Opinion

These are perilous times at home and abroad. 
Our economy is in stasis, pinching the dreams of millennials and leaving many older workers behind. Gaping fault lines in race relations are again laid bare. Evolving gender roles widen the cultural divide.
The Middle East is wracked by endless conflict, Russia growls and a more assertive China imperils our allies in the East. The threat of terrorism rises. The dangers of climate change loom.
And Congress, riven into warring camps, is unable to function. 
Against that backdrop of uncertainty in this presidential election year, America has made it clear: It wants change. But that means real change — not change based on slogans, not change that can never happen. It wants change that alters people’s lives, change that can bridge divides.
You get that by electing someone with decades of public service and experience, someone who has laudable goals and will work relentlessly to achieve them with anyone who wants to get things done. We haven’t had a president enter office with that kind of resume in a long time. 
That would be a change.
That’s why the nation should elect Hillary Clinton as president.
We do not make this pronouncement lightly. In fairness to both candidates and their supporters, we waited until all three debates were held before making our recommendation. 
In a campaign that keeps getting uglier, it’s easy to forget the skills Clinton would bring to the Oval Office.
She is steady, mature, tough, intelligent and deeply knowledgeable about policy and government. She understands that governing means collaborating. She knows that complex problems have neither simple diagnoses nor simple solutions, and that continuing to move forward is often the best idea.
Take Obamacare. Clinton understands that revamping it makes more sense than starting over, so she’s proposing tax credits and more subsidies to make it more affordable. Years earlier, when she was first lady and didn’t get her health care overhaul approved, she worked on a proposal to expand health insurance for low-income children that now covers more than 8 million kids.
When she entered the Senate in 2001, her GOP colleagues found she was smart and pragmatic and ready to work with them. She got legislation passed that provided for monitoring the long-term health of 9/11 responders and that made National Guard members and reservists eligible for military benefits.
As president, she would have to work with Congress in a way Barack Obama did not and could not, and Congress would have to do the same with her. Clinton is not a purist; she’ll make deals to make progress. That’s how Washington used to work, and can again.
She is not without flaws or controversies stirred by her own hand. Some attacks on her are creations of our hyperpartisan politics. Cutting through that is difficult — as in the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi in 2012. Clinton can be blamed for not helping to craft a day-after plan to stabilize Libya, but repeated congressional investigations failed to prove that she knew about and personally denied repeated requests for more security at the mission.
But some alleged shortcomings are legitimate.
Her penchant for secrecy is troubling, as is her reluctance to take direct responsibility for some actions. Her use of a private server for emails was a mistake she did not readily acknowledge. It was not a crime, but her shifting explanations were unseemly and emboldened critics who find her untrustworthy.
She has been too dismissive of potential conflicts of interest, especially regarding the Clinton Foundation. The charity does good work, and no favor-for-donation quid pro quo has been documented, but she should state clearly that the family will not be involved in it if she is elected president.
Clinton has scars from nearly four decades in politics. We hope she has learned from them.
Her opponent, Donald Trump, has shown himself not to measure up to the job. He has an astonishing lack of knowledge about the world and about how government works. Worse, he shows no curiosity to learn. His stunning refusal Wednesday night to say he will accept the results of the election undermines one of the hallmarks of our democracy. And he has no peer in his ability to spout untruths. If that weren’t enough, his temperament disqualifies him. He wants to be president like it’s a trophy to be won, and he would have others do the actual work. That is not leadership.
Most disturbingly, Trump has exploited a nostalgia felt by some Americans who want to return to the past, an appeal rooted partly in the racist and anti-immigrant sentiments that have plagued this nation.
Trump was shrewd to recognize the dissatisfaction felt by many that a changing economy has passed them by, and that government is riddled with cronyism and self-interest, but he doesn’t have solutions to address either. Some ideas — like a tax policy that will explode the deficit and increase taxes on many middle-class Americans — will only make things worse.
Clinton’s proposals — such as raising the minimum wage, improving paid family leave, refinancing student loans, and expanding the child tax credit — reflect her desire to expand opportunity for all Americans. We also like her positions on sensible gun controls, large infrastructure investments, criminal justice reforms and immigration reform with a detailed path to citizenship.
She has waffled on trade policy to satisfy the national mood but agrees in principle that well-crafted trade deals are good, or so it seems from the WikiLeaks disclosure of her Goldman Sachs speeches. And unlike any recent presidential candidate, she knows Long Island and suburban needs well, which could mean more federal dollars for public transportation, research and sewers.
Her vote on Iraq was a mistake she has acknowledged, but the Middle East has bedeviled generations of U.S. policymakers. Clinton advised arming Syrian rebels in 2012, which President Barack Obama rejected. It’s hard to know what effect that would have had on that nation’s civil war. She is right to sound the alarm on Russia’s belligerence, and her efforts to toughen sanctions against Iran drove it into an agreement on its nuclear program.
Yes, she would be our nation’s first woman president, and that has its own value. But that would be the result of electing her, not the reason to vote for her.
Clinton speaks a language America needs now. It is one of bridges, not walls. Of engaging with the world, not withdrawing from it. Of adapting to a changing economy, not reverting to one from a time long gone. Of dealing with climate change, not pretending it does not exist.
She is realistic about our nation’s problems and resolute about fixing them. Her unbroken belief in the dream of America, and her commitment to the right of every American to have a chance to achieve that, make Hillary Clinton the right choice to be our president.
Newsday endorses Clinton.

