The New York State Budget Fight

My expectation of my elected leaders is that they stand up and fight for their constituents even if it is hard and even in hard times.

And I know this week was hard. The New York State budget process is always opaque, undemocratic, done under cover of night, and forces lawmakers to make tough choices. This year, it was worse. Discourse is certainly easier with proximity but physical distancing made that more challenging and unsafe. The coronavirus pandemic added a layer of urgency to get the budget done quickly. And the Senate and Assembly leaders were intent on aligning to the governor’s unjust, inhumane, austerity budget.

The end result is a terrible budget in good times and a disastrous budget in these times — with a pandemic exacerbating the crises that existed pre-pandemic brought on by accelerating inequality. To say that this budget will hurt all New Yorkers especially the most vulnerable is not a strong enough statement. If ever there was a time for our elected leaders to stand up and fight this was that time.

A handful of elected leaders did fight, many in the assembly but not my Assembly Member Catherine Nolan. AM Nolan did not stand up and fight for her constituency. AM Nolan voted for a budget that further weakens our already weak social safety net during a pandemic. AM Nolan voted for a budget that will hurt all New Yorkers in Assembly District 37 and across our state especially the most vulnerable among us. This is what AM Nolan voted “yes” for:

• ‪Medicaid cuts that will be felt now during the pandemic and for years to come.
• ‪School funding that will remain flat next year and then, because of creative accounting, likely decrease in the following years. This is on top of the unpaid billions owed our schools by the state.
• No funding to end homelessness or to repair unhealthy conditions in public housing at a time when our state is asking people to shelter at home to stay healthy and safe. AD 37 is home to the largest public housing community in New York State and New York State is home to over 92,000 people without homes.
• Rollbacks on pretrial discovery and bail reforms that take us back to a system of incarceration as punishment for poverty; that will directly impact the lives of black, brown, and low income people for the worse.
• Funding for New York State’s green new deal but not enough to make a significant impact. At a time when this should be the centerpiece of the way forward post pandemic to protect us and rebuild our economy in a resilient, healthy, people-first way.
• Business as usual, the tired-old ineffective trickle down economic policies of the past instead of taxing the ultra-wealthy who benefit from all the resources of our state and who should contribute in all times — especially times of great need

This budget is bad for New Yorkers at any time — it is unconscionable in this time. All of our leaders must be held to account and part of that is primaries. This is the time for a sweeping change across our state. The time for all New Yorkers to stand up and say no more to leaders who do not stand up and fight for the people they serve.

This is why I am primaryang AM Nolan. If the people of AD 37 give me the privilege to serve I will stand up and fight for them and for a better, fairer, more just, healthier, people-first New York.

AM Nolan is not my only state elected leader. I also want to hold my Senator Michael Gianaris to account. Senator Gianaris showed us strong leadership to organize to defeat the IDC; in 2019 where he helped deliver important progressive wins including the celebrated discovery and bail reforms; and recently with his push to cancel rent. With the budget this year, Senator Gianaris let us down. He had the opportunity to lead the charge for new revenue options and to hold the line on those pretrial reforms. It is my expectation that moving forward he will step up to lead and organize in the way he has proven he can. And I know our community will push him to do just that.