Friday Morning Brief March 15, 2024

Mar 14

Member Spotlight: Assemblywoman Amy Paulin

Assemblymember Amy Paulin joined us to discuss her Westchester-based Assembly district and her experience in the Legislature. Serving her constituents since 2001, she has been an advocate for reproductive rights, domestic abuse survivors, and education. Prior to serving in the Assembly, she was highly active in her community, leading an agency for combatting domestic abuse and supporting survivors. She currently chairs the Assembly Committee on Health and is a member on various Assembly committees, such as on Rules, Education, and the Task Force on Women’s Issues.

What district do you represent?
I represent the 88th Assembly District, encompassing Scarsdale, Edgemont, Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Pelham, Pelham Manor, and parts of New Rochelle and White Plains in Westchester.

What do you like the most about your district?
All of the communities in my district are unique, and yet very similar. They all have great schools, beautiful parks and fantastic recreation. Most residents move to the area because of their children. What is also special is the tremendous community spirit. There are so many organizations designed to help in every way, from creating after school child care to establishing food scrap programs. I love that spirit and love that the people I represent have that spirit. They are incredibly active in their community and involved in every aspect of the decision-making process.

What was your profession before becoming a legislator?
Immediately before becoming a legislator, I ran an agency that combated domestic violence to support women who were victims of domestic violence. I was very active in that sphere. I was also very involved in my community. I served on the Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees, was a founder and chairwoman of the Westchester Women’s Agenda, and served as the President of the Westchester League of Women Voters, to name a few.

What inspired you to run for office?
I have been active in politics since I was 12 years old, and I always wanted to participate in the community I live in. I was a President of my high school and on the Senate in college. I even ran in junior high but lost that election. I guess it was natural for me to stay involved in politics and the community. Running for the Assembly was an extension of that desire to be part of the community.

Do you have any favorite music genres?
Recently, my favorite is country.

What about sports? Do you have a favorite sports team?
Total baseball fanatic. My favorite team is the Mets.

What is your favorite food to eat?
Pasta, definitely pasta. Pasta and ice cream.

If you have any free time, what do you like to do?
Dancing. Ballet is my latest. But I’ve done a lot of ballroom as well. I also love to swim whenever I can.

What is your proudest legislative achievement?
Eliminating the statute of limitation on rape is one of my proudest. I’d led the move to repeal the “Walking While Trans” law, another achievement. Allowing surrogacy in New York State is also dear to me, as well as the bill allowing optometrists to practice better in the state. Lastly, I’m very proud of the bills that I led to combat human trafficking in the state, from increasing penalties for perpetrators of human trafficking to many bills that support and uplift victims. Those bills are important to me, and I’m very proud of those bills becoming law. I guess the bills that I’m most proud of are the ones that took me the longest, they were the hardest to pass, and they have the most impact on people.

As the Assembly Chair of Health, what issues do you see arising this year?
The workforce shortage is so critical right now. It’s critical nationally and in New York. We’re feeling it very powerfully. And it’s a real problem for hospitals, nursing homes, and people because of access and affordability issues. Another issue is the financial distress the hospitals are in, partly created by the workforce shortage but also because of the low Medicaid rates coupled with coming out of Covid and suffering in many different ways. So, the financial distress of the hospitals and nursing homes workforce shortage.

What are the top priorities in your district?
Currently, we’re working on making sure that the Lake Isle Dam is secure so it doesn’t burst and injure folks. That’s a really important initiative in my district. I’m also still working on SALT, believe it or not. With my leadership, one of the villages in my district sued to protect SALT, and that litigation is still pending even after all of these years. So I’m very proud that I’ve initiated and participated in it, and we’re waiting for the court to rule. So, hopefully, we will get a victory.

What advice would you give young folks wanting to get into politics?
Follow your dreams. Don’t get stuck at a young age and do something that you don’t like doing. If you like what you’re doing, your life is much happier. And there’s always something, a new chance to have that if you don’t get stuck. Follow your heart, and it’s guaranteed that you will be happy with whatever you are doing.

Any last comment?
I have the best job in the world. I’m so happy doing this, even after all these years. It’s diverse every year because I get to work on all these new topics and learn about them. Even though every year is knowing how to legislate bills effectively, what’s unique and different every year is the bills we choose to work on. Those issues are all interesting to me, and I feel like I’ve had such a wonderful opportunity in my life to do that. So, I would love to thank my constituents for trusting me to represent them.