Editorials

VPPRES1023

Hillary Clinton should be our next president 

Newsday endorses Hillary Clinton

VPPRES1023_WEB

A political novice like Donald Trump couldn’t have caught fire, built a deeply loyal following and defeated 16 experienced candidates without saying something many people found compelling. The Republican nominee did this from the start, with some important, honest statements, and some untrue and ugly ones. 
It’s no coincidence that many of the most compelling points the New York billionaire made were also stressed by the Democratic Party’s upstart candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders. Both men were convincing in their attacks on a system in which big-money contributors buy politicians, elections and laws. The two targeted the ruling class of politicians and powerful supporters who so often rig the game to their advantage.
And both men caught the mood of the moment when they attacked treaties like the North American Free Trade Agreement as unfair and poorly negotiated. There is a sense among many Americans that these deals have sent good jobs out of the country to mostly benefit wealthy corporations without safeguarding our workers or industries.
Increased automation and outsourcing of jobs have been changing this country for decades. Establishment politicians from both parties have ignored the pain the changes have caused. Hard data show the middle class is shrinking on Long Island and across the nation. The government has to do more to restore the growth of this bedrock segment of our society, a point Trump made brilliantly.
Trump also deviated from mainstream Republican philosophy to his benefit and credit. He never told a GOP base increasingly dependent on the social safety net that he planned to slash programs like food stamps, Medicare or Social Security to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy. There is no political future for the Republican Party if it insists on continuing to make such a promise.
And Trump gave voice to the widely held belief that government is a maddening bastion of incompetence and inefficiency that needs a free-market nudge. 
But Trump also said terrible things, and it is disheartening that some of his most vehement supporters seemed to be more attracted to his travesties than his truths.
Trump kicked off his campaign by saying Mexico sends us rapists and drug dealers. His degradations of women are revolting to hear and impossible to explain away. His presumptions that Muslims are dangerous and that all black people live in crime-ridden neighborhoods and have no jobs are ignorant and bizarre. 
Trump flouted crucial traditions like the release of tax returns by nominees. And rather than the hoped-for pivot to an acceptable general election campaign after the primaries, Trump began cynically attacking and questioning our treasured institutions: the rights of a free press and freedom of religion, the judicial system, and the credibility of the FBI. Worst of all, in a pre-emptive move to explain away his likely loss, he claimed an unfounded fear of fake votes and a “rigged” election that could be heard by his most vehement fans as a justification for Election Day vigilantism.
Trump never said how he would defeat the Islamic State, or force China or Russia or Mexico or any nation to do his bidding. He never said how he’d rebuild the military or the nation’s infrastructure, how he’d improve education or health care or pay for his tax cuts.
The flaw in Trump’s candidacy is that his best promises are fairy tales, but his worst attributes are real. He can’t bring back 1950s-style manufacturing jobs, immediately end illegal immigration or quickly squelch terrorism. But he would bring callous indifference and divisiveness to our society and furious, impetuous and ignorant leadership to the White House. Three times in debates with Hillary Clinton he tried to remain calm and presidential. Not once could he keep his cool for even 90 minutes.
Our leaders must address the needs Trump deftly identified. He has proved himself singularly incapable of doing so.

VPTRUMP1023

Donald Trump cannot be president. Here’s why

Editorial: Why Donald Trump cannot be president

VPTRUMP1023_WEB

These are the candidates Newsday has endorsed for president since the paper began publishing in 1940.

2020 — Joe Biden

2020 Endorsement PL DO NOT EDIT

2016 — Hillary Clinton

2016 ENDORSMENTS PL DO NOT EDIT

2012 — Mitt Romney

2012 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

2008 — Barack Obama

2008 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

2004 — John Kerry

2004 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

2000 — Al Gore

2000 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

1996 — Bill Clinton

1996 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

1992 — Bill Clinton

1992 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

1988 — Michael Dukakis

1988 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

1972  — 1984: No endorsements

1972-1984 Endorsemensts PL do not edit 

1968 — Richard Nixon

1968 ENDORSEMENT PL DO NOT EDIT

1964 — Lyndon B. Johnson

1964 ENDORSEMENT HISTORY PL DO NOT EDIT

1960 — John F. Kennedy

1960 ENDORSEMENT HISTORY PL DO NOT EDIT

1956 — Adlai Stevenson

1956 ENDORSEMENT HISTORY PL DO NOT EDIT

1952 — Dwight D. Eisenhower

1952 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

1948 — No endorsement

1948 Newsday Endorsements PL Do not edit

1944 — No FDR, maybe Dewey

1944 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

1940  — For and against FDR

1940 Newsday Endorsements PL do not edit

Newsday's presidential endorsements

Newsday's presidential endorsements over the years

At the core of election 2016 is a question: Will it be a turning point? 
A history-making woman is one step from the White House, while a political outsider captures the populist mood but threatens to crash and burn the Republican Party. There was even a decent run by a Democratic socialist. Thousands have rallied, marched, tapped out their discontent on cellphones and cried, “Enough already!” Government has become static and immobile. Will it ever work again? Who can fix it?
That’s what’s animating New York’s race for U.S. Senate, an election in which incumbent Chuck Schumer is poised to become one of the nation’s defining leaders at a moment of frustration with government and infuriating congressional gridlock. 
Schumer is the clear favorite to win a fourth term and take over from the retiring Harry Reid as the leader of Senate Democrats. And Schumer would become majority leader if his party takes back the chamber. That means he would have to fill two critical roles — representing New York and representing the country. We think he’s up to those challenges.
It has been a determined and successful road to the top for Schumer, who was elected as a 23-year-old state assemblyman from Brooklyn in 1974 before going to Washington as a congressman. He pulled off the stunning defeat of incumbent Sen. Alfonse D’Amato in 1998. Polls consistently show he is the most popular official elected statewide in New York. 
Schumer, 65, is so omnipresent locally it can be difficult to remember there’s another U.S. senator in the state. His tireless advocacy for New York reached a high point when he wrangled Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for Long Island and New York City after superstorm Sandy. We have no doubt that Schumer, well known for his drop-in speeches at college graduations and fire department inductions, will continue coming home. And that’s important for him to keep his deep connection to local concerns. 
Schumer’s legislative record, like his style, is characterized more by incremental gains than sweeping action, as when he strove to do what was doable with bipartisan jobs bills in the wake of the Great Recession. 
But he also charts a way forward on the big issues, even if carefully. In 2009, he counseled President Barack Obama against pushing for the Affordable Care Act, arguing that the immigration reform bill he had crafted along with Republicans was a smarter political move. 
Schumer’s plan for the next Congress is to start with sturdy bipartisan successes that can pave the way for further cooperation with colleagues. The priorities he discussed in a meeting this month with the editorial board included important initiatives with support on both sides of the aisle. They include major infrastructure investments to create jobs, affordable higher education, criminal justice reforms and more funding for scientific research. He also should bring back his proposal for immigration reform.
Most pressing, however, is filling the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. The refusal, so far, of Senate Republicans to confirm the stellar Merrick Garland means Schumer’s first big test as majority leader might be getting a very qualified justice confirmed without a divisive national fight.
His opponent is Republican Wendy Long, 56, of Manhattan, who lost badly to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012. Long is far out of step with voters here on immigration and social issues, among other topics, but her focus on the dangerous influence of money in politics echoes a real issue for New Yorkers.
 
Schumer says he is guided by an “internal gyroscope” that directs his political decisions, taking issues case by case. In the past, that gyroscope has led to a cozy association with Wall Street, part of his New York constituency but one he has used as an ATM to seek the election of fellow Democrats. This election cycle’s progressive push has rightly encouraged him to adjust his gyroscope to consider Americans who face economic uncertainty. They are among the voters who have upended this cycle and for whom Schumer now holds such promise. 
To address America’s large-scale problems, Congress will need to be more than a static monolith. For that to happen, it will need leaders who can jump-start the engine of government. 
Schumer has the experience, savvy and vision for the job, and he will need all of it. 
Newsday endorses Schumer.

