Assemblyman Aubry signs Megan’s Law alongside Governor Pataki.

Assemblyman Aubry and the Assembly have passed new legislation that he sponsored which will immediately stop sex offenders from being removed from the state registry (A.9082). With this year being the 10th Anniversary of New York’s Sex Offender Registration Act, also known as Megan’s Law, this law is important because it allows police officials to monitor convicted sex offenders living in the community. It also provides the public with access to information about offenders who move into their neighborhoods. Over the past ten years, the Assembly and the Senate have worked together to strengthen Megan’s Law and pass other anti-crime measures that have helped to reduce violent crime in our state by 49 percent, more than any other state in the nation.

Both houses proposed a bill that would refine Megan’s Law, in order to ensure that sexual predators do not fall from view of law enforcement. Assemblyman Aubry and Senator Skelos proposed bills that addressed the problem. Assemblyman Aubry’s bill was passed in the Assembly and Senator Skelos’s bill was passed in the Senate. In light of this, a Conference Committee was formed in Mid-January to reconcile the differences between the two bills. Senator Skelos was the Chair for the Conference Committee on the Senate side and Assemblyman Aubry was the Chair for the Conference Committee on the Assembly side. Assemblyman Aubry’s bill enacts a moratorium on the expiration of the registration and verification requirements for 14 months, which would extend the duty to register for all sex offenders to March 31st, 2007. Senator Skelos proposed that all sex offenders be registered for life, with the exception that Level 1 Offenders could petition for relief after 20 years as long as they were not labeled as a sexual predator, sexually violent offender or a predicate sex offender. Those who are eligible to petition for relief from registration in the future must wait a period of two years between filings. The original Senate bill would change the venue for certain level setting determinations. Previously, only the court that set a sex offender’s risk level was allowed raise or lower it. The original Senate bill would allow the court sentencing a registrant for a new crime to increase the offender’s risk level. Assemblyman Aubry’s bill requiring the moratorium was to give the federal government enough time to pass their legislation. Their legislation entitled the "Children’s Safety Act of 2005" which would increase the length of registration to include life on the registered list for "serious sex offenses," offenses that qualify as a "specified offense against a minor" and second misdemeanor sex offense against a minor, and a mandatory 20 years for all other sexual offenses. The federal law does not make reference to "risk levels," but rather crime of conviction, when determining length of registration.

Fortunately, the Conference Committee was able to come to an agreement based on all three proposed legislative measures which states that Level I sex offenders will be required to register for 20 years instead of the previous 10 years. Level II and Level III sex offenders are required to register for life, but Level II sex offenders can petition to be taken off the list after 30 years.

Medicaid’s New Prescription Drug Coverage Simplified

Starting January 1st, 2006, a new voluntary prescription drug coverage program will go into effect. While this program maybe confusing, here is some basic information about the program to make it easier to comprehend. The new Medicare prescription drug program is completely voluntary, although if you have both Medicaid and Medicare you must enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan. If you have drug coverage already other than Medicaid, your current insurance company has to provide you with a notice indicating that your current prescription coverage is as good as or better than the standard Medicare plan. Seniors with EPIC can keep their EPIC coverage; however, for those with low-income who may need extra help, enrolling in the Medicare drug program will mean more savings because EPIC will waive fees for those who join the Medicare plan. If you have any more questions about this particular prescription drug program, please call 1-800-633-4227.

ASSEMBLY AND SENATE WORK TOGETHER TO PASS CIVIL COMMITMENT LAW

The Assembly and Senate recently passed different versions of legislation providing for the civil confinement of sexual predators after completion of their prison terms. Negotiators for the Assembly and Senate have been meeting in open conference committee meetings to try and come to an agreement on the issue of civil commitment.

Under the Assembly’s plan, sex offenders would be intensely monitored and supervised after their prison terms and after any term of civil confinement. The Senate’s plan would allow sex offenders who are not civilly confined to walk free. And in order to reduce the risk of re-offense and enhance public safety, the Assembly’s plan requires mandatory treatment for incarcerated sex offenders. In contrast, the Senate’s plan does not require any treatment for incarcerated sex offenders.

