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New York State Government

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The New York State Capitol building, located in Albany. Photo by formulanone from Wikimedia Commons

By Lisa Scott

Every year the League of Women Voters of New York State provides members with key information on issues of interest to us. The 2024-2025 state budget is currently under debate in the NYS Legislature and local Leagues are asked to lobby our state Senators and Assembly Members on pre-budget issues before late March since the budget deadline is April 1. The non-budget stand-alone bills are considered in committees and on floors during session in late Apr. and the Legislative session ends on June 1.

In 2024 we are concentrating pre-budget on funding for county boards of elections, election reforms, funding for the public campaign finance board, an expansion of the bottle bill, education financing and fair pay for home care. Post-budget, we will focus on LWV priority issues relating to good government, criminal justice reform, rural issues, healthcare, women’s issues, and environmental issues.

Our pre-budget lobbying requests include:

Elections and Good Government: Keeping $114.5M to support the NYS Public Campaign Finance Program and $8.1M to support the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, and add $10M in funds directed to County Boards of Elections, $4.5M to implement the Doctor John L. Flateau Voting and Elections Database and Academic Center of New York Act and $51,000 for a voter list maintenance organization like ERIC.

Environment: include the Bigger Better Bottle Bill (S237/A6353) in their one house budgets as well as in the final budget.

Education Financing: We strongly oppose Governor Hochul’s recent decision to alter the formula that is used to distribute aid to school districts. The changes made in her proposed budget will significantly reduce foundation aid to nearly half of all school districts in the state. The Executive altered both the Consumer Price Index methodology and the policy of reducing aid to no district year to year. As a result, nearly half of school districts will be forced to reduce their 2024-25 school budgets or raise local taxes. They will have no time for planning if the budget is not finalized until the end of March 2024. We are asking that the Governor amend her proposal and reinstate full funding to our schools and that the Senate and Assembly do not include this change in their one house budgets.

Healthcare: We ask that Legislators reject Governor Hochul’s proposal to cut $2.55 an hour from home care workers in the consumer directed personal assistance program (CDPAP) and pass the Fair Pay for Home Care Act (S3189/A8821) in the budget.

Other League lobbying later this spring will focus on:

Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform – Public Campaign Finance Board: The League strongly supports the $114.5M allocated for the Public Campaign Finance Board. This year is the first opportunity for New York to demonstrate a commitment to campaign finance reform and reducing the influence of big money in politics. During the 2022 election, the 200 biggest donors outspent over 200,000 small donors in state races. This groundbreaking state program will ensure that New Yorkers’ voices are heard throughout the political process. The funding for this program included in the Executive Budget will ensure that it can help level the playing field, amplify the voices of small donors, and reduce the impact of wealthy special interest groups in New York. We urge the Legislature to include the full $114.5M in the Senate and Assembly one house budgets.

Funding to County Boards of Election: Elections are often the last item on the list when it comes to county budgets and many county boards operate with limited resources. The League urges the Legislature to seriously consider the cost of new election improvements when introducing their proposed budgets and to consider setting up a yearly fund specifically for implementing election reforms at the local level.

The League was glad to see that funds were specifically allocated for local boards of elections to invest in new electronic pollbooks ($14.7 M), to cover the cost of absentee and early vote by mail ballot postage ($7.7M). However, there are still limited funds available for educating voters, poll worker training, staffing, and the establishment of new sites to comply with current mandates. It is not possible for boards to continue to expand voting access without funds devoted to these measures. We ask that a minimum of an additional $10M in funding be allocated to county boards of elections so that they may make the upgrades necessary and hire the staff necessary to effectively run our elections in 2024. This is consistent with the bipartisan proposal submitted by election commissioners across New York State.

All voters should consider discussing the above issues with your NYS Assembly and Senate representatives. Educate yourself, your voice matters. 

Lisa Scott is president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit https//my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county.

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Photo courtesy Ed Flood's Facebook page

By Aramis Khosronejad

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “in 2022 U.S. greenhouse gas emissions totaled 6,341.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, and 5,487.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents after accounting for sequestration from the land sector.” In the wake of these statistics, New York State has been searching for a way to help decrease these concerning figures.

As an aid to the process, New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul (D), presented a new mandate this past September. The state mandate will require zero-emission new school bus purchases by 2027 and for school districts to operate zero-emission school buses only by 2035.

Although on the surface the use of electric vehicles seems like an efficient and smart way of reducing our greenhouse gas contribution to the global community, there are some drawbacks and consequences that state Assemblyman Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson) as well as other state politicians have pointed out. 

