Democratic primary candidate Chuck Lavine feels that Albany has been "broken" for far too long. Mr. Lavine, a councilman in the City of Glen Cove, points out that The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law characterizes New York State's legislature as the most dysfunctional in the nation. He said that lack of responsiveness has resulted in property taxes being 72 percent above the national average. New York is one of only two states in the country that make the property taxpayers foot the bill for Medicaid, with its out of control cost constituting the fastest rising component of our tax, Mr. Lavine said.

According to the candidate, every cent paid into our county tax and more is sent back to Albany to pay for Medicaid, with residents having no say whatsoever in that program. Mr. Lavine states that Medicaid is a very important program, one that as a Democrat, he fully supports. Mr. Lavine stressed that Albany's approach of passing the costs of Medicaid down to the local taxpayer without accountability is the reason we continue to pay such high taxes.

Mr. Lavine believes Albany has also failed our schools. This year marks the 20th year in a row without an on time state budget and Mr.Lavine feels that late budgets hurt our schools because each year districts are forced to play a guessing game as to what level of state aid they will receive. Without a timely state budget, Mr. Lavine said, school districts are left to guess at the level of funding the state will supply. If they guess too low, taxpayers have to make up the difference. If they guess too high, taxpayers end up having to pay more property taxes than necessary.

Mr. Lavine feels the current assemblyman and the leaders of Albany's failed system have no problem with late budgets. If elected, Mr. Lavine said he will fight day in and day out to demand fiscal responsibility and a timely budget.

Mr. Lavine stressed that he will be an independent voice for reform in Albany and will work with other like-minded elected officials to build a coalition to demand real changes in the way our state government is run. Mr. Lavine emphasized that although real improvement cannot happen overnight, if change isn't fought for, the result will be that matters will continue to worsen.

Mr. Lavine's career has been as an attorney, which began in 1972 as a public defender. Over the course of more than 30 years practicing criminal defense, he has worked on the most complex and challenging cases in our federal and state courts. Mr. Lavine is proud of the work that he has done defending the federal and state constitutions and said that will rely on every bit of that same measure of strength and dedication to stand up for the rights of the citizens of the 13th Assembly District in Albany.

In addition to serving as a Glen Cove City Councilman, Mr. Lavine has served as counsel for the Glen Cove Community Development Agency and the Industrial Development Agency. He has been a member of the Glen Cove Planning Board, has served two terms as general counsel for the North Country Reform Temple, has been a Democratic City Leader and is currently a Democratic committee person.

Mr. Lavine states that his campaign for the New York State Assembly is about responsibility, accountability, change and reform. He has the support of Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and the backing of Nassau County Legislator Diane Yatauro, Glen Cove Mayor Mary Ann Holzkamp and his fellow Glen Cove City Council members.

Assemblyman David Sidikman has represented the 13th Assembly District for the last 12 years and believes the experience he has gained in that time is irreplaceable.

Mr. Sidikman is a long time resident of Old Bethpage. He was born and raised in Brooklyn and attended and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School. He then attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1958 from New York University, which he attended on a full merit scholarship. He was admitted to the bar the same year and maintained a private law practice until 1994.

Mr. Sidikman was first elected to the New York State Assembly in a special election in 1992 and was subsequently re-elected in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998 for full terms.

Mr. Sidikman is a member of the Majority Leadership as Assistant Majority Whip, former chairman of the Election Law Committee, was appointed to the Governor's Task Force on Election Modernization, is chairman of the Subcommittee on Legal Issues for the Aging and a member of the following Assembly committees: aging, election Law, judiciary, insurance, local governments and tourism and sports development.

He is a leading participant in the victims' rights movement, the anti-bias movement and is involved with many environmental concerns. He is pro-active in the fight against breast cancer on Long Island.

Education, health care and the environment are what he feels are the biggest and most important issues in New York now. Mr. Sidikman is on the environmental committee and was active in preventing an additional golf course at the Bethpage State Park and an active participant in the creation of Trail View State Park.

Mr. Sidikman is proud of the amount of funding that he brought to his district throughout his tenure as Assemblyman. He was responsible for having Route 135 re-paved, getting approximately $6 million in grants for the Waterfront Rehabilitation plan, bringing school aid to the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District and obtaining grant money for the Town of Oyster Bay to change the white lighting to yellow lighting throughout the town.

He also has supported local libraries, giving grants to the Plainview-Old Bethpage Library and a large grant for its expansion, a large grant to the Glen Cove Library for its expansion and was instrumental in creating three new libraries in the district - Locust Valley, Cold Spring Harbor and the Gold Coast Library.

According to Mr. Sidikman, it is important to him that Nassau Community College and the SUNY colleges get their share of grant money.

Mr. Sidikman said he is running on his record, experience, seniority and ability to deliver for the district. He believes that one of the most important parts of the job is constituent work. According to the assemblyman, you can't replace the experience of a senior member with a freshman.

Mr. Sidikman is a full-time legislator, as he retired from his law practice in 1994 and maintains a district office in Plainview. He resides in Old Bethpage with his wife, Diane, a special education teacher. They have two sons, Warren and Kenneth, and eight grandchildren.