By:Scott Brinton
Fuschillo, who has served in the Senate since 1998, cited three major accomplishments during his current term:
¥Passing legislation he sponsored to stiffen the definition of driving while intoxicated by lowering the allowable blood alcohol content limit from 0.1 to .08 percent;
¥Passing legislation he sponsored to ban ephedra, a potentially deadly stimulant that stacks a Chinese herb on caffeine and other ingredients;
¥Passing legislation he sponsored to prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants, which he said will protect the health of waiters, waitresses and bartenders as well as the general public.
In 2001 and 2002, Fuschillo was also the lead negotiator in the shutdown of Freeport Power Plant No. 2, an antiquated diesel plant with no pollution controls. Residents feared that its exhaust may have been causing cancer. Freeport replaced the plant with a clean-burning, natural-gas plant.
As chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee, Fuschillo was the primary Senate sponsor of the state's Do Not Call Registry, which blocks unwanted telemarketing calls from people's homes.
The senator was a moving force behind the Broadhollow Bioscience Park at SUNY Farmingdale, a technology incubator that is attracting high-technology companies to Long Island. Fuschillo believes that high-tech is the future and is desperately needed to replace Grumman, which for many years served as one of the Island's primary employers, but went into decline when Cold War military spending was curtailed.
And Fuschillo says he has consistently been able to bring home special grants for his senate district to improve the schools and the community at lage.
Lewis, an attorney in private practice and a former Nassau County assistant district attorney, admits he would stand no chance of passing legislation of his own in the Republican-controlled Senate. "Nothing I proposed would get passed anyway," Lewis told the Herald. But he added that he would use the bully pulpit to "scream" about the government mismanagement he believes is so pervasive in Albany.
Lewis says that "wasteful spending" and $14 billion in tax breaks for the wealthiest New Yorkers are sending people's state and local property taxes soaring.
He'd like to see reform of the state's Wicks Law, which requires that whenever a government agency, including a school district, constructs a new building, it must use subcontractors for each part of the job rather than one general contractor. The law was originally intended to reduce the corruption that occurred when general contractors were the rule. But now it's often seen as a waste of money, as hiring several subcontractors reportedly costs government more than if one honest general contractor were hired.
Lewis claims that Medicaid pays too much for drugs. "We have gold-plated Medicaid. Let's make it chrome-plated," he said.
The challenger opposes the statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants. "Businesses should decide who they want to be their clientele," he said. But Lewis described the Do Not Call Registry measure as "good legislation," and he said lowering the blood alcohol content threshold "has a legitimate purpose."
Lewis believes the state is "under-funding" education -- that is, it isn't providing enough state aid for schools. And he would like to see school districts consolidated into single countywide districts, with one Board of Education and one superintendent. He said that having fewer districts would reduce administrative overhead and cut property taxes statewide.
When asked whether he thought people would be willing to give up local control of education, he said they would have to do what's good for them. "Sometimes things that hurt are better for you," he said.
Lewis also said that Board of Education meetings are often wastes of time. "Half of the stuff there that's said doesn't need to be said. A lot of times the complaints, the local concerns, shouldn't find a voice," he said.
Finally, on education, Lewis claims that the state is shortchanging the beleaguered Roosevelt School District. He notes that a recent court judgment against the state, won by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, stated that New York should offer $16 million more in aid to the traditionally under-performing Roosevelt district.
But the state already provides an additional $6 million in special state grants annually to Roosevelt, on top of its regular state aid. The extra money is part of a state takeover of the district, engineered by Fuschillo and Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper, a Democrat.
Fuschillo says the state has raised state aid for education in general, from $10 billion annually in 1998 to $15 billion today. At the same time, it has provided property tax relief for all residents through the Star program and the Enhanced Star program for seniors.
Fuschillo would like to see school districts rotate their auditors to reduce the chances of the type of fraud seen in the Roslyn School District last year.
He would like to see the state Department of Transportation rework LITP 2000, a massive blueprint for the Island's transportation future. The senator believes the $5 billion plan would take too few cars off the road to justify its cost. He also points out that the chairmanship of the Senate Transportation Committee will open up this year, and he plans to vie for the post.
The senator wants to see the state develop a Do No Fax Registry, which would eliminate the junk faxes that often tie up business lines. He would also like to see legislation banning alcohol inhalators, which allow people to breathe alcohol in rather than drink it. He believes the new machines are potentially dangerous.
And Fuschillo plans to continue efforts to revitalize downtowns. He cited Merrick, where the business district around the train station was restored with state, county and town funds. Fuschillo wants to see parts of the North Merrick and Merrick Road commerce zones given a face-lift as well.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