Local state senators, Assembly members, fire safety and school officials gathered Feb. 25 at Levittown bus depot to a “Push the Brakes” rally on the state’s electric school bus mandate.

Flood categorized the conflicts that could arise with this new mandate in two simple categories: economic issues and the alarming lack of reliability. 

According to Flood, we need only look at the numbers to be able to reach the conclusion that the economic setbacks of a mandate such as this would be potentially devastating to the academic capabilities of many school districts within New York state. To successfully and fully implement these zero-emission buses it would take “roughly $20 billion” to do so, he said.

Flood and other elected officials have also been vocal regarding the proposed state-aid school budget cuts listed in the governor’s budget proposal earlier this year. School districts will have to cut programs, camps and other academic activities and opportunities for districts whose budgets would be affected by these cuts. 

Additionally, Flood has a concern for an increase in taxes if the bus mandate were to be carried through — he said that taxes in New York are already extreme without the addition of this new bus expenditure. Also, there has to be consideration for the cost of the establishment of charging stations for the buses, compounded by the stations’ running costs. 

Another heavy consequence of the implementation of these new fleets of buses, and what Flood argues is significantly more important, is the question of their reliability. The most important question for Flood is “What steps are we taking to ensure the safety of our children and these bus drivers?” 

It has already been observed in cities where e-buses are already in place such as San Francisco and Chicago that their batteries have problems with severe temperature fluctuations. Flood points out how the EV batteries can die quickly and may not prove efficient. In addition, EV batteries are prone to catch fire and are notoriously difficult to put out. If this were to happen while one of the buses was in use, Flood claimed that we’d be “looking at the loss of lives.” 

Flood provided a potential solution to these doubts over bus batteries by bringing up the idea that “having a backup system in place could address this issue” even if this backup uses carbon. “We need a more powerful EV source than the one we have,” he said.

The main belief that Flood carried was “not saying we shouldn’t be aiming for these goals but we’re trying so hard to be the global leaders in EV that we’re looking over the health and safety concerns that it’s going to cause to all these communities.” 

According to Flood, if there were a delay to this mandate, there would be sufficient time for all these concerns to be addressed and handled properly. Then, zero-emission buses would be safe to push into New York school districts, and we could do our part in making sure our planet suffers a little less. 

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Jim Gaughran. Photo courtesy Jim Gaughran
Kyle Hill. Photo courtesy Kyle Hill
Nancy Goroff. Photo courtesy Nancy Goroff
Craig Herzkowitz. Photo courtesy Craig Herzkowitz

By Aidan Johnson

Three out of the four Democratic congressional candidates for District 1 — Nancy Goroff, Kyle Hill and Craig Herskowitz — attended a meet-the-candidates night at the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee headquarters Tuesday, Feb. 6. During the meeting, the candidates addressed why they are running, their most important issues and policies they would support. The fourth candidate, former District 5 state Sen. James Gaughran [D-Northport], was unable to attend. The current congressional seat is held by Nick LaLota (R).

Introductions

Goroff, who has formerly served as the chair of the chemistry department at Stony Brook University, and previously ran for the congressional seat in 2020 against former Congressman Lee Zeldin (R), said that she was running “to protect our right to bodily autonomy” and “to build an economy that’s going to work for everybody,” along with environmental issues such as coastal erosion, climate change and water quality.

Herskowitz has interned for Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy (D) and Rep. Steve Israel (D). The candidate believes that his “judicial, legislative and executive experience, as well as criminal prosecution and criminal defense experience,” which includes him working at the Office of the General Counsel in the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI and the Department of Justice, before being appointed as assistant counsel to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), before working as a criminal defense attorney and being appointed as an administrative law judge within the New York City Department of Finance, will allow him to connect with the congressional district. 

Hill went to graduate school at Stony Brook University, after which he worked for Israel on Capitol Hill, where he “became a health care policy expert.” He worked on rallying congressional support to update the organ transplant rules, and since coming back to Long Island, he has become a volunteer EMT and is involved with the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee. He has become frustrated “every single day with [Congress’s] dysfunction,” and believes that by winning the CD1 seat, along with gaining a Democratic majority, Congress can function better. 

Health care

Hill would support passing the Social Security 2100 Act, which, among other things, would change the current law that caps earnings subject to the Social Security tax which, at the time the bill was introduced, was $160,200, but now stands at $168,600, to instead have earnings over $400,000 once again be subjected to the tax. However, all earnings in between would not be subject to the tax. He also said that it is necessary to build upon incentives for doctors and health care agencies to keep folks healthy and out of the hospital

Herskowitz said that he was “the only candidate in this race that’s supporting Medicare for All” and said that “we need to make sure people are paying their fair share of taxes,” and that “people that are damaging our environment are paying more for our health care system because they are the ones who are polluting our water, polluting our air.” He also said that “we need to find ways to ensure that Social Security is available to everyone.”

