Education Videos and Free Tax Preparation

Thank you to everyone who turned out last week to attend my budget town hall meeting.  As the Legislature works to address the state fiscal crisis and deliver a budget that I hope will include substantial reforms and common sense measures to reduce the size and cost of government, it is more important than ever for me to hear from my constituents about what matters most to you.  You can read my opening remarks from the town hall meeting here.

SCHOOL REFORM

I have two video links to share this week about education reform.

The president of the national teacher’s union was on the MSNBC show Morning Joe today to talk about New York State’s recent education votes.  See the link at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#35142317.

Filmmaker Madeleine Sackler has recently released the trailer for her latest documentary, The Lottery, which follows four families as they try to win the lottery for admission in to the Harlem Success Charter Schools.  You can watch the trailer at http://thelotteryfilm.com.  The movie will be released on May 7, 2010.

FREE TAX PREPARATION

Beta Alpha Psi, the national honor society for accounting and finance students, will offer free tax preparation services this year at North and South Campus sites.  Both locations will offer free tax preparation services to individuals and families with an annual income below $49,000.

Beta Alpha Psi is offering this service as an alternative to the sometimes costly services of national tax-preparation franchises.  Additional information including frequently asked questions can be found at http://mgt.buffalo.edu/freetaxprep. Additional questions can be directed to mgt-freetaxprep@buffalo.edu or 716-533-1553.

Sexual Offender Management and Treatment Act

Today, Senator Stachowski and I announced legislation that would amend the Sexual Offender Management and Treatment Act of 2007 (SOMTA). The legislation will strengthen the existing law so that repeat sex offenders like Theodore Sypnier are not let loose to commit the same crimes again.

Civil Confinement was enacted to protect the public from sex offenders who are unable to control their behaviors.  In order for the law to work more effectively changes are necessary that call for a collaborative evaluation process with other state agencies and a closer examination of those sex offenders whose past behaviors indicate the presence of a mental abnormality and therefore are in need of supervision.

Sypnier is a three time convicted sexual offender who also violated his parole by refusing to attend counseling.  He currently lives in Buffalo and is about to be released on parole again.  The Office of Mental Health, which performed Sypnier’s case evaluation, never referred him to the Attorney General’s office for a civil management petition.  While inquiring into the matter Hoyt discovered that there are a number of cases that the Office of Mental Health does not refer.

According to the Attorney General’s “The Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act: The First Year,” report 1,603 cases were referred by the Department of Corrections to the Office of Mental Health for evaluation for possible civil management.  Of that, only 173 were ever evaluated by a psychiatrist at OMH’s direction and only 139 of those were referred to the Attorney General’s office for consideration of a civil management petition.

Under the current law, sex offenders referred by the Department of Corrections undergo a three step process administered by the Office of Mental Health.  The first is a multi-disciplinary team review.  This is a paper review that examines the criminal and supervisory history, presentencing reports and institutional history.  Based on that review, the team may recommend that the case be examined by a three member case review team.  The case review team may then recommend the offender be examined by a psychiatrist and then, if two of the three team members agree, the case is referred to the Attorney General’s office with a recommendation to file a petition for civil management.

Our proposed amendments would do the following:

• All repeat sex offenders are automatically referred to the three person case review team 120 days before their release
• The case review team will be comprised of representatives from three different agencies, the Office of Mental Health, the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Office of the Attorney General.  It will maintain the current standard of two of the three team members being psychiatric examiners
• The case review team will be administered under the Department of Criminal Justice Services because they are a disinterested state agency in regards to the civil management process and have purview in areas of criminal justice, public safety, release of prisoners and the management of sexual offenders

Joining us today in sponsoring these amendments were Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte and Assemblyman Mark Schroeder.

The cost of allowing repeat offenders like Ted Sypnier to go free outweigh any cost of civilly confining them now.  The emotional, psychological and physical tolls that they take on their victims and the community will only haunt us in the future as we try to repair the damage they have done.

NYS Special Session – LIVE

Governor David Paterson has urged lawmakers to use their power to tackle the state’s $3.2 billion budget deficit and give final approval to a same-sex marriage bill when they convene in a special session Today.

Sam Hoyt delivers for the Heights

After Javon Jackson was gunned down last spring, passing the NYS Assembly and Senate Bills that would allow SUNY Campus Safety police to patrol off campus took on added urgency and importance. Unfortunately, the Bills died an untimely death with the Golisano/Pigeon orchestrated melt down of the NYS Sentate.

Lentol, Schroeder, Colton, Hoyt, Kolb and Townsend are still working to get the Bill passed, A4940.

Valesky has the same Bill in the Senate, S4302-A.

Sam Hoyt’s Education Reform Plan

Assembly member Sam Hoyt unveiled his comprehensive plan for education reform in New York State in order to be eligible for national Race to the Top funding.