VPSENATE1016

Chuck Schumer to represent New York in Senate

Newsday endorses Schumer for Senate

Charles Schumer crop/cem

The 1st Congressional District starts on the East End of Long Island and reaches all the way to denser western Suffolk towns. It includes some of the most expensive real estate in the world, as well as working farms, a major research university and many working-class hamlets stung hard by a lack of opportunity.
It’s a district narrowly won by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. In 2014, it turned out an incumbent Democrat to elect Lee Zeldin, a Republican. 
Zeldin, disappointingly, is not representing it very well, not respecting its diversity of views and people. All too often, he has aligned himself with the most archconservative groups in his party. 
In 2015, Zeldin was the only member of New York’s congressional delegation and among the minority in his own party to vote against a bipartisan budget deal. The compromise avoided another shutdown of the federal government like the disastrous 16-day event in 2013.
The first-term congressman showed the same poor judgment last year in his intransigence over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. After a three-month showdown with by Republican hard-liners who wanted to hold the funding hostage to fight Obama on immigration issues, and with just four days left before the anti-terrorism agency would have been shut down, the House of Representatives finally approved a $40 billion appropriation. 
Rep. Peter King, whose district abuts the 1st Congressional District, was critical of fellow Republicans like Zeldin at the time. “This involves human lives, and this is too risky a game to be playing here,” King said. “This is no way to run a government.”
Zeldin 36, from Shirley, also cast votes that would stop federal money from being sent to local governments to buy cameras to collect license-plate data, a tool in the growing fight against gangs and terrorists. In 2015, he supported a GOP conference budget report that cut money for Pell education grants, housing programs for low-income earners and food stamps. 
Zeldin signed on as a co-sponsor of the First Amendment Defense Act, a show horse of a bill criticized even on the right as overly broad and vague. It was designed to protect those who cite religious beliefs as a reason to deny services to same-sex couples, but it didn’t end there. The bill also would give legal protection to those who believe that sexual relations are properly reserved to a marriage between a man and woman. It would deny housing to an unmarried, pregnant woman, for example, or bed-and-breakfast accommodations to an unmarried couple. 
A pragmatic approach
This year, voters have a terrific choice in Anna Throne-Holst, the former Southampton supervisor and town board member who over eight years stabilized town finances and corrected its mismanagement. 
Throne-Holst, a Democrat, has deep and broad command of issues that makes her the most knowledgeable challenger the editorial board has seen in any race in years. She has a master’s degree in international affairs and training in social work and education. She is not an ideologue, and she takes a pragmatic, bipartisan approach to problem-solving. Her reason for going to Washington is not to stop it from working, but to find ways to make it work better.
Throne-Holst, 56, of Sag Harbor, has a sensible take on overhauling immigration laws, understanding that it will require a compromise with a mix of border security, visa reforms, and a way to bring those living in the shadows into legal status.
Zeldin, on the other hand, rejects a comprehensive plan, preferring a piecemeal approach that will continue the stalemate. 
Throne-Holst, who has an outstanding local record on the environment, is concerned about rising sea levels that are a danger to the livelihood and fortunes of a vast swath of her district. She promises to join the House bipartisan caucus on climate change that was formed earlier this year. 
Zeldin, who supported measures to protect the fossil-fuel industry, doesn’t acknowledge climate change is occurring, although he does concede that “humans can do a better job” of protecting the environment. 
We disagreed with Zeldin on many issues in 2014, but we endorsed him as a fresh, independent voice who would put aside ideology and give the region another voice in the majority party. And he did that by passing a law that starts the process of protecting Plum Island from development.
More significant, he impressed us as someone who would be fearless in speaking out, not someone who calculates every word and seems phobic about taking a public position until he can calculate how it will play with voters. Unfortunately, he has not lived up to that promise.
The only way to end the dysfunction in Congress is to stop sending to Washington those who make it so. 
Newsday endorses Throne-Holst.

VPCD1

Anna Throne-Holst to represent the 1st Congressional District

Newsday endorses Throne-Holst for Congress

POTHRO1019_WEB

Rep. Peter King of Seaford is unique in the House of Representatives, in the Republican Party and in the support he provides Long Island and New York. 
Seeking his 13th term in the House of Representatives, King is one of the loudest and most powerful voices for moderation and bipartisan leadership remaining in the increasingly extreme GOP. His stands against fellow Republicans who fought the Zadroga Act, which provides federal benefits for responders who were sickened after the 9/11 attacks, and much-needed regional relief after superstorm Sandy were important for New York. But his stands against petulant GOP shutdowns of the government and in opposition to an extremist stunt that nearly cut off funding for Homeland Security to protest executive orders on immigration have been crucial to the nation. 
Because of his long service and local-legend status, King, 72, will likely win another term. That’s true even though his district holds more Democrats than Republicans and more residents of Suffolk County than Nassau. But he won’t hold the seat forever. And when he leaves, his opponent, Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory, a Democrat, may have the inside track.
Gregory, 47, has served in the legislature since 2008, knows the issues facing Congress and his district. An Amityville resident, he’s sensible and knowledgeable on a range of issues, a dedicated public servant who has a bright future. His desire to fight for equal pay for women, affordable college for young people, and better veterans services for men and women who, like him, served in the armed forces, is laudable. But King’s record and clout make him a crucial asset in Washington right now.
Newsday endorses Peter King.