Are you a public official or staffer that would like to be featured in our spotlight? If so, reach out to your favorite D&A team member or contact us at team@dickinsonavella.com to set up an interview!

Senate and Assembly Release Their One-House Budget Proposals

On Tuesday, the Senate and the Assembly released their respective One-House Budget proposals as rebuttals to Hochul’s $223 billion Executive Budget. “We are close to the end of the beginning,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. With the Final Budget statutorily due by April 1st, Speaker Carl Heastie said on the prospect of concluding the budget negotiations before Easter, “As Yogi Berra used to say, it’s getting late early. Or you could say 15 days in Albany time is a lifetime.” The Senate’s One-House plan increases spending by $13.4 billion more than Hochul’s, while the Assembly’s One-House plan increases spending by $13.1 billion. On the plan to increase spending, Speaker Heastie explained, “I’m not concerned that, at the end of the day, when the Governor, Senate, and the Assembly come to an agreement, that we will have enough money to pay for what we agree on.” Below are some of the stances from both chambers on current budget issues:

Housing: While both chambers omitted Hochul’s “placeholder” proposal for a new developer tax break to replace the expired 421-a, the Senate wanted more tenant protections than what was previously embedded in 421-a, while the Assembly only sought to “protect tenants from arbitrary and capricious rent increases and unreasonable evictions” in a broader housing deal. The Senate also proposed the creation of a $250 million New York Housing Opportunity Corporation, a new public benefit corporation to finance new housing construction on state-owned land akin to the Mitchell-Lama program. The Assembly included language to fund $500 million for existing Mitchell-Lama housing. Both chambers also included language to create a $250 million rental voucher program.

Education: After significant criticism of Hochul’s proposal to change the Foundation Aid formula by removing the hold harmless provision, both chambers proposed a $1 million study on potential changes to the Foundation Aid school funding formula while keeping the current formula. Although state Budget Director Blake Washington suggested that the issue can be negotiated with the Legislature due to an unexpected additional $1.3 billion revenue projection for FY 2025, Hochul criticized the proposal to create a study, “That is how you would define kicking the can down the road.” Additionally, both chambers rejected Hochul’s proposal to extend mayoral control of NYC schools for another four years, with Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger explaining that lawmakers are waiting for the report on mayoral control to come out on March 31st and Stewart-Cousins saying that it is not a budget issue.

Taxes: While Hochul has been adamant about not increasing taxes, both chambers have proposed raising taxes on the state’s highest earners. Under the proposal, those making between $5 million and $25 million would be subject to a tax increase of 10.8% from 10.3%, and those making over $25 million would be subject to a tax increase of 11.4% from 10.9%. Corporations would also be subject to a tax increase of 9% from 7.25%. These tax proposals were included in the last year’s One-Houses but not in the Final Budget. Although Hochul said the proposals are a “non-starter,” Senator Liz Krueger explained, “We do not believe it will have a negative impact on their lives, or on their income, or on their policy positions as New Yorkers.” The tax increases are estimated to generate an estimated $2.2 billion annually.

Healthcare: Both chambers rejected Hochul’s proposal to cut $1.2 billion from Medicaid programs and instead proposed that the state apply for a special federal waiver for three years of federal reimbursements for Medicaid programs. “We have worked to include in our budget investments and provisions that will get New Yorkers the care they need,” Assembly Health Chair Amy Paulin said. Both chambers also proposed expanding health care coverage for undocumented immigrants and allowing children to be continually enrolled in Medicaid until the age of six.

Public Safety: Although retail theft has been a major public safety issue for both chambers and Hochul, the Senate and the Assembly rejected Hochul’s proposal to increase criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers. Instead, the Senate proposed aggregating retail theft crimes over several months to combat repeat offenders. Both chambers also rejected Hochul’s proposal to expand the list of hate crime offenses, with Senator Michael Gianaris suggesting that it can be addressed after the budget negotiations.

EXECUTIVE UPDATES

On Monday, Hochul announced a $2 million investment in CUNY’s Associates of Applied Science College Apprenticeship program to expand the number of student apprenticeship opportunities. The investment would allow CUNY to add employers to a network that currently provides paid apprenticeships to students seeking Associate Degrees. This builds upon last year’s investment to support 12 new apprenticeship programs in the 2023-2024 academic year. “Through this $2 million expansion, we’re opening up more apprenticeship opportunities for CUNY students and preparing the next generation of New Yorkers to secure good-paying jobs right here in our state,” Hochul said.