Goroff called Social Security and Medicare “two of our most successful government programs ever.” She said that it is necessary to “lift the cap on salary at which we take Social Security taxes,” adding, “That one change would make Social Security and Medicare both financially secure going into the future.” She also said that the age to receive Medicare should be reduced. 

Voter engagement

Herskowitz said that it is important to fight against misinformation, activate the voters and get people excited to vote, adding that a strong grassroots campaign was necessary to make sure “every single voter is touched, several times throughout the campaign, to make sure that people come out to vote.” He also said that it was necessary to appeal to the moderate center voters.

Hill said that “we’ve seen cycle over cycle that the Democrats who are coming out to vote have become fewer and fewer and more folks are registering as unaffiliated,” adding that it was necessary to figure out why they are not coming out to vote, and that it was necessary to have a message that brings out both Democrats and those in the middle. He said that Democrats need to lean into their strengths, citing issues such as infrastructure, drug pricing reform and the cost-of-living crisis.

Goroff said that in order to get people to vote who don’t automatically do so, or who vote for either a Democrat or a Republican, “it’s not about the issues, it’s about them believing that this person is going to represent them.” She said that she is committed to making sure voters know who she is as a person, educator and community leader, adding that it matters that they know they would have someone working hard for them “versus somebody who is just spewing talking points.”

Climate change

Hill said that he supports changing every car that the federal government owns to an electric vehicle, including from government agencies such as the post office. “We can use the purchasing power of the federal government to shape the market and make EVs more available, bringing down the price, make it more accessible, have more charging stations everywhere, and that’s something the federal government directly controls and already has its hands on,” he added.

Herskowitz said that it was necessary to move away from fossil fuels and invest in technologies that could remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere and nitrate from the soil and ground that leaks into the water. He also said that it was important to combat misinformation surrounding renewable energy.

Goroff said that the United States should be carbon neutral in energy production by 2035, and in transportation and buildings, along with the rest of the economy, by 2050. She supports the Inflation Reduction Act, which would invest in clean energy: “We need to be investing in clean energy and technologies now, making sure that we’re having proper oversight, and investing in new technologies for the future.”

Immigration

Goroff said that DACA recipients need a pathway to citizenship, and that it’s important to recognize the challenges for communities in getting resources for large numbers of migrants and nonnative English speakers. “The only way we can deal with that fairly is for the federal government to make sure that for school districts, like in Riverhead where they have very large numbers of nonnative speakers of English, that they’re getting adequate funding for those programs,” she said.

Herskowitz said that the vast majority of people who are in this country illegally do so by coming here legally and overstaying their visas, and clarified that coming to the border and requesting asylum is 100% legal, adding that more judges are needed to adjudicate asylum claims. “The migrants that are here want to work, and they should be able to work, and we should be able to expedite [that] so they can work, they can pay taxes, they can contribute to the economy,” he said, adding that comprehensive immigration reform was needed because “obviously the immigration system is broken.”

Hill said that it is necessary to address what’s causing the issues, “which is the rampant gang violence in Central America. Part of all of these comprehensive solutions has been greater investment in our southern neighbors to make sure there’s economic development [and] a reason to stay in their home.” He added, “Every time these comprehensive packages don’t end up happening, those things get left off the table.” He also said the budget, which Congress has yet to pass, would be an opportunity to address the concerns by “more appropriately [targeting] our foreign aid,” and better funding for the Department of Justice “so that judges can adjudicate asylum claims so that folks can enter society and be part of the society.”

The Democratic primary is on June 25. 

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New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo

By Anthony H. Palumbo

Late last month, as New Yorkers were making plans to celebrate the New Year, Governor Hochul once again vetoed the Grieving Families Act. Her action was a surprise to many of us in the State Legislature, especially considering the broad, nearly unanimous bipartisan support for the bill’s passage in consecutive sessions.

More surprisingly was that her veto pen fell on a vastly changed version of the legislation, which was updated to assuage the Governor’s concerns over the Act’s overhyped impact on the State’s hospitals and insurance industry.

The Grieving Families Act is important as it would bring New York State’s wrongful death statute into the modern era, on par with the rest of the nation and in line with our values. It would provide families who have lost a child or loved one the ability to seek damages for their pain and suffering in cases where wrongful death is established.