VPCD2

Peter King to represent 2nd Congressional District

Newsday endorses King for Congress

slVOTE

The battle for the 3rd Congressional District features two men who have enjoyed significant successes in politics and governance, and received consistent past endorsements from this board. Each can make a strong case that he would represent the region well in Washington. Of the two, Thomas Suozzi’s track record of focusing intently on complex problems and coming up with comprehensive solutions makes him the better choice.
Suozzi, a 54-year-old Democrat from Glen Cove, served as a successful mayor of that city before winning the Nassau County executive job in 2001. In Mineola, he was able to tame a government and budget spinning out of control after years of neglect and bloat. Suozzi also was ahead of his time and on target with his broader vision of the need to revitalize an aging suburb. When few other politicians had neither the insight or the courage to fight for such proposals, he supported more housing for younger residents in downtowns, a property-tax cap and controls on Medicaid spending. 
More than a decade ago, Suozzi issued a rallying cry to “Fix Albany” and clean out the rot. Entrenched special interests fought back, and that job is being done now by federal prosecutors. But it was Suozzi who put ethics reform on the front burner. 
Suozzi seems to have tempered impulses early in his career that made him too ready to dismiss those who disagreed with him and to let ambition distract him. His passion to do good, however, has not changed. 
In Washington, where he would succeed the retiring Steve Israel, Suozzi says he would fight to restore a hollowed-out middle class and to pass gun laws such as universal background checks, which the vast majority of Americans want.
As early as 2009, he linked the emerging use of heroin and opioids to a lack of quality mental health services. He wants to focus on ways to tell young people about the dangers of addiction. Suozzi says 14 of our past 17 international trade deals have improved the U.S. trade balance, and that demonizing them isn’t the right approach to fixing some problems.
Republican State Sen. Jack Martins, 49, has ably represented his district in Albany since 2011. He was a strong mayor for Mineola, too. Martins has been a moderate voice in his party, taking tough stands, including his vote for the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings. He brokered the plan that got Nassau County revenue from video lottery terminals while putting the machines at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. 
Martins, however, derailed his campaign for months with a petty battle to keep off the ballot a conservative primary opponent, Philip Pidot, whose candidacy and signatures were legitimate. Asked about the Wells Fargo banking scandal dominating the headlines the week Martins met with the editorial board, he said he was not familiar with the issue. And next to the list of priorities Suozzi would advocate in Washington, Martins has less of a game plan to make a difference.
Martins is a talented public servant who excels at finding and managing compromises, but Suozzi has the talent, vision, drive and experience needed to serve in the House of Representatives.
Newsday endorses Suozzi. — The editorial board

VPCD3

Thomas Suozzi to represent 3rd  Congressional District

Newsday endorses Thomas Suozzi for Congress

VPCD3_WEB

A first-term member of the minority party doesn’t have much power to fix a broken, stagnant U.S. Congress.
But Democrat Kathleen Rice is smart and capable, and if she chooses to, she could be a more powerful, effective voice on matters important to her district and nation. She has more to do.
In her first two years, Rice has focused on several key matters, including her desire to add technology to new cars to prevent drunken driving, her signature issue when she was the Nassau County district attorney. Rice also has turned her attention to the recovery from superstorm Sandy and to gun control, an issue prioritized by her predecessor, Carolyn McCarthy. Rice emphasizes the need for background checks and closing gun-show and online sales loopholes. But other than participating in the Democrats’ sit-in on the House of Representatives floor and smartly voting to allow President Barack Obama to fast-track trade deal negotiations, Rice has rarely made a public splash. 
Rice, from Garden City, sits on the Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs committees, where she has focused on airport security and the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center. 
Her presence has been inconsistent at best in her district, which stretches from Atlantic Beach to Mineola; she hasn’t been as visible or involved as she should be. She has a firm grasp on national and local issues, and mostly walks in step with her party. But last year, Rice angered labor leaders when she became one of 28 Democrats to vote for the fast-track legislation known as Trade Promotion Authority, despite originally opposing it. 
Rice, 51, said she believes in a path to citizenship for immigrants here illegally, and that the United States should take in more Syrian refugees, although she wants federal agencies to further certify that newcomers aren’t national security threats. But some of her positions lack nuance and depth; when she was asked about fixing the Affordable Care Act, her primary response was that she wasn’t in Congress when it was passed.
Rice’s opponent, Manhasset Republican David “Bull” Gurfein, a retired Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was a congressional liaison for NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, and is now president of a health and fitness company. He’s smart and espouses clear, conservative, pro-business positions. But his views often go far afield of reality, and don’t reflect his district’s interests and needs, such as when he says he does not think rising sea levels have a “significant impact” here. Gurfein, 51, supports a flat tax and reducing federal offices like the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. While he says he supports universal background checks for gun purchases, he also worries about a national registry or a “gun grab.” He says the answer to the Syrian refugee crisis is to screen them outside of the United States, and to destroy the Islamic State even if that means a declaration of war and lengthy occupation of the Middle East.
Rice has a more pragmatic view. In a second term, she should do more in her district, and in Washington, she must fight harder for her key issues. 
Newsday endorses Rice. — The editorial board

VPCD4

Kathleen Rice to represent 4th Congressional District

Newsday endorses Rice for Congress

POROAD0829_WEB

Gregory Meeks has been an able representative for his Queens district for more than two decades, balancing local issues with national priorities. A 2012 redistricting meant his new district shifted over to include a slice of Nassau County. With this new section, we are glad to see Meeks’ capable leadership has not waned.
Meeks, 63, of St. Albans, was a three-term state assemblyman, and has served in Congress since 1998. A practical legislator, he has become an evangelist for the gains of his party. He joined his Democratic colleagues on the floor of the House in a June protest for action on gun control in the wake of the Orlando shootings. In his meeting with the editorial board, Meeks delivered a passionate vision of immigration as central to the great experiment of American democracy. In a key fight for the next Congress, he would be an advocate for a pathway to citizenship.
He knows how to bring federal power and funding to bear at home. Within a potential national infrastructure bill, Meeks would push to fund projects like a refurbished Long Island Rail Road station at Belmont Park, which would complement expected development there. Meeks has delivered funding to rebuild swathes of his district affected by superstorm Sandy. And to deal with excessive noise around Kennedy Airport, he’s investigating whether flight paths can be more evenly distributed when safety allows, and urging plane manufacturers to make quieter engines. Meeks shows a continued connection to his district new and old.
His opponent is Michael O’Reilly, 58, an attorney, former Marine and airline pilot from Broad Channel. A moderate New York Republican, he calls for less regulation and a streamlined tax policy for small-business owners. The arrival of Donald Trump has sucked the air from Republicans like O’Reilly. He has a complicated attitude toward the top of the ticket, as opposed to a refreshingly uncomplicated position on immigration: Strengthen border security, even build a Southern border wall, but create a pathway to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants. This is a principled take in the current climate. Still, even O’Reilly’s brand of Republicanism does not represent the majority of his district.
Meeks is a fine advocate for his constituents. Newsday endorses Meeks. — The editorial board