On Tuesday, alongside Mayor Eric Adams, Hochul announced the launch of an interagency city-state task force to tackle ghost cars in NYC. With the first joint enforcement operation resulting in 73 ghost cars seized on Monday, Hochul explained, “By launching this city-state task force, we are sending a clear message: if you attempt to alter your license plate to avoid traffic cameras and toll readers, you will be caught.” Ghost cars are vehicles with tampered, invalid, or missing license plates, and cases have been rising in NYC, with the NYPD arresting 11,200 drivers, seizing 12,900 vehicles, and issuing more than 21,200 summonses in 2023. The new task force builds upon Hochul’s Executive Budget proposal to increase fines and penalties for cars with altered plates, prohibit the sale or distribution of covers that obscure license plates, allow police to seize illegal plate covers, and restrict DMV registration transactions for vehicles with suspended registrations

Earlier this week, Hochul organized a rally with small business owners, local officials, and lawmakers in support of her Executive Budget proposal to tackle retail theft. Some of her proposals to tackle retail theft include:

Criminalizing the online sale of stolen goods
Establishing a $25.2 million State Police Smash and Grab Enforcement Unit
$10 million in funding for local DAs to prosecute property crime cases and deploy dedicated Retail Theft Teams
$5 million to increase the capacity of local law enforcement efforts to combat retail theft
$5 million Commercial Security Tax Credit to help business owners offset the costs of upgrading security

The rally comes as the Senate and Assembly released their One-House Budgets, with retail theft becoming a priority for lawmakers and the public. “It’s time to give police and prosecutors the tools they need to go after retail thieves and back our businesses with the full force of the law. Public safety is my top priority, and I’m committed to keeping customers and workers safe,” Hochul explained.

Yesterday, alongside the White House’s Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Hochul announced the completion of the South Fork Wind project, the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm. Located across the coast of Montauk, the South Fork Wind project would generate about 130 megawatts of renewable energy for about 70,000 homes, eliminating up to six million tons of carbon emissions over the project’s life. The completion of the project builds upon the state’s CLCPA goals of achieving 70% renewable energy by 2030 and installing nine gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035. “South Fork Wind is now delivering clean energy to tens of thousands of homes and businesses on Long Island. With more projects in the pipeline, this is just the beginning of New York’s offshore wind future,” Hochul said.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Next week, the Legislature is scheduled to be in Session Monday to Thursday

Lawmakers Rally for COLA Increase

On Monday, lawmakers joined advocates in support of increasing the cost-of-living adjustment for human services workers and nonprofit employees. Advocates have been urging the Legislature to increase COLA by 3.2% to keep up with inflation and ensure that human service workers are adequately paid for their work. COLA increases have been a major issue in the Legislature since their COLA hasn’t been increased in 15 years. “We need to increase it so they don’t have to work second jobs and third jobs so they can provide for their families,” Chair of the Assembly Labor Committee, Harry Bronson, explained. Bronson is also urging the Legislature to pass his bill to develop a wage board to study and recommend adequate wages for all social workers.

Unions Rally for Tenant Protections in a Housing Deal

With affordable housing again a major issue during budget negotiations, members of the HTC, 32BJ SEIU, and DC37 held a rally with lawmakers in support of a housing deal in this year’s state budget. The unions are also urging the Legislature and Hochul to include tenant protections in any housing deal in the Final Budget which is technically due by the end of this month. While the Senate and Assembly One-House budgets include proposals to increase the housing supply, the Senate prioritizes tenant protections similar to those in the Good Cause Eviction, while the Assembly only makes references to protecting tenants from “capricious rent increases and unreasonable evictions.” However, many lawmakers, including various Assemblymembers, are joining the call for more tenant protections in any housing deal. “This is long overdue, and it’s time for us to act; it is far too difficult to find affordable housing in our state!” Assemblymember Harvey Epstein explained.

CO2 Fracking Ban Passes the Assembly

On Tuesday, the Assembly passed a bill that would expand the state’s ban on fracking to include CO2 fracking. CO2 fracking is a new process that extracts methane using high-pressure liquified carbon dioxide, which was not covered by the original 2014 executive order banning fracking and the permanent prohibition on fracking in the 2021 Final Budget. Many advocates of CO2 fracking argue that the new method is more environmentally safe, while environmental advocates argue that CO2 fracking releases cancer-causing chemicals into the air. “There is an incredible amount of evidence that proves the dangers to our families if we allow fracking within our communities, a reason New York banned the extraction of oil and gas by fracking in 2020,” Assembly sponsor Dr. Anna Kelles explained.