By expanding the State’s wrongful death statute beyond the callous ‘monetary value’ of the deceased and allowing for pain and suffering to be calculated in wrongful death cases, the legislation weighs the full and devastating impact that the loss of a child, spouse, stay at-home parent, or disabled grandparent has on a family.  It would also hold the wrongdoer responsible for the death accountable.

The benefits of the legislation to New York’s families are crystal clear. The steps that the New York State Legislature will take next to ensure the Grieving Family Act becomes law, is less evident.

There have been discussions to override Governor Hochul’s veto of the Grieving Families Act, but these talks have been met by a mixed response from Democratic Leaders in the State Legislature. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie referred to a veto override as a nuclear option and Senator Brad Hoylman-Siegel, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the bill’s sponsor stated he doesn’t believe an override can occur in a different calendar year from when the bill was vetoed.  To the person, however, these same legislators have engaged in splashy press conferences and rhetorical speeches regarding the need to make the Grieving Families Act law so we can protect victims of negligence.

My solution would be for both houses of the State Legislature to again pass the 2023 version of the bill, and before the State Budget is approved. This would provide Legislators greater leverage, and show our resolve to have the Act become law in 2024.  With supermajorities in both houses, why won’t the Democrats that constantly claim to protect victims and be the Party That Cares More Than Everybody Else simply flex their legislative muscle to make this happen.  If the Governor vetoes the bill again, they must use the ‘nuclear option’ and override her veto.

Antithetically, during last year’s historic nomination of Justice Hector Lasalle for Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, the Senate Democrats were more than willing to override the Governor to stack the court with progressives who would toe the political line when it came to the congressional redistricting case that was soon to be heard. Despite the historic nature of the nomination, as the first Latino nominee for Chief Judge, the impeccable qualifications of Justice Lasalle and the fact that the legislature has never denied a Governor’s nomination for Chief Judge, the Lasalle nomination was defeated because he didn’t fit with their agenda. 

Now, with something as important as the Grieving Families Act, the Democrats seem unwilling to move the ball forward.  If they were willing to challenge the Governor for political power, it would be my hope that they could do it for legislation that would serve a greater purpose for all New York’s families.  2024 must be the year the Grieving Families Act becomes law. Whether this happens by the Governor acquiescing to sign the bill or through an override, the important first step is for lawmakers to take action now and repass the Grieving Families Act so we can do what’s right as New Yorkers, for New Yorkers.

Anthony H. Palumbo

New York State Senator, 1st District 

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Assemblyman Ed Flood speaks in front of local politicians, educators and community members at a press conference against Gov. Hochul’s proposed school funding cuts. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

Local political representatives and school superintendents rallied to Three Village Central School District Jan. 25 for a passionate press conference decrying proposed cuts to state school funding in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) proposed budget. 

Hochul touted an $825 million increase in state funding for schools overall, but some districts — including 34 in Suffolk County and 10 in Nassau — would face decreases. Of these, Three Village would lose the highest dollar amount at nearly $9 million if the governor’s plan stands, and the smaller Port Jefferson School District would be hit by the largest percentage of funding loss on Long Island — over 28%. Mount Sinai, Cold Spring Harbor, Smithtown and Kings Park school districts would also see modest cuts. This marks a break from the “hold harmless” provision in New York, which in the past has guaranteed school districts didn’t receive less state funding than the previous year, a practice that takes some guesswork out of budget planning.

Political opposition

“Governor, stop playing politics with our children — because we will fight you tooth and nail,” New York State Assemblyman Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson) said at the event. “We need to restore some common sense and do what’s right for the children of our community. Where are our priorities? Let’s put our children first.”

The politicians who spoke — including U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY-1), state Assemblymembers Jodi Giglio (R-Riverhead), Jarett Gandolfo (R-Sayville), Doug Smith (R-Holbrook) and state Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James) — were united in considering the cuts as a targeted political attack and a conscious choice by the governor.

LaLota referred to the Jan. 5 Long Island Association’s annual State of the Region breakfast during which, as reported by Newsday, Hochul traded barbs with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R), including her quip, “I walked in, I hear somebody doesn’t want New York on Long Island, I was ready to walk off the stage right then. You don’t want me to take all the money with me, though, right?”

LaLota called Hochul a “schoolyard bully” and suggested she is using children as a political pawn against Long Island.

“It is wholly unfair and unjust to take money from our kids because she’s got a political squabble with us,” he said. “Don’t come after our kids because you have a political problem with Long Island. The right thing to do is to fully fund our kids’ education — that’s something we rely upon.”

The governor’s state budget proposal represents a first draft. The state Assembly and Senate will be instrumental in crafting the finalized version, which is due April 1 — but does not often come in on time. If the budget takes until early May to pass, as it did in 2023, school districts will be in a tricky situation since their budgets must be ready and made available for public review between April 30 and May 7.

