New York State Senator Michael Balboni recently sat down with a group of editors at Anton Community Newspapers in Mineola, to bring them up-to-date on what issues he has been dealing with since Sept. 11, 2001.

"I serve on two task forces as a direct result of 9/11; one a national task force and the other a state task force," he said. "They focus on two emerging problems; one is what can state government do to protect against terrorism and the second is how can government respond."

He said that people usually turn to Washington and the Federal Government for answers as far as terrorism goes, but the bottom line is that local governments will have to be equally well equipped since the 70,000 law enforcement officers, local and state, in the State of New York will also have to deal with these problems.

He said he supported a bill to have universities report when they have foreign students who enroll and then disappear. Those schools must now get that information to Washington so that there is a central data bank.

He went on to say, "I was able to work with the state Senate Task Force on Emergency Preparedness and proposed 26 bills and we have passed six or seven of them. One of them is to do a water facility assessment."

Because he is the Chairman of the Water Resources Committee, Balboni said he would be in Buffalo to announce a Water Facility Security Act that will address protecting our water facilities. There is word from Washington that schematics have been found outlining some of our water facilities. He added, "When you think about it, besides the air we breathe, our water is our most important resource."

The task forces have generated a great deal of information that leads to further questions. For example, should every fire truck be required to have a Geiger counter on board? Should firefighters have the availability of Hazmat suits so that they can withstand a biological attack?

Senator Balboni addressed the issue of communication between law enforcement officers and firefighters. He said he has worked with the Pataki administration to address this problem and an AWACS System has been developed that will drive a telecommunication van into an area so that there will be one centralized area for communication in an affected area. He said, "For example, after the World Trade Center disaster no cell phones in the area worked. That problem will be solved by an AWACS System."

He said evacuation issues have also been discussed and certain facilities are in place in case of a biological attack. He said, "I am learning so much about biological warfare. We toured the Wadsworth Laboratory and met with Tommy Thompson, the Chief Deputy of Biochemical warfare in Washington. What I have learned is that we need to continue to upgrade our medical health facilities."

He specifically mentioned North Shore/LIJ Hospital in Manhasset stating, "They are way above the curve. I would say they are the best prepared in the nation. They have developed a wing they can isolate. Plus, they have a wonderful triage system and a portable decontamination unit that can be used in winter. The biggest problem, obviously, is contamination and if that part of the facility breaks down there will be massive panic. What they will do at North Shore is remove all the clothes of the person exposed, hose them down, isolate them and then start treatment."

Balboni then said, " One of the most difficult things, but one of the most rewarding, was to set up a satellite office in Manhasset for the 26 families who lost loved ones as a result of 9/11. The satellite office just made it easier for the survivors to know where to go to get help." He thanked Manhasset editor Eileen Brennan for her help in facilitating that office.

Balboni said, "I feel very strongly that we must be part of the federal chain of command and the chain of response. I have worked very closely with the office of public security. Everyday we learn of new threats. The most profound questions we are faced with is how do we protect people without taking away their rights."

Balboni continued, "When we talk about protecting the critical infrastructure of our society that means the transportation hubs, the healthcare network, the food supplies and distribution centers included are schools, social services, etc. We need to refocus government's attention towards emergency preparedness but at the same time we can't let the institutions we have spent so much time building fail. That is why this year it was so important to increase school aid. Many said we couldn't do it this year, but thank God, we have put aside billions and billions in reserves which we had to fight hard to get. Remember we are talking about $20 billion of economic devastation in the state."

"Just to give you a perspective", Balboni said, "We have an $80 billion budget and $20 billion of that is economic devastation. If it wasn't for Washington and if it weren't for the reserves we would not have been able to continue the services we have provided at the schools.

"In an effort to reach out and involve the seniors,"Balboni said, "We met with seniors and asked them to give us their stories on how they were able to survive and cope with the devastation of World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean and the Vietnam War. And some of their comments were so poignant and so sensible."

He said that for seniors he was also going to introduce legislation that requires state wide item pricing. Right now he said you go into a Costco's or BJs and you can't really tell how much an item costs. The same holds true for dry cleaner pricing. His bill would make it easier for the seniors and for the rest of consumers.

He is also proposing that money be put back into the Superfund so that program is viable again.

He commented that the water in the sound is much better and the water trails along the North Shore in Port Washington have been completed and in use.

He said for the first time ever, a one time enormous grant has been given to Nassau County of $105 million dollars. He attributed those monies to the strength of the Nassau County Senate delegation and he said that Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli was also instrumental in procuring those funds."

Senator Balboni may be reached by contacting his press secretary Jennifer O'Hanlon at the Mineola Office at 873-0736.