GOP Lawmakers Criticize State Bail Reform Laws Amidst Long Island Dismemberment Case

Earlier this week, Republican lawmakers held a rally criticizing the state’s bail reform laws and introducing two public safety bills. The rally came after dismembered body parts were found on Long Island, drawing attention to the state’s bail reform laws as the suspects were allowed to be free until their next court appearances under the condition that they were ankle monitors. One of the bills introduced would strengthen the use of electronic location monitoring, and another bill would make concealing or dismembering a body a class E-felony. “I don’t think anyone would argue that a world where people charged with the crime of body dismemberment can walk back out onto the streets is a good place, yet here in New York, that is the world in which we are living, thanks to Democrat’s failed criminal justice policies,” Anthony Palumbo, Senate sponsor of the concealment and dismemberment bill, explained.

Lawmakers Rally for the Access to Representation Act

On Wednesday, lawmakers joined immigration advocates in rallying for the passage of the Access to Representation Act, which would guarantee representation for those in the immigration or deportation process. The Act would require the state to invest $150 million. However, Catalina Cruz, the Assembly sponsor, explained that the funds would “address the need not just for legal services, but the wrap-around services needed for an individual who is going through a deportation or immigration case.” On the cost, Cruz explained, “We are a rich state. We have a lot of money for many things. I don’t think looking at it like were taking from here, we’re putting it here, there are a lot of ways to do this.” However, GOP lawmakers criticized the bill, with Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay saying, “[Democrats] put $2.4 billion for the migrants, now you have legal services for migrants. I think our conference feels you should be serving actual New Yorkers first before helping migrants with legal services.”

PRIMARY & ELECTION UPDATES

Joe Mastroianni to Challenge Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara

This week, Rotterdam Town Board Member Joe Mastroianni announced his campaign for Angelo Santabarbara’s Schenectady Assembly seat. Running as a Conservative and Republican party candidate, Mastroianni explained that he is also “a third party candidate” because he is “willing to work with Republicans, Democrats, upstate, downstate.” Mastroianni said his main priority if elected to the Assembly would be fighting against renewable energy, explaining that “the future will provide a more elegant design, but solar is not the answer” because the state grid will not be able to handle the increased demand. Mastroianni unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2022, losing to Santabarbara by nearly 40,000 votes. However, he explained that he is still optimistic, saying it will be “different this year.”

George Santos Running for Congress Again

During the State of the Union late last week, George Santos announced he would challenge Representative Nick LaLota for his Long Island congressional seat. As to his reasoning for challenging LaLota, he explained, “New York hasn’t had a real conservative represent them since I left office arbitrarily, thanks to RINO, empty suits like [LaLota]. He is willing to risk the future of our majority and this country for his political gain.” Santos was expelled from his previous Long Island and Queens-based congressional seat amidst a 23-count felony indictment. “To raise the standard in Congress and to hold a pathological liar who stole an election accountable, I led the charge to expel George Santos. If finishing the job requires beating him in a primary, count me in,” LaLota said.

Biden and Trump the Presumptive Presidential Nominees

This week, President Biden and Donald Trump overwhelmingly won their respective party primaries in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington and a caucus in Hawaii, allowing them to garner enough delegates to be the presumptive presidential nominees for their respective parties, setting up a general election rematch. Currently, Biden’s main issues are the general intraparty concern about his age and outrage from progressives over his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Meanwhile, Trump seems to have less support in the suburbs and among women voters. New York’s presidential primary is on April 2nd.

OTHER UPDATES

Speaker Adams' State of the City

On Wednesday, NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams delivered her annual State of the City address at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, laying out her legislative agenda for the city. She also emphasized the City Council’s authority to legislate and highlighted that Mayor Eric Adams must commit to implementing any bills that the City Council passes. “Laws and policies are only as good as their implementation,” Speaker Adams said. Additionally, Speaker Adams announced that the City Council will conduct performance evaluations of city agencies, saying that the Mayor’s Management Report does not adequately provide a full picture of the city. Her State of the City comes after the City Council joined a lawsuit against Mayor Adams for not fully implementing bills that the City Council passed to expand access to housing vouchers.

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