VPCD5

Gregory Meeks to represent the 5th Congressional District

Newsday endorses Meeks for Congress

VPCD5_WEB

Long Islanders share many of the same dreams and worry mostly about the same problems. 
The cost of living is too high, but we value the quality of education and the recreational pleasures the Island offers. We want great roads, less traffic and better public transportation. Honest services from our elected officials are nonnegotiable, while the management of local government must be smart and efficient. We want our businesses to prosper, and we want to lend a helping hand to those in need. 
Our representatives in the New York Senate must protect what makes us unique and find ways to make our lives here sustainable.
The campaigns for those 63 seats are exceptionally harsh this year because control of the chamber could be shaken up for good. As it stands, Republicans hold 31 seats and one Brooklyn Democrat caucuses with them. Meanwhile, a breakaway group of five to six Democrats called the Independent Democratic Conference shares power with the GOP. If Democrats win four or five of the nine Senate seats on Long Island, the power fulcrum could shift dramatically to mainline Democrats.
That’s why Democrats are painting a picture of GOP corruption, linking incumbents to convicted former Senate leader Dean Skelos, and in the last few days, to recently indicted Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, all Republicans. Democrats claim they will pass even stricter ethical reforms, measures the GOP refuses to consider.
Republicans, in turn, are running ads that portray New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as the embodiment of the urban creature who will steal your car . . . and your education funding. If the Senate goes the way of the Democratic-controlled Assembly, they say, de Blasio will take all the money for local roads and, as one GOP candidate claimed during an endorsement interview, use it to build a monorail from Manhattan to Queens. While competing for state resources is a fact of legislative life, the city’s prosperity is closely linked to Long Island’s fortunes from Queens to the Twin Forks.
Democratic control hasn’t been good in the past, especially in 2009-10, when two Democrats from Long Island helped pass the Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll mobility tax and reduce aid to education in some districts because of the recession. Now Democrats say they’ve gotten the message and will form a suburban coalition with members from Westchester and the Hudson Valley to maintain school funding and keep the property-tax cap in place. The proof will be in the delivery.
Each party faces another challenge: While Long Island voter registrations now tilt more Democratic than Republican, about 25 percent are unaffiliated, a trend that is accelerating. The best leaders will be those who understand that navigating the city-suburban fault line is more important than fighting old party wars.
This week, the editorial board will endorse candidates in Long Island’s nine State Senate races. We are recommending the best candidates based on their knowledge, experience and portfolio of ideas. 
No one party has a monopoly on good ideas or good government. — The editorial board

VPSENATE1026

Newsday’s 2016 endorsements for New York State Senate

Newsday’s endorsements for State Senate

STREFO08_WEB

After 40 years in the State Senate, Republican Kenneth LaValle, 77, of Port Jefferson, is still among the chamber’s most prolific and effective lawmakers. One recent bill he co-authored will allow East End residents to vote next month to extend the Community Preservation Fund until 2050 and to use up to 20 percent of its revenues on water-quality projects. LaValle also has succeeded in bringing lots of money, including capital funds, to Stony Brook University.
Unlike some colleagues who want to tinker with the state tax cap, LaValle says correctly it should stay as is, and he also would place cap limits on arbitration awards for public unions. It’s an unequivocal position, and we welcome that. But he also says that even after four decades in Albany, he’s not sure whether capping outside income of legislators is a good idea. He seems willing to consider a limit combined with a salary increase; we challenge him to firm up that position, then use the status provided by the experience of which he boasts to rally fellow lawmakers.
Democrat Gregory-John Fischer, 59, of Calverton, is a business consultant and mentor to entrepreneurs. His tendency to think big — a cross-Sound tunnel, double-decking the Long Island Expressway — is sorely needed in the Senate and he is right about the need for a bottling and canning facility for East End farmers. He’s also correct that local industrial development agencies must be reformed, and he favors the elimination of cross-endorsements that place one candidate on several party lines on ballots. But he has a litigious bent that is off-putting, and his idea to ban the state teachers union from making campaign contributions is unconstitutional. And Fischer opposes more building projects at state colleges and universities, an odd position given Stony Brook’s growth and success.
While we like healthy debate in any legislative body, Fischer voice seems destined to be a lonely one. But we also expect LaValle to be a leader as vigorous as his tenure is long. 
Newsday endorses LaValle.

VPSD1

Kenneth LaValle to represent New York’s 1st Senate District

Newsday endorses LaValle in 1st SD

VPSD1_WEB

For John Flanagan, winning this year means more than getting elected to an eighth term. That’s easy in this heavily Republican district, where he is very popular. 
As the State Senate’s majority leader, however, Flanagan’s future as an Albany power broker depends on the GOP keeping control of the chamber, which it does in a coalition with breakaway Democrats. Flanagan took the gavel in early 2015 after a federal corruption indictment led to the resignation of then-leader Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre.
What Flanagan, 55, of East Northport, has done for his district mirrors the larger effort of the GOP conference to increase school aid and bring home a large pot of state funding for regional development. Although the Republican led the passage of some long- overdue ethical reforms for lawmakers, more needs to be done to limit outside income and tighten campaign financing rules.
Flanagan can best help his home county by finding a way to fund sewage and septic systems that would remove nitrogen from our waterways. Suffolk leaders want to put a referendum on the ballot in 2017 that would implement a water-usage fee. But Flanagan has been a roadblock, saying taxing water is bad public policy.
Unless Flanagan has a better plan, one that would direct state dollars to that effort, for example, he shouldn’t use his leadership position to override local control of environmental issues.
Democratic challenger Peter Magistrale, 25, is an accountant from St. James. He is armed with an array of theories, including how the wealthy and powerful have devised Common Core education standards to deny common people the intellectual skills needed to fight corporate propaganda.
Newsday endorses Flanagan.

VPSD2

John Flanagan to represent New York’s 2nd Senate District

Newsday endorses Flanagan in SD2

VPSD2_WEB

Republican Thomas Croci learned a few things in his first term in the State Senate, like how difficult it is to get ethics reform passed in Albany.
Croci, 44, of Sayville, pushed hard for pension forfeiture for officials convicted of corruption. Legislation to do that has passed the first of three hurdles, but it does not cover as many officials as he would have liked.
Croci knows more needs to be done, and though he prefers a citizen legislature, he would support a kind of “grand bargain” that includes a full-time legislature with a salary increase, a ban on outside income, term limits and a state spending cap. Except for the cap, it’s a good package and we hope he fiercely advocates for it — especially the outside-income ban, which his party generally opposes.
Croci scored legislative triumphs as a member of a task force that helped produce a package of solid legislation to deal with the heroin and opioid crisis, and as a partner with Independent Democratic Conference leader Jeff Klein to address the proliferation of zombie homes. Their bill, now law, holds banks accountable for maintaining abandoned properties and expedites the foreclosure process so vacant parcels get back on the market more quickly.
Croci also rightly supports increased funding for sewer infrastructure, both for environmental reasons and for economic development, but he’s wrong to flatly oppose a Suffolk County referendum to institute a water-usage fee to help homeowners upgrade failing septic systems. 
His opponent, Democrat John DeVito, 25, a law school student from Mastic Beach, shares several of Croci’s concerns including ethics. DeVito’s expansive reforms also would include reducing contribution limits and closing the LLC loophole that allows interest groups to avoid contribution limits, both good ideas. But he would exempt labor unions from caps on PAC donations, an unwise proposal. He agrees that zombie homes are a big problem in the district, and wants to create a low-cost mortgage program, like long-standing ones for first-time home buyers, for those purchasing zombie homes. It’s an intriguing idea.
DeVito, who is on sabbatical from George Washington University and making his first run for public office, says young people need a place at the table in the discussion of Long Island’s future. He’s right, and he has a bright future in public service, but not in this race against a capable legislator.
Croci says he has learned in his first term as a legislator that the state’s diversity means that the real divide in the Senate is not between Democrats and Republicans, but between the suburbs and New York City. It’s an important distinction, and one that shows Croci’s potential to be a leader for Long Island in a body likely to remain split between those two warring parties.
Newsday endorses Croci.

