Initiatives aim to restore shellfish, boost penalties on hit-run suspects

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced New York’s plan to rebuild Long Island’s shellfish population, and a state lawmaker has proposed tougher penalties for hit-and-run drivers.

Meanwhile, lawmakers schedule hearings on safety in adult care homes.

Here’s a look at three state government issues:

Long Island shellfish

New York state will spend $10 million to boost native shellfish populations on Long Island, an effort Gov. Andrew Cuomo says will help improve local water quality.

Cuomo traveled to Suffolk County on Wednesday to announce the funding. Officials say $7 million will go toward the establishment of five new shellfish sanctuaries on Long Island. The other $3 million will fund efforts to obtain and transplant adult oysters and clams.

The state aims to produce 179 million shellfish at the five sanctuaries.

“We are going to launch the most aggressive program in the United States of America to restore clams and oysters,” said Cuomo, a Democrat.

Decades of runoff and pollution have decimated the local shellfish population and hurt the environment’s ability to filter the water, Cuomo said. Claims can filter about 25 gallons of water a day, with oysters filtering about double that amount, Cuomo said. The governor went on to demonstrate a detailed knowledge of shellfish biology.

“Apparently, clams don’t move around a lot during the reproductive process,” he said at one point. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Hit and run: tougher penalties

State Assemblyman Joe Lentol wants tougher penalties for motorists who leave the scene of serious crashes.

The Brooklyn Democrat is proposing legislation intended to close a loophole that he says encouraged drunken drivers to flee the scene of a crash. Currently in New York, a driver under the influence of alcohol or drugs may only face a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident, rather than felony charges of intoxicated driving.

Lentol’s bill would increase the penalties for leaving the scene of a crash involving serious physical injury to close the loophole and ensure drunken drivers face the same level of penalties if they leave the scene.

He’s also calling for state officials to create a statewide alert system for hitand-run suspects, similar to the alerts issued for missing seniors or children.

Upcoming hearings

Fall for lawmakers means more hearings as the Senate and Assembly begin to prepare for next year’s session.

The Assembly’s housing committee will discuss housing cooperatives at a hearing Thursday in New York City.

The Assembly’s health, social services and aging committees will meet jointly Sept. 19 in New York City for the first of two hearings into safety and quality of care at adult care facilities. The second hearing, scheduled for Sept. 28, will occur in Syracuse.