Members and friends
Marc Alessi is the NY Assemblyman that represents the North Fork of Long Island. He began his talk on education and how the formula for state aid is skewed by the high value of our homes. According to Alessi the village of Mattituck has the same income and employment of Syracuse NY, but has a reimbursement rate for schools that is dramatically different. In Syracuse the state aid is 50% in Mattituck the state aid comes to 13%. The perceived wealth of Mattituck is much higher due to the value of their homes and therefore the aid is lower. He says that the discrepancy can be corrected without an income tax.

He then addressed the lack of oversight of LIPA. The fuel adjustment in the bills are essentially rate increases, and should be called that, according to Mr. Alessi. The fuel adjustment is allowed by law to be added when the cost of fuel rises unexpectedly. When a fuel adjustment is around for more than 12 months then it is expected to be in the rates as an increase. However if an increase amounts to more than 2.5% then the PSC (Public Service Commission) has the right and obligation to review the rate structure. By continuing to call the fuel increase an adjustment, the review is not triggered.

As far as the National Grid purchase of Keyspan is concerned Alessi promises a thorough review of the sale of the company as required by statute, keeping in mind that the transaction must benefit the ratepayer.

Marc is jockeying for a leadership in the Assembly Energy Committee. He sees some excellent opportunities for biodiesel and other alternative energy scenarios, and he’d like to be in the arena to influence a good outcome. He pointed out that there huge amounts of waste cooking oils entering the environment that may otherwise be used to replace conventional diesel.

Mr. Alessi then went on to speak about emergency preparedness. His perusal of the not-for-profits indicated that they were in a better state of preparedness than the government agencies.

Medicaid fraud is another topic that Alessi touched on, and his assessment was that there was more to do in this area. Mr Alessi was instrumental in discovering the school frauds that have come to light, and Medicaid seems ripe for a careful review.

Pictured: Ernie fazio, Assemblyman, Marc Alessi and Bill Miller