VPSD3

Thomas Croci to represent New York’s 3rd Senate District

Newsday endorses Croci in SD3

VPSD3_WEB

Republican Phil Boyle, 55, of Bay Shore, has been an effective and hardworking legislator in his two terms in the State Senate. He is an active presence in his district and has earned his credentials as an environmental advocate and fiscal conservative. There seems to be little argument to turn him out.
But the Democrats aren’t even trying. Once again his opponent is Suffolk County Board of Elections worker John Alberts, 32, of North Babylon, and once again Alberts is not actively campaigning. 
Boyle has good ideas on ethics reform, including limiting legislators to three four-year terms, restricting the ability of outside groups to pour money into campaigns, and coupling an increase in salaries for lawmakers with capping outside income at 15 percent of legislative pay. We encourage him to push his party on those positions.
We disagree with his preference for a flat 2 percent tax cap instead of the current one pegged to inflation, which could be lower, but we agree arbitration awards for public unions should be subject to the cap. Boyle says a minimum wage hike to $12 an hour would have been better than the approved increase to $15, reflecting concerns of constituents he represents as chairman of the small-business committee, but not those of the many working-class families in his district.
Boyle is a proponent of transit-oriented housing, and he says more such development is needed to bring rents down and bend the cost of living on Long Island. He’s right.
Boyle supports a proposed Suffolk County public referendum to institute a water-usage fee to reduce nitrogen in Long Island’s waters, provided it’s a dedicated fund, but he knows some of his GOP colleagues are not on board; we expect him to be a leader in turning that tide.
Newsday endorses Boyle.

VPSD4

Philip Boyle to represent New York’s 4th Senate District

Newsday endorses Boyle in 4th SD

VPSD4_WEB

Carl Marcellino has been a solid member of the New York State Senate for more than 20 years. In that time, he’s done some very good work, especially as a champion of the environment, most recently in securing $200 million in state funds that municipalities can tap for sewer upgrades and related water infrastructure improvements.
But nowadays, Marcellino, 73, is resting mostly on past accomplishments and the traditional policy positions of his party. While never a senator to offer a visionary agenda, he seems to have lost enthusiasm for the job. He doesn’t have a problem with banning outside income for lawmakers, but doesn’t have any suggestions for further ethics reform, either. The Syosset Republican also points to the “process” in Albany to explain the slow pace of change and why, at times, lawmakers’ bills never get to the floor for a vote. “That’s how the system works,” Marcellino says.
It’s time for the system to work differently. Marcellino’s challenger in the 5th District is James Gaughran, the chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority. Gaughran, an attorney, previously served on the Huntington Town Board and in the Suffolk County Legislature. The Northport Democrat promises an independent streak, which he demonstrated in his previous posts, as well as a focus on clean government and a penchant to lead. On ethics reform, he supports bans on outside income for state legislators and on the use of campaign funds for personal purposes, and he suggests term limits of six or eight years for members. He speaks of the important need to cast more “light” on the state budget and lawmaking, and he laments how laws are passed in the last hours of the legislature’s session.
Gaughran, 59, favors limiting tax breaks and speaks strongly on the need for more oversight over industrial development agencies. He’s concerned about economic development programs like Start-Up NY, and instead would turn to infrastructure improvements to boost economic development and create jobs. He also supports changes to election laws to allow for early voting and easier registration.
Marcellino, meanwhile, seems unwilling to commit to or suggest big or new ideas on anything from economic development to voting reform, often saying he’d have to think about an issue, or is open to suggestions, without taking a definitive position.
It is disappointing that neither candidate supports Glen Cove’s important economic revitalization project at Garvies Point. Marcellino worries about whether the former Superfund site is truly cleaned up, even though more than $100 million has been spent to do so. Gaughran says the residents of neighboring Sea Cliff should have more of a say, a position that could open up other development projects to even more naysayers. 
With this seat key to the control of the Senate, the race has been harsh, with Gaughran launching ugly attacks on Marcellino, including implications that the long-term incumbent was corrupt by linking him to former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and to the troubled finances of the Town of Oyster Bay. Those dark portrayals are unfounded and unnecessary.
But Marcellino is a senator whose best work may be behind him. Gaughran is driven and knowledgeable about environmental and water quality issues. He would aggressively protect suburban interests and advocate for a regional approach to our concerns. He’s ready to challenge the way things have been done. We hope he’ll do just that.
Newsday endorses Gaughran.