Under the Assembly’s proposal the civilly confined would be kept separate from mentally disabled patients, while the Senate’s plan doesn’t prohibit that potentially dangerous scenario.

The Assembly’s plan requires that a sex offender’s commitment trial take place where the crime was actually committed, before the court that heard all of the testimony in the criminal trial. The Senate’s plan would have the trials in courts that happen to have a facility in their jurisdiction, which could be hundreds of miles away from where the crime occurred.

Another difference between the Assembly and Senate’s legislation is that the Assembly’s version provides for initiation of civil commitment proceedings a full nine months before an offender is scheduled to be released, while the Senate’s plan would not start proceedings until just four months before a sex offender’s scheduled release, increasing the likelihood that proceedings would not be completed before a scheduled release date.

In another common-sense measure, the Assembly’s proposal requires mental health officials to initiate civil commitment proceedings - the same officials who are responsible for evaluating and treating incarcerated offenders. The Senate’s plan would leave the initiation of proceedings to corrections officials in nearly all instances.

And finally, the Assembly’s bill would ensure that recommendations concerning who is a predator are made by mental health professionals, while under the Senate’s plan there would be no training or experience requirement for the committee making recommendations, and would leave determination to individuals with potentially no experience in evaluating sex offenders.

The Assembly and Senate conference committee has yet to reach agreement on the two bills, but I am confident that we can resolve our differences and adopt a smarter, safer law.

The Budget was passed on time this year, for the 2nd year in a row. The overall budget amounted to a total of 113.25 billion dollars. The 2006-07 Budget provides 10.3 billion dollars to New York City in a variety of ways. This includes 6.5 billion in capital funding to reduce class size in New York City schools. More details about the specifics of how the dollars were allocated will be discussed in the next newsletter.

During tax season, millions of Americans expect refund checks. Many want their money quickly to pay bills and daily expenses without getting deeper in debt. To get a fast turnaround, many low-income Americans will turn to refund anticipation loans called RALs to receive all or part of their refund a few weeks earlier than expected.

But RALs are not tax refunds. They are high-cost, short term loans against taxpayers’ anticipated refunds, and tax services charge exorbitant interest rates for them. Interest charges can range from about 70 percent for a loan of $5000 to over 700 percent for a loan of $200. In addition, if one’s anticipated refund is less than expected, the consumer still has to pay the total RAL amount.

Tax preparation companies that promote these loans prey on the poor and convince unaware consumers to unnecessarily borrow against their own money. Over half of refund anticipation loans are taken out by an estimated 7 million low-wage families who receive Earned Income Tax Credits.

RAL fees siphon off millions from those tax credits. Add tax preparation fees and check cashing costs and the annual expense to consumers totals $1.75 billion, according to the Consumer Federation of America. The fees markedly reduce the refund amount that working families count on, transferring this money instead to multi-million dollar corporations. I support legislation that will protect taxpayers and prevent them from falling victim to these loans (A. 1366).

The measure requires that RALs must be clearly advertised as loans, not refunds. The tax preparer must also explain that an RAL is an option, not a requirement, and that it is loan. In addition, the preparer has to provide the amount of the refund without the RAL and when one can expect it. If the consumer signs for an RAL, the tax preparer must disclose the fee, the amount of the loan, the estimated annual percentage rate of the loan and the loan receipt date. The consumer also would be advised that the full amount of the RAL will have to be repaid if the refund is less than anticipated.

Be patient and you will get your full refund. In addition, wage earners who want their refund quickly should be aware that New York State has increased its pace of processing tax returns. What used to take months now takes about five days.

If you file electronically or, e-file, you can receive your refund in half the time and not pay interests rates or other fees. For information on electronic filing, visit the Internal Revenue Service Web site at www.irs.gov or the State Department of Taxation and Finance at www.tax.state.ny.us.

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