Readers of New York City Voices may remember last spring, when Assembly Majority Leader Mike Bragman tried to force out Assembly Speaker Sheldon silver and take the Assembly's top job for himself. At the beginning of the 2001 legislative session in January, the much-anticipated punishment and reward phase following last year's Assembly coup attempt resulted in a large number of changes in Assembly leadership.
Several things occurred between May 2000 and the opening of the 2001 session that allowed some room to make major changes, punishing the unrepentant and rewarding supporters as well as those who had seen the light (and stepped off the train tracks before they got run over). A number of long term Assemblymembers retired, opening some chairmanships. Following the coup attempt, the Speaker created a Task Force aimed at reforming his house. Some of the dissident members supported the task force -- others attacked it.
As the session opened, it was fairly clear in Albany circles who would be rewarded, and who would be unseated. Among those most likely to be unseated was Mental Health Committee Chair Jim Brennan, whose strong commitment to advocacy and reform carried over into his views on reforming the Assembly. Our good friend and leader's fate was probably sealed when he released a report on the hundreds of millions of dollars of "discretionary funds" hidden in the 2000-01 state budget -- after the smoke from the failed coup had cleared.
Assemblyman Brennan was replaced by Assemblyman Martin Luster, who represents Ithaca and Cortland and a lot of trees, cows and little towns in between. Luster is a long-time friend of our MHAs in those communities, and a strong supporter of our issues.
In MHANYS view, which is shared by most of our colleagues, outgoing Assembly Mental Health Committee Chair James Brennan has been a stalwart friend of the mental health advocacy community in this state. His support for strong legislation and his stand against discrimination has left an indelible mark on New York's mental health community.
In choosing Assemblyman Marty Luster as the new chair for that Committee, the Speaker is ensuring that strong and capable leadership continues. MHANYS believes that the mental health advocacy community has a great friend and leader in Marty Luster, and we look forward to working with him and all of his colleagues, on both sides of the aisle in both houses, to better the lives of people living with mental illnesses in this state.
Luster was one of the leaders of the coup attempt, and was initially stripped of his role as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Real Property Tax. He joined the efforts of the Speaker's Reform Task Force, and quickly became a leader. Over time, we will learn if the proposals of the Task Force are implemented. In the meantime, Luster and some other cats expended yet another life, and live on.
This is not the first time that Luster has riled the Assembly leadership. During the legislative battle over Welfare Reform, advocates found themselves linked with Assemblyman Luster as he drafted and offered an alternative to the rather draconian measures being considered. Sporting a very thorough and thoughtful proposal, Luster became the legislative voice of us advocates who were fighting for a better law. And vocal he was -- Assemblyman Luster was all but banned by the Speaker from participating in the final negotiations around welfare reform, although many of the protections he advocated for were included.
Also ousted from committee leadership was Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, who chaired the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Committee. He was replaced by Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, who hails from the Buffalo area, and is close to our colleagues at MHA Erie.
These changes are not necessarily bad for advocates, as the causes were completely internal, and unrelated to any of us. With such a huge distraction behind us, we are quickly moving forward. In fact, by the time you read this, new Mental Health Committee Chair Luster will have introduced a new mental health parity bill, which, if enacted, will give us the best parity law in the nation. It will require fully equal coverage for physical health, mental health and chemical dependency treatment in health insurance plans.
Please join us in welcoming Assemblyman Luster to the fray.