting that those cuts would return state spending and taxes to 2008 levels. “State government is like a business. They need to raise revenue, but it’s easy to charge more, harder to go back to the expense ledger and cut,” Wanderer said. “Government has a monopoly, and career politicians don’t care.”

However, 21-year Assembly member Weisenberg said he does care and battles very hard for his district, and with a spirit of bipartisanship. “Nobody understands what my job is. I am a public servant,” he said. “I have a close relationship with Republicans. That is why I had a primary.” Weisenberg defeated fellow Democrat and former Nassau County legislator Jeff Toback in the Sept. 14 primary.

Weisenberg touted his record in Albany, which includes work on bills that he sponsored that help people with special needs and that have created tougher DWI laws, including Leandra’s Law. “The bills that I have passed help save lives,” he said.

Weisenberg explained that he has worked to restore $600 million of Governor Paterson’s planned $1.4 billion cuts in school aid this year, and that since he took office in 1989, state education aid to local schools has increased by 86 percent. He also said that he steered roughly $1 million in discretionary funds to public schools.

Weisenberg works with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, along with Democrats and Republicans, to get legislation passed. “Nobody does what I do up there,” he said. “I win some, I lose some.”