Local Pols Fail to Protect the NYPD so a Maryland Senator and Obama TCB
President Obama and Maryland Senator Cardin stepped in and took care of business (tcb) this week to protect not only the NYPD but also police officers nationwide. The President signed Blue Alert into law. Obama named our fallen NY police officers who were killed in Brooklyn in December, Officer Rafael Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu from Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.
Blue Alert is a safety alert similar to the Amber Alert. The Blue Alert system will send out alerts to police officers to warn of threats so they are not caught off guard.
In 2008, Florida was the first state that used the Blue Alert system, since then 22 other states passed Blue Alert Laws.
Why didn’t New York pass this bill to protect those who are protecting us? Our legislatures failed for years!
On April 4, 2011, Marty Golden put in the bill S02730 for the Blue Alert System. The bill was never voted on. Assemblywoman Malliotakis entered bill A06662 in the Assembly and that bill never reached the floor either. In 2012, it was held for consideration in government operations
In May 2013, Senator Golden issued bill S-2108 and received overwhelming support for it in the senate. The bill went to the Assembly (A2278-2013) and it died in the Assembly. In 2014, the NY senate passed the bill again on Jun 10, 2014. The bill is sent back to the Assembly. Golden is experienced enough to know that this is the third time the bill is going to the Assembly and something needs to be changed. Golden could have changed the language in the bill or in my opinion, he should have enlisted the support of influential Democratic assembly members such as such Felix Ortiz or Peter Abbate. The bill used the same wording and did not get voted on in the Assembly – it was referred to governmental operations.
Golden has been in the Senate long enough to know to get a bill passed. At the same time that the Blue Alert Bill was waiting to be passed, Golden initiated a bill which gave millions of dollars in tax breaks to rich developers using 421-A (you can read more about it here) – this bill passed with the whole Assembly voting for the bill. Yet, he didn’t use Nicole Malliotakis as the Assembly sponsor. Assemblywoman Malliotakis has been in office for many years, yet she not had any of bills that she initiated as the sponsor make it into law (although she has been named a co-sponsor of bills that have made it into law). Malliotakis has wasted a lot of time fighting against the Dream Act. She could have been pushing her support for the Blue Alert Bill and the safety of the NYPD which seems a lot more important than some undocumented students receiving an education.
In 2015, Golden and Malliotakis submitted the Blue Act bill again and neither the Senator or Assembly have voted on it. Why wouldn'[t Golden have asked for support from Democrats when he knows the bill didn’t pass in the Assembly for several years? This year, Senator Golden put in several bills for police and firefighters pensions this season. On this bill, Peter Abbate is the co-sponsor, not Assemblywoman Malliotakis. I’ve looked to see how other Republican Senators get their bills through the Democratic-dominated Assembly and they get a democrat on board. For example, Senator Lanza passed a bill and Phillip Goldfeder, a Democrat from Howard Beach was the Assembly lead on the bill (Staten Island Assemblymembers Malliotakis and Borelli are co-sponsors of the bill)
Thankfully, Maryland Senator Cardin brought the bill to the floor for a unanimous vote and President Obama signed it into law so that the NYPD can have that added protection
Golden’s Twitter account tweeted this:
Nicole Malliotakis retweeted Senator Golden’s message (she runs her account herself so she knows there is no reason to be proud for a failed bill).
When I responded to Senator Golden’s twitter account, the response I received was one in which Senator Golden accepts no responsibility for not handling the bill better. In fact, Golden blames the other political party. This is a senator who has worked with Democrats to get bills he wanted to be passed, but didn’t take the same care to get the Blue Alert Law passed in New York for the NYPD!
The next time you see NY Lawmakers posing for pictures with the NYPD. Remember these lawmakers failed to provide the NYPD with a simple service to save lives.
Thank you to all those who sent me information about Blue Alert.
Hugs,
marlene
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