Incumbent Maureen O'Connell is hoping her constituents, old and new, will elect her to serve yet another term as assemblywoman of the 17th District. Due to the recent redistricting plan, O'Connell gained portions of the Bellmores and much more of East Meadow. Walking door to door, attending community meetings and campaigning at local train stations, she is getting to better know the residents she hopes to serve if re-elected.

"I have an interesting district in that I probably have more train stations in mine than in any other district in the country. I have five [stations] in Garden City alone," she said.

With a keen interest in the area's transportation issues, particularly those involving mass transit, O'Connell noted she and her colleagues developed a capital plan to improve railroad services and upgrade equipment and cars. Particularly, she mentioned the Mineola station upgrade now under way, along with the plan to upgrade the New Hyde Park station, which should begin momentarily.

Her other accomplishments since becoming the first woman elected to represent the district during a special election back in February 1998 include enacting several pieces of important legislation. Particularly, the development of a state insurance program intended to cover every child for health care services in New York and the expansion of the EPIC program for senior citizens to have prescription drugs coverage. O'Connell also boasted of bringing the highest aid packages in the history of the state to Long Island schools for four straight years in a row.

"On another level, I was able to chair a task force that studied the shortage of nurses. As a nurse myself, I understand the problem," she said. "The task force really shed light on some health care issues for my colleagues. As a result, we'll be pushing for different things, including funding scholarships for nursing education and creating more interest in the profession for people who might be looking for second careers." O'Connell hopes to target retired police and fire officials because of their public service histories.

"We need to bring attention to this issue. I know that on the federal level, they passed the Nurse Workforce Reinvestment Act, which was designed to put funding in nursing education but an appropriation of funds to support that enactment has not yet been made. In the interim, at least the issue is out there. I've been hearing from nurses all over, and young people all over, that they'd like to become nurses," she said.

As a ranking member of the Assembly Health Committee, O'Connell proposed a bill, which has since become law, requiring insurance companies to cover screenings for prostrate cancer.

Realizing the challenges to be faced in the next year with regard to the state's fiscal status, O'Connell said belt tightening must continue. "We've done some belt tightening this year, since the 9/11 events had such an impact on our economy. But in spite of that, we've still been able to bring state aid back to Long Island and continue to fund the STAR program and enhance it," she said.

Although confident future challenges will be met, O'Connell has been and continues to be a proponent of budget reform. "Several years ago we had a conference committee program, designed to develop committees that studied each portion of the budget, then come together in agreement on what we should or shouldn't be funding and what we could add to or subtract from," she said.

"That worked very well for one year. But unfortunately that process was not maintained. We've proposed a package of legislation that would include changing the date of the fiscal year. We're an anomaly here in New York; the only state that has a fiscal year that begins April 1. In reality, people don't pay their taxes until April 15 so we really don't know what the revenue is until then," she said.

Admitting she first opposed the idea because she thought of it as another stall, O'Connell changed her mind, saying, "When you look at the merits of that proposal, it certainly makes sense in this state. Even if we made it May 15 or June 1, it would be helpful in giving us a better idea of the necessary information we need to make budget decisions." She and her colleagues also proposed a bill that would require budget bills be printed and available to the legislature 48 hours before they are passed upon to allow more time for review and open up the process to the public.

Noting what an honor it's been serving the district, O'Connell said she appreciates the passionate residents who truly care about their communities. "That's wonderful for me because I like to work with people who care about their communities. You don't have to look for enthusiasm, it's there already."

Serving on the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Election Law and Judiciary Committees, O'Connell is the only registered nurse currently serving in the state legislature. With one of the highest environmental voting records amongst all her colleagues in the Assembly, as determined by environmental advocates, she is running on the Republican, Conservative and Independent party lines.

The 17th Assembly District encompasses Mineola, Garden City Park, Garden City South, East Williston, Williston Park and parts of New Hyde Park, Carle Place, Westbury, Uniondale, Albertson, East Meadow, Franklin Square, Floral Park, North Merrick and now Bellmore and portions of North Bellmore.