Superintendents and other groups oppose cuts

“It is important to recognize that these proposed changes will create uncertainty and hardship for our districts,” said Bayport-Blue Point Superintendent Timothy Hearney, who also serves as president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association. His district stands to lose 3.34% of its state funding under the plan.

Even though the budget is a first draft and subject to political bargaining in Albany, any final answer may come too late. School districts spend the early spring ironing out budget plans, so unless there is a change soon, districts will be faced with the option of incorporating the funding loss into the 2024-25 school year budget or risk putting up a budget that could surpass the state’s mandated cap on increases to the tax levy, an unpopular option for Long Island taxpayers, who already face high property taxes. In this instance, budget passage would require approval by a supermajority of voters (60 percent or more).

Hearney pointed out that education costs have increased even as enrollments have decreased over the past decade or so, in a nod toward one of Hochul’s stated reasons why some districts should receive less funding. “It’s crucial to underscore that condensing a decade’s worth of lost enrollment in a single year places an overwhelming burden on all of our districts,” he said.

Other concerned superintendents standing in support were Christine Criscione from Mount Sinai, Jessica Schmettan from Port Jefferson and Kevin Scanlon from Three Village. 

Scanlon spelled out what he thought the “significant challenges” losing $9 million in funds for his district would pose at a Jan. 24 school board meeting, the night before the press conference. He said he hoped for compromise in Albany, but that such sudden cuts would require drastic measures to accommodate. He said the district may have to close a school or discontinue the Three Village Academy high school program, and they may have to make cuts to the pre-K and pre-K enrichment programs, the Intellectually Gifted Program, special education aides, teaching positions, administrative positions, educational and extracurricular programs and even security. 

“Every area of this community will be impacted, so Three Village needs to come together as it has never done before,” he urged at the board meeting. “Parents, students, teachers, administrators, anyone out there — anyone on the street we can get in this community to be part of this conversation — we need for advocacy.”

Those who showed up to advocate at Thursday’s press conference included school board members, staff and teachers union members from Three Village and Mount Sinai, as well as members of parent teacher associations, also civic and community groups, including the local parent group Three Village Dads. 

David Tracy, leader of Three Village Dads, said he isn’t interested in being divisive politically, but couldn’t ignore the air of apparent retribution in the governor’s move. “Long Island was not a huge voting fan of the governor. I hate to believe this cut in the budget is somewhat of a backlash for that,” he said, adding that the disparity in funding changes from district to district is baffling to him. “It’s just tragic that it comes from our kids.”

Three Village Civic Association president Charles Tramontana agrees the issue is bipartisan. “Nobody wants to see that amount of funding cut without some sort of warning. I don’t think it’s controversial,” said Tramontana, who was scheduled to attend the press conference but was stuck home sick. 

“I don’t understand the way the state operates sometimes,” Tramontana said. “They didn’t give any notice that they were dropping that ‘hold harmless’ provision. Basic fairness would dictate that you would give some warning.” He added, “We took some hit— $9 million in one year is definitely going to cause some chaos in our budget.”

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By Nancy Marr

An Equal Rights Amendment for the United States was first drafted in 1923 by two leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, who believed that the ERA was the next logical step following the campaign to win access to the ballot. 

While the text of the amendment has changed over the years, its focus has remained the same. Article V of the U.S. Constitution requires that a proposed amendment be passed by the Senate and the House in a two-thirds majority in two consecutive legislative sessions in order to be sent to the states for ratification by their legislatures or conventions. 

The version approved by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states with a deadline of 1979 reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” Although the deadline was extended to 1982, only 37 of the required 38 states ratified the amendment. 

Opposition to it came from conservative Phyllis Schlafly, saying it would require women to serve in the military or lose protections for alimony or child custody cases. The result? Five states voted to revoke their ratifications, but these reversals were not counted as part of the result, and the count of ratifications remained at 37. The amendment was not passed.

In the absence of a national equal rights law, the constitutions of twenty-five states now do provide guarantees of equal rights on the basis of sex. The New York State Legislature, in 2022 and 2023, passed an ERA bill that has looked further. Currently, our state constitution only protects against racial and religious discrimination. 

The proposed bill would protect all those who have been discriminated against based on ethnicity, national origin, disability, age, and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, and a person’s reproductive autonomy or access to reproductive care. The new ERA bill explicitly includes language to clarify that discrimination based on a person’s pregnancy or pregnancy outcomes would be sex discrimination, protecting women from punishment. It will also ensure comprehensive and inclusive equal protection that will guard against attacks on our rights from the federal government or federal judges, including threats to the legal equality of LGBTQ1+ people.  

