Statement From Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan

Governor Cuomo has already thrown in the towel on the 2018 legislative session, saying that he and the Legislature will “basically do nothing for the rest of session.  There will be no movement on any of the major issues.”

The Governor is wrong.  With eight weeks remaining, we have an obligation to act on important legislation that will improve the quality of life for the hardworking constituents we represent.

To that end, the Senate will today advance a series of bills that target the heroin and opioid crisis facing many communities throughout our state.  As part of this package, we will enhance ongoing prevention, treatment and recovery efforts.  Those initiatives, which were borne of the Joint Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction chaired by Senators Amedore, Jacobs and Akshar, have been and will continue to be met with broad bipartisan support.

In addition, our package will include a number of bills that focus on stronger enforcement and getting tough on the big-time drug dealers who are targeting our kids.  Thus far, the Governor and the State Assembly have been reluctant to join us in doing so.  They should end their resistance immediately to these common-sense measures to protect people from the dangers of heroin and opioids.  If they refuse, they should explain to the mothers and fathers who have lost children to this scourge why they will not act.

If the Governor and Assembly want to do something meaningful, they can start by joining us in facing down the dangerous drug dealers pedaling heroin and opioids to our children, getting them hooked and ruining their lives.