VPSD5

Jim Gaughran to represent New York’s 5th Senate District

Newsday endorses Gaughran in 5th SD

VPSD5_WEB

Kemp Hannon has been around forever — 40 years as a state legislator, 28 of those in the Senate. To his critics, his longevity is a liability. To his supporters, it’s a strength. Based on his record, we agree with his supporters.
Hannon, 70, a Republican from Garden City, remains what he always has been — smart, hardworking, diligent. As chairman of the health committee, his knowledge of complex and sometimes abstruse topics — Medicaid, health care, hospitals, nursing homes, insurance — is impressive, and his ability to explain them to colleagues is invaluable. Nowhere was that more obvious than in his work on helping the state get an $8 billion Medicaid waiver which it can use to fund health care reforms.
Hannon has been the Senate’s leader on the opioid crisis, and he was instrumental in passing a good package of bills that increases enforcement and penalties and attempts to decrease demand via treatment and education. But Hannon says rightly there is more to be done, for example, on evaluating the efficacy of drug courts and teaching the public that addiction is a disease and that treatment often fails.
Hannon also got passed a bill to ensure that caregivers of patients released from hospitals receive training in how to do that, to improve home care and reduce readmissions, and he co-sponsored a new law to make breast cancer screenings more accessible and more affordable.
On ethics, Hannon has softened his opposition to a ban on outside income for state lawmakers. That’s good. But instead of saying he could vote for a pay raise and a 15 percent cap on outside pay, he should reflect on the cesspool Albany has been during his time there and strongly advocate for that deal. We also like Hannon’s call for an overdue examination of the state government’s procurement process, and his suggestion to increase salaries for heads of big agencies to help recruit and retain good people. But his stance against the Long Island Rail Road’s third-track project is disappointing given its transformational potential.
Democrat Ryan Cronin, 35, a Garden City attorney, ran against Hannon four years ago. He is in many ways the antithesis of Hannon — less patient, more strident in expression, and lacking a deep and thorough understanding of issues ranging from education to taxes.
Cronin says the state faces a dire financial future, and the time is right for “historic” tax relief, but his proposals fall short. He wants to increase incentives for special districts to merge and reduce costs, but doesn’t know what those incentives would be and isn’t directing his pitch at school districts, where the biggest savings would accrue. Cronin would make the tax cap permanent and give bigger tax refunds to residents whose municipalities stay within it. That’s fine. However, his proposal on how to pay for that, by effectively eliminating the federal carried-interest loophole by significantly raising taxes mostly on hedge-fund high earners, is not practical and would blow up if the federal government acts on that.
Cronin has a vigorous slate of ethics reforms beyond the outside-income ban — term limits of eight years, lower limits on campaign contributions and a ban on contributions to committee members from anyone with business before the committee. But it’s not enough to tip the balance.
Newsday endorses Hannon.

VPSD6

Kemp Hannon to represent New York’s 6th Senate District

Newsday endorses Hannon in 6th SD

VPSD6_WEB

Adam Haber is a man of many hats, in both the private and public sectors. He’s a former businessman, restaurant owner and venture capitalist. The East Hills Democrat has spent the last eight years on the Roslyn school board, and less than a year as a member of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority. 
But despite previous runs for county executive and State Senate, he hasn’t yet reached elected office.
This should be his year.
Haber is running against Flower Hill Mayor Elaine Phillips for the State Senate seat vacated by Jack Martins, who is running for Congress. 
Haber talks of the need for infrastructure improvements — and specifies places including Hempstead Turnpike and the Bay Park sewage plant. He understands how such efforts could boost Long Island’s construction industry, a critical component of the region’s economy. And he excitedly ticks off other ideas to improve the local economy by emphasizing tourism and expediting building permits for construction.
Haber prioritizes reform of “broken” industrial development agencies that squander tax breaks without being required to make sure that jobs are created and businesses stay. He’s keeping an open mind about adding a third train track between Floral Park and Hicksville, praising its potential economic importance, but he worries about its possible impact on local residents.
Haber speaks with passion and depth from his school board experience about trying to hold down taxes and fight for resources for less wealthy districts. Even though we differ with Haber on the role of standardized testing in schools, we think his clear knowledge and grasp of local district issues would be a plus.
His opponent brings a valuable understanding of village government and the needs of an individual municipality. Phillips, who worked on Wall Street as a financial analyst and business executive for more than two decades, says she would cut corporate tax rates and business regulation.
The Republican says she wants economic and infrastructure development but in an interview wasn’t able to point to specific efforts she’d endorse. On the one project she did discuss — the third track — Phillips is vehemently opposed. But she bases that opposition on assumptions, or what she “was told,” rather than evidence or plans. Indeed, although she recognizes that the project’s environmental impact studies, plans for parking and construction, and schedules aren’t yet complete, Phillips says she remains opposed to the project. That instinct to take the politically safest approach, rather than lead on the issue so that compromises can be found, concerns us.
Phillips, 56, is a strong elected official and an important local voice, but has a limited knowledge of key state issues and a lack of understanding of the region’s broader needs. She isn’t ready for the Albany stage.
She thinks a ban on outside income for state legislators is unnecessary as long as the rules are clear and lawmakers are open about the work they do. Haber has a better, but still not ideal position; he would establish a bipartisan committee to consider outside income bans on a by-occupation basis.
If elected, Haber, 51, would bring solid expertise to critical issues like education and finance, including economic development and IDA reform. Haber’s promise to be independent is particularly important on education, where we hope he’ll be willing to break from the public union rhetoric and make decisions rooted in his experience in business. 
Newsday endorses Haber.

VPSD7

Adam Haber to represent New York’s 7th Senate District

Newsday endorses Haber in 7th SD

Challengers for political office often don’t know as much, never mind more, about the intricacies of governance, laws and taxes as the incumbents they want to replace. This is not the case with John Brooks of Seaford, whose understanding of complex issues such as state education funding and the Nassau County assessment system is deep, sound and nuanced. 
Brooks, 66, is a Republican running on the Democratic ballot line. He has worked as an insurance executive and was Nassau County’s director of risk management. He served on the Seaford school board from 1992 to 1999, and for years he has been an advocate for reducing property taxes and has proposed ways to do so. 
He is critical of the low amount of state funding for most Long Island schools and local districts’ reliance on property taxes. His answer is a tax swap to significantly lower local property taxes, but increase state income taxes. He would base state aid partially on the regional cost of living and let the state pay a much higher percentage of public school costs. This plan would especially help seniors who struggle on fixed incomes to stay in their homes. 
It’s a solution that would bring serious pushback and is probably impossible to implement now. There are valid reasons to oppose it. But his plan is mathematically rigorous, morally worthy of consideration and shows far more creativity than what we’ve seen from all the politicians who say they want to control property taxes but have no idea how.
Brooks is similarly detailed in explaining how he would vote to end the Nassau County guarantee, a state law that forces the county to refund tax overpayments that actually went to school districts and other municipalities. He would address assessment problems by using tax credits rather than refunds. 
Brooks would push for 10-year term limits in the Senate and Assembly, suspend publicly funded mailings by legislators earlier in election years, and end gerrymandering through independent political redistricting based on school district and community boundaries.
Contrasted with Brooks, Massapequa Republican Sen. Michael Venditto, seeking his second term, sounds more like a challenger than an incumbent. Venditto, 35, served in the Nassau County Legislature for two years before heading to Albany, but there are still many issues on which he has no firm positions. 
He says his highest priority is reducing the burden on taxpayers, but he has no plan to do so, and he would support amending the property-tax cap to a “true 2” percent cap, which would speed property tax increases. The current system, which this board supports, allows property tax rates to rise by 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. 
On term limits, Venditto is “open to discussion.” On limiting outside income for legislators, he “wouldn’t want to be committal.” He’s not sure whether he’d vote to end the county guarantee, and he’s not sure whether he would vote to reduce the number of signatures necessary to get candidates on ballots.
The two bills he is proudest of sponsoring would let municipalities make it impossible for sex offenders to live anywhere within their limits and increase the period sex offenders must stay on the registry from 20 years to 30. Neither ever made it to the floor. Both are likely unconstitutional, and are more about Venditto looking good than making the lives of those he represents better. There’s no good argument to be made for sending Venditto back to Albany.
Brooks is a brainy and thoughtful candidate whose expertise could be a huge asset in representing suburban interests in Albany. 
Newsday endorses Brooks.