Do we need protection if the Fourteenth Amendment already guarantees equal protection of the laws? The Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868, added the word “male” to the Constitution but failed to include women in the right to vote. The proposed New York State ERA is not “a women’s equality amendment” but seeks to protect women as a class and men as a class against discrimination under the law for any reason. 

The Brennan Center has commented that the amendment process is an ineffective way to correct shortcomings in our United States Constitution. Given the difficulties and delays that have been faced by those who have fought for amendments, is our Constitution unamendable?  

Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is the leading constitutional scholar serving in Congress today. Reflecting on the progressive activism that “built the modern Constitution,” Raskin urges reform-minded Americans to shed their fear of advancing reform through Article V. “It’s a betrayal of our history if we don’t talk about amending the Constitution in order to create a more perfect union,” he says. “We need to be planting flags in the unfolding history of democracy. That’s what the constitutional amendment process is all about.”

Voting to amend the New York State Constitution with the New York State ERA will provide protection for New Yorkers who have faced discrimination through the years. Make a plan to turn your 2024 ballot over and vote yes on the proposed amendment.  

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

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Pixabay photo

By Aramis Khorso

The ongoing struggle between adolescents and suicide problems has become increasingly prominent in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide has been among the top three leading causes of death for children and young adults ages 10 through 34. 

The battle against anxiety and depression, which are the main causes of adolescent suicide, has been surging among young adults. According to the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, such mental health disorders, which are treatable, have increased since 2003 among children aged 6–17. The mental health and suicide epidemic rose to such unignorable heights that the U.S. Surgeon General declared the pediatric mental health crisis a national emergency in 2021.

To many, these statistics are rightly shocking and frightening. For Stony Brook University undergraduate senior Vignesh Subramanian, they were a call for action. He had observed the consequences of untreated anxiety and depression in children throughout his own adolescence. This, as well as the declared national crisis combined, made him decide it was time to take a stance and help out other young adults suffering from mental health problems. 

“We were already aware that this was a new phenomenon,” Subramanian said. “People had not been this stressed before — I was seeing this among my peers. Something had to be done. It was amounting to something of a crisis, and then these official declarations came out.” 

Subramanian recognized that many communities, especially schools and other educational facilities, were unequipped to respond to this mental health crisis adequately. He pointed out that mental health disorders are still “overtly stigmatized,” adding, “Parents and schools alike don’t know how to support students and get the help they need or can’t accommodate them properly.” 

In early 2022, Subramanian established a youth-led organization called One More Option that is dedicated to helping provide as many resources and services as they can to young adults suffering from anxiety, depression or any suicidal-related mental issues. Subramanian emphasized during this interview that “a youth-led, youth-driven response to the crisis was what was needed.”

He decided to take his mission to the state Legislature in Connecticut in 2022. “Our M.O. is to draft legislation on our own, then present it to the state Legislature, then we advance it from there,” he said. 

Working with former Connecticut Sen. Will Haskell (D-Westport), Subramanian was able to successfully draft policies that he wrote himself into the Connecticut General Assembly. He was able to draft two main reforms: The establishment of mental health days in K–12 schools and more accessible outpatient counseling sessions that minors would be able to seek. 

As can be expected, there was some opposition that Subramanian had to face while fighting to get his reforms drafted. However, Haskell was able to provide what Subramanian called a “powerful rebuttal” of the counterarguments made against the reforms. “It was inspiring to see how we were able to surmount that opposition,” Subramanian recalled.

One More Option deservedly enjoyed its victory in Connecticut, but didn’t stop there. Subramanian and his organization hope to have the same success they’ve had in Connecticut in New York. Currently, New York has no policy on student suicide prevention. Since 2019, New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) and Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell (D-Manhattan) have been repeatedly presenting the Student Suicide Prevention Act to the state Legislature. Unfortunately, the SSPA has been stalled over the past few years due to “disputes over its contents.” 

Using the framework provided by the SSPA and with the support of over 20 collegiate student governments from schools in New York, Subramanian and One More Option hope to see a statewide suicide prevention law enacted. Recently, Subramanian and Hoylman-Sigal’s office have incorporated some reforms Subramanian wrote into the SSPA, which have been approved. 

