LIST OF ISSUES
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Governing Philosophy
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The key element of my campaign is promoting government for the people. I believe that government and politics should be based moral principle, public service, and advancing the wellbeing of people. Those who hold elected office should act as ethical, servants of the people and act to the best of their ability to operate on such people. The quality of government is only as good as the ideas, people, and actions which constitute it, and active citizens have the power to help make things better.
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Public Wellbeing
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I hold to the principle that the policies and practices of our government should be guided the wellbeing and interest of the people. In too many instances our state officials have neglected or acted in manners which are detrimental to the wellbeing of the people they are supposed to serve. I will work to promote policies and policies which will benefit the wellbeing of people.
For instance,
I support stronger efforts to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs; including increased prevention efforts, expanded addiction treatment, stronger enforcement, stronger DUI/DWI laws, increased restrictions on the alcohol industry, and ending state support for industries which harm the public health.
I supporting passing the child victims act, and I support abolishing the statute of limitations for rape and the sexual abuse of children; because predators should not be able to run free and victims should be denied justice because of some arbitrary deadline.
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Ethics
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Those who hold office should act as ethical public servant and should be held to strong ethical standards. Unfortunately, officials haven’t always acted this way. In recent years we have seen numerous high-ranking officials, including the former state assembly speaker, former senate majority leader, and one of the governor’s closest political aids. Improving the situation will take the election of better officials and the passage of stronger ethics laws.
I support stronger ethics laws for public officials and stronger efforts against corruption. I supported the amendment which was passed by public vote last year, which now allows for state judges to take away or reduce the pensions of officials who were convicted or corruption or other felonies related to their official duties. The state could further strengthen ethics standards by adopting policies including stronger oversight over state economic development programs, ending the use of state money to cover up sexual harassment by officials, and adopting policies in state agencies to limit the connections between officials and businesses that have financial interests connected with an agency’s practices.
Education
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The quality of education is vital to the advancement of people and the future success of our state. I support improving our state’s education system through educational reform and fixing the state’s education financing to ensure that all schools are adequately funded. The state of New York has systemically underfunded many schools in our state, especially in upstate and lower income school districts, and this needs to be fixed. It’s well passed time that the state start taking significant steps to help make a decent education for all.
I support moving our state toward establishing a system where all qualified students have a reasonable opportunity a debt free education at any of the state’s public and private non-profit colleges, universities, and vocational schools. To achieve this, I support expanding the state state’s TAP program in term of the range of eligibility and level of funding, reestablishing the ability of graduate students to receive state assistance, expanding support for part-time students, expanding job training programs, and other such policies.
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State Financial Reform
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I support reforming our state’s finance system to reduce the burden of property taxes and reduce the burden of mandates on local governments, by having