Assemblyman Al Stirpe
Assemblyman Al Stirpe

The holiday season is in full swing and soon we’ll be ringing in the new year with our loved ones. As we start looking forward to 2020, it’s important to reflect back on how far we’ve come and the successes we had this past year. And for our Central New York communities, there’s a lot of progress worth celebrating. From enacting groundbreaking environmental protections to passing critical reforms that make the voting process easier, I’ve put the needs of our families and children first and will continue to do so in the new year.

Our future is only as bright as our students, which is why I fought tirelessly this past year to improve educational outcomes for all New Yorkers. A law I helped pass, which goes into effect Dec. 28, will ensure changes to a business’ payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement are not made until after a school district’s fiscal year is complete (Ch. 421 of 2019). This way, our students and teachers won’t be unfairly hurt by changes made beyond their control. To put the focus back on learning rather than test-taking, I co-sponsored a law that delinks teacher and principal evaluations from student performance on state assessments (Ch. 27 of 2019).

Climate change is a very real and serious threat that’s putting our future in jeopardy, and it’s imperative that we take action now to combat it. To put us on a path toward a more sustainable future, I co-sponsored and helped pass the New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050, requires that 70% of electricity be produced by renewable energy systems by 2030 and requires 100% of the state’s electricity be produced without emissions by 2040 (Ch. 106 of 2019).

In addition to this historic victory, I also helped champion the Post-consumer Paint Collection Program to require paint manufacturers to submit a recycle and reuse plan for disposed paint to the DEC, thereby ensuring New Yorkers can minimize waste and help local governments save money (Ch. 673 of 2019). I also helped pass laws that protect our families and the environment from harmful pollutants by limiting the potential health risks posed by mercury in mercury-added lightbulbs, and banning offshore oil and natural gas drilling in New York’s coastal waters as well as most single-use plastic bags (Ch. 647, 29 and 58 of 2019).

Veterans embody what it means to be a hero, and they deserve our utmost respect and support when they return home from service. Earlier this year, I helped pass the Pension Poaching Prevention Act to protect veterans and their families from unscrupulous financial planners or insurance agents (Ch. 183 of 2019). To better support women veterans, I helped pass a law that updates the duties of the women veterans coordinator in the NYS Division of Veterans’ Services and requires that the division highlight contributions of women veterans on its website (Ch. 480 of 2019). I also helped secure funding in this year’s state budget for the Military Enhanced Recognition Incentive and Tribute (MERIT) Scholarship and expand the scholarship to include families of military members who lost their lives serving the military in any capacity, as opposed to only in combat or preparing for combat.

No one should ever have to face discrimination or harassment, especially in their workplace. This past year, I was committed to empowering and protecting victims and worked hard to ensure New York State leads the way on this important issue. To protect working New Yorkers, I helped pass a law that eliminates the ‘severe or pervasive’ standard for harassment to be legally actionable in the workplace (Ch. 160 of 2019). In 2020, I’ll continue to stand up for victims of discrimination and sexual harassment and make our workplaces safer and fairer for all.

Voting is what makes our country the great democracy that it is, which is why I helped pass many election reforms to make the process simpler and more accessible to all. This includes laws allowing early voting during a nine-day period before any election, permitting 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote and requiring boards of elections to automatically transfer voter registration information for New Yorkers who move from one county to another (Ch. 6, 2 and 3 of 2019). I also co-sponsored and helped pass a law to combine state and federal primary election dates to the fourth Tuesday in June (Ch. 5 of 2019). In 2020, I’ll continue fighting to enact same-day voter registration and authorize no-questions-asked absentee ballots (A.777, A.778).

As your representative, there’s nothing more important than making our region a better and safer place to live and raise a family. Central New Yorkers can rest assured that I’ll continue bringing home real results in the New Year. As always, my door is open. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns at 315-452-1115 or StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.

By martha

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