VPSD8

John Brooks to represent New York’s 8th Senate District

Newsday endorses Brooks in SD8

VPSD8_WEB

The 9th District seat remains linked to the need for ethics reform.
After all, it’s the seat that former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos held for more than 30 years before he was convicted last year on corruption charges. When the seat’s current occupant, Long Beach Democrat Todd Kaminsky, won a special election in April, he recognized the moment’s symbolism and made ethics the centerpiece of his first few months. His passion is undiminished.
A former federal prosecutor, Kaminsky, 38, says there’s much more to do. He believes in public campaign financing, term limits, banning outside income, and closing the LLC loophole that allows interest groups to avoid contribution limits. To these he adds a more innovative proposal: He would expand local district attorneys’ power to root out corruption by making lying to local law enforcement a crime, as it is on the federal level. 
Kaminsky understands his district, especially the ongoing woes of homeowners still rebuilding four years after superstorm Sandy, and he touts legislation he co-sponsored as an assemblyman to require regular and detailed reporting from the New York Rising program. 
His environmental credentials are sound. Kaminsky worries that Long Island’s aquifer is being overpumped in some places. And he says Nassau County should seize the potential opportunity to divert the Bay Park sewage plant’s treated effluent through an aqueduct under Sunrise Highway to the Cedar Creek sewage plant, where it would be dumped into the ocean through that plant’s outfall pipe, instead of into polluted Reynolds Channel. That would save tens of millions of dollars by not having to build an outfall pipe for Bay Park.
Republican Christopher McGrath, 57, is a personal-injury attorney from Hewlett who lost to Kaminsky in the special election. McGrath says he does not see a scenario in which his law work would conflict with his legislative work, a lack of insight that is a source of concern. McGrath bewilderingly tries to tie Kaminsky to Albany corruption, and is wrong in saying that limits on outside income wouldn’t help solve Albany’s ethics problems.
McGrath embraces the GOP talking points that his opponent is part of a New York City-dominated Democratic machine that would spell trouble for Long Island. “The city’s way of life is different than my way of life,” McGrath says. His rhetoric that a Democratic takeover of the Senate would let Mayor Bill de Blasio “get his hands on our district,” is divisive and untrue.
McGrath agrees with Kaminsky that local industrial development agencies must be reformed, but he lacks workable solutions on some issues and won’t commit to a solid position on the Long Island Rail Road’s third track. Kaminsky supports this vital project.
Both candidates want to make permanent the property tax cap, but Kaminsky sometimes seems more concerned about shoring up public union support than about taxpayers. He should always put taxpayers first. And he should rethink his automatic rejection of state legislation that could repeal the county guarantee that forces Nassau to pay the entire amount of tax-assessment overpayments to school districts and other bodies, one way the state could ease Nassau’s financial troubles.
In his first full term, Kaminsky’s most important job is to remain loud and strong on ethics. His background makes him ideal to lead the charge toward a corruption-free Albany. 
Newsday endorses Kaminsky.

VPSD9

Todd Kaminsky to represent New York’s 9th Senate District

Newsday endorses Kaminsky in 9th SD

VPSD9_WEB

The complex challenges facing New York require state legislators willing to boldly take them on. 
Voices from all parties and in both chambers will need to be heard. There is little doubt the Democrats will still control the Assembly after Election Day, but the Long Island delegation will still be predominantly Republican. 
Speaker Carl Heastie, who assumed leadership early in the last term after Sheldon Silver was indicted on corruption charges, should encourage bipartisanship by allowing Republican bills to come to the floor for votes. That will be especially important if Democrats succeed in taking control of the State Senate, too. Good ideas are good ideas, no matter which party conceived them. 
Heastie gets credit for visiting the districts of Long Island legislators and showing interest in our region’s most pressing issues, such as education and the environment. We hope he stays involved. 
There are 22 Assembly districts in Nassau and Suffolk. Many of them are drawn to favor one party. Voters, however, should judge candidates by their stands on these issues: 
Ethics. Passing a pension forfeiture bill for officials convicted of public corruption was a start. As a constitutional amendment, it needs to be approved again in the next session. But there’s much more to do. Limiting or banning outside income should be the price lawmakers pay for getting a raise in salary. Term limits on Assembly leadership are a good idea, as is closing a loophole that lets secretive limited liability companies make large campaign contributions. So is cracking down on the ability of super PACs to influence elections with their massive pots of dark money. 
Environment. The region has a strong leader here in environmental conservation committee chairman Democrat Steven Englebright, and Republican Joseph Saladino has done good work on the Grumman and Navy plume. With water quality and sea level rise critical to Long Island’s future, our delegation must make sure this remains a strong bipartisan focus. Climate change deniers should be shown the door. 
Tax cap. It’s working, and it should stay intact. Beware of legislators who want to help school districts and municipalities struggling with the cap and propose to tweak it, especially by creating exemptions for costs like salaries. The cap has reined in spending, and will continue to force more cuts and efficiencies. So the pressure to find escape hatches will increase. With Long Island’s still-sluggish economy, this is no time to loosen that control. 
Ballot access and voting law reform. Political parties wanting to stop outsiders with fresh ideas tightly control the nuts and bolts of getting on the ballot. Those laws must be loosened. And we have to make voting simpler — by making it easier to register to vote and easier to switch parties, and by extending voting from one day in November to a few more. More participation means a stronger democracy. And this year we had three primaries, in April, June and September. One election is enough. 
There are other important questions voters should be asking their legislative candidates. 
How can we get better educational results for the enormous amount in taxes we pay? The answer cannot be simply to give school districts more money. 
What are your plans for state spending given growing concerns that tax revenues and money from bank settlements will not continue to rise? 
How can we make sure state investment dollars are spent wisely, especially in the wake of recent indictments in upstate revitalization efforts? 
Do you support big infrastructure projects like the third track for the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road and more sewers in Suffolk, projects that offer great benefits to all of us? 
All elections are important. With the economy stagnant, education in flux and the environment in peril, smart and principled leadership is at a premium. Ask questions, and vote wisely. 
— The editorial board

VPAINTRO

Newsday’s 2016 endorsements for New York State Assembly

Newsday’s endorsements for State Assembly

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