Assemblyman Tom McKevitt (R,C,I - East Meadow) recently unveiled his "to-do-list" for the end of the 2006 legislative session. The list contains several items McKevitt and Assembly Republicans have been fighting for and hope to accomplish by the end of the session.

"I am happy that, in the short time that I have been an Assemblyman, my conference has achieved so much," said McKevitt. "However, there is plenty more to do. This is crunch time now. There are two weeks left, and we need to keep moving forward so that we can do everything that we need to do."

McKevitt and his colleagues were able to secure passage of Real Property Tax rebate checks, worth 30 percent of a homeowner's STAR savings.

Gas prices in New York have become the highest in the northeast. In response to New York State's $.64 per gallon total tax burden, the state legislature enacted legislation which caps the gas tax at 8 cents per gallon, equal to the state tax on $2 per gallon, and counties have the option to cap local sales taxes as well.

Assembly Republicans have many accomplishments McKevitt noted. However, there is still much on their agenda that needs to be addressed in the next two weeks. Assembly Republicans have long fought for civil confinement of dangerous predators.

"It is plain and simple; we need to get sexual predators off our streets," said McKevitt. "In order to do that, we need to create sensible civil confinement legislation that would allow us to confine those that still pose a threat to our communities."

In addition to civil confinement, McKevitt has fought to expand the DNA database to hold information on all convicted criminals. This would allow law enforcement officials to keep closer tabs on sex offenders and would give officers an additional tool in their effort to keep tabs on criminals.

While McKevitt was able to help secure lower taxes on gasoline, he wishes to transition away from fossil fuels and toward alternative energy sources. They aim to create the Alternative Fuel Incentive Fund, which would provide grants and incentives for research and use of new fuel sources.

Finally, McKevitt and his colleagues are working to make New York more enticing to businesses. In order to create jobs and prevent businesses from leaving the state, McKevitt wishes to eliminate the Corporate Franchise Tax to encourage more businesses to move into New York.

"This year's session went by very fast, but we have two weeks left, and there is still much left to do," added McKevitt. "We need to keep the pressure on to protect our families and do everything that we can to make New York a better place to live and do business."