One of the main reforms that Subramanian made to the SSPA was the inclusion of college students. With these revisions, the SSPA would require K–12 schools, as well as higher educational facilities, to create guidelines and policies on how staff would react to students in suicidal crises. Subramanian spoke about the “optimistic feeling” he has due to the widespread support the act is gathering for this reformed version of the SSPA.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul delivers the New York State Executive Budget proposal at the State Capitol in Albany on Jan. 16. Photo courtesy Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul

By G.T. Scarlatos

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) delivered the Fiscal Year 2025 New York State Executive Budget proposal at the State Capitol in Albany on Tuesday, Jan. 16, where she announced her record-breaking $233 billion spending plan that looks to allocate funds toward public safety, education and the influx of migrants coming to New York. It also closes a $4.3 billion deficit the state faced. Although the budget proposes a roughly 2% increase from the previous year, this burden won’t be falling on the taxpayer as Hochul made it clear there would be no new increases in state income tax.

In the address, Hochul focused on the needs of everyday New Yorkers with an emphasis on investing in initiatives concerning public safety and affordability. 

“I stand by my commitment to fight the right fights for New Yorkers and pursue the common good,” Hochul said. “We must crack down on persistent crime, invest in children and families, and build the economy of the future. We’re taking action with common sense solutions that are simple, easy to implement. But the truth is, we can’t spend like there’s no tomorrow because tomorrow always comes.”

The governor outlined how the state will strengthen its public safety efforts by continuing to invest in initiatives that work with local communities, law enforcement and nonprofit groups to stem crime and gun violence statewide by devoting additional resources to youth mentorship programs, the police and district attorneys. 

The budget includes $40 million toward tackling property crime and retail theft that looks to bring relief to small businesses by creating a new state police enforcement unit dedicated to driving down the recent spike in retail theft.

“Keeping New Yorkers safe is my number one priority,” Hochul said in the address. “Over the last few years we’ve made historic investments in gun violence prevention programs and it’s paid off. Shootings and murders are way down. Gun seizures are up.”

The spending plan also proposes to increase school aid by $825 million, just a 2.4% increase from last year, considerably less than the 7.7% average increase in aid that districts have received in recent years. 

In an attempt to get ahead of the criticism she would potentially face, Hochul explained, “As much as we may want to, we are not going to be able to replicate the massive increases of the last two years. No one could have expected the extraordinary jumps in aid to recur annually.” 

She also attributed the disappointing figure to a decade-long trend of declining school enrollment for students K-12, by saying, “It’s common sense to ensure that the schools are getting the appropriate money based on their enrollments today compared to what they were a decade and a half ago.”

The governor then recalled how she worked with legislators to bring the state’s reserves from 4% of the budget to a now historically high level of just over 15%. The reserves can be used to stabilize public spending or for one-time emergencies that may leave the state vulnerable. 

In order to provide aid for what she referred to as a “humanitarian crisis,” Hochul plans to dip into the state’s reserves, allocating an extra $500 million of aid to support the approximately 13,600 asylum seekers arriving in New York each month, bringing state spending for the cost of shelter, social services and resettlement up to $2.4 billion. 

Hochul addressed the politically-charged issue and called out for additional support from Washington, saying, “New York continues to carry the burden of sheltering more than 69,000 migrants. Since day one, I have said that it is ultimately the responsibility of the federal government to address this crisis. Congress — the House of Representatives in particular — and the White House must remain at the negotiating table until they restore the rule of law on our border, fix our asylum system and provide relief to states like New York who’ve been shouldering this burden for far too long,” Hochul said. 

She continued addressing her efforts to combat the crisis saying, “I’ll be traveling once again to Washington to advocate for effective immigration reform, a stronger border and increased support from the federal government for New York. But until we see a change in federal policy that slows the flow of new arrivals, we’re going to be swimming against the tide.”

To see the whole budget presentation go to: budget.ny.gov.

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Skyler Johnson (left) and Rebecca Kassay (far right) at the Three Village Democratic Club meet the candidates event. Photo courtesy Serena Carpino

By Serena Carpino

Three Village Democratic Club held a meet-the-candidates night at the Setauket Neighborhood House Jan. 11. The two candidates, Skyler Johnson (D-Port Jefferson Station) and Rebecca Kassay (D-Port Jefferson), hope to represent New York State Assembly District 4, a seat currently occupied by Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson). At the campaign event, Johnson and Kassay discussed pressing issues facing Long Island. 

Johnson, 23, has served in multiple leadership roles. He is on the board of the directors of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the chair of the Suffolk County Young Democrats. He is also on the board of Temple Beth Emeth of Mount Sinai, the synagogue in which he was raised and is currently working for the Sound Justice Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to educating incarcerated individuals. 

Johnson has spent much of his political career in Albany and helped pass the Fair Access to Victim Compensation Act. He has been endorsed by former Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant as well as several members of the New York State Assembly and Suffolk County Legislature.

Johnson’s opponent, Rebecca Kassay, possesses both political and entrepreneurship experience. The 34-year-old is currently deputy mayor in the Village of Port Jefferson and a village trustee. Kassay is also a member of the Port Jefferson Rotary Club and owns with her husband The Fox and Owl Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Port Jefferson. 

In 2013, Kassay was involved in creating a teen environmental program at Avalon Nature Preserve, as she hoped to “​​get them off their phones, get their hands dirty and build their confidence about [being] the future environmental stewards of this area.” During the COVID-19 pandemic Kassay contacted local community members who had been handmaking masks helping them to create a legitimate organization. With Kassay’s intervention, the group was able to donate over 40,000 homemade masks. 

The candidates discussed many issues, but two topics dominated the night: affordable housing and the climate crisis. 

When asked about the biggest issue currently facing New York state, both Johnson and Kassay agreed that it is the high cost of living. “We have a crisis on housing on our hands – of affordable housing,” Johnson said. He further explained that, for him, affordable housing is defined as that which is accessible to families who make between 60% and 120% of the area median income. Here, that would equate to an apartment rent of $1,700 per month. “I checked [how many apartments would be available] — about three. And I’m sure one of them is an illegal basement apartment,” he joked. 

The candidates also talked about recent environmental problems on Long Island. They addressed the latest extreme weather events including the severe rainstorms and flooding. 

Kassay reassured the audience that she wanted, “in no uncertain terms, for voters to know that the Democratic Party is the party that’s going to lead the way to make an economically and environmentally sustainable Long Island.”

The candidates were then asked about New York’s immigration crisis. 

Both Johnson and Kassay pointed out that immigrants are an important part of this country and pay a significant amount of taxes. They agreed that they would both like to see comprehensive immigration reform and a change in the attitude of how America views immigrants. 

Johnson further said, “Those who say that immigrants are not welcome are almost never on the right side of history,” and explained that much of the negative commentary about immigrants is “a fake narrative to throw immigrants under the bus.”

Finally, the candidates called out Flood’s voting record and criticized his stance on certain legislation. 

Flood’s consistent support for anti-vaccination movements is most embarrassing to Kassay. She disagrees with Flood’s position, especially given the presence of Stony Brook University in the district. She explained, “As an assemblywoman here I would be looking to the university for help instead of embarrassing them and embarrassing the entire district by going forth with anti-vax legislation and having that be a mark on the community.”

Johnson agreed and said that Flood has “taken some really egregious stances in his short tenure in Albany.” In particular, he pointed out Flood’s opposition to abortion care, LGBTQ+ rights and other bills “simply because Democrats proposed [them].”

He encouraged the audience to go on votesmart.org and further look into Flood’s voting records. 

 In their closing remarks, the candidates left the stage with powerful statements. 

“We really can’t afford to lose this race. Our community has been suffering under the leadership or lack thereof of Ed Flood.” Kassay said. “This campaign is about reconnecting people to the government that was built to serve and protect them — it’s about Long Island’s overwhelming cost of living and the climate crisis. It’s about defending women’s choice regarding their own bodies and then going up to that legislative body and doing a little more to make it more representative of our population.”

In his closing remarks, Johnson said, “I announced that I was running on Nov. 18. On Nov. 19, Jesse Garcia, the chair of the Suffolk GOP, had a quote in the paper attacking me.” He further explained that other Republicans attacked him on Twitter, and GOP members across the state liked those tweets. “So,” he said, “if you are not sure who will beat Ed Flood, just remember: The Republicans are worried about what would happen should I become the nominee.”

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Assemblyman Keith Brown (R,C-Northport) congratulates Board of Greenlawn Water District on receiving grant funding through the NYS Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) on Jan. 10, 2024.

Assemblyman Keith Brown’s (R,C-Northport) office attended a ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 10, to help congratulate the Board of Greenlawn Water District on being awarded a $1.4 million grant through the NYS Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) to complete Drinking Water (DW) Project No. 19713, which will include wellhead treatment for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at Well No. 6.

Through the WIIA grant, the board has been awarded $1,392,300, including total estimated eligible project costs. The Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) will determine the actual amount of the grant when the project is complete and final project costs have been confirmed.

“I am very excited to see the board put this grant funding to good use to protect the drinking water for our Greenlawn residents,” said Brown. “Thank you and congratulations to the Greenlawn Water District Board of Commissioners, Chairman John H. Clark, Treasurer John T. McLaughlin, Secretary James M. Logan, Superintendent Robert Santoriello and Chief Plant Operator Frank DeMayo on this grant—I will be on the lookout for future updates on this project and others you intend to take on to continue to improve water quality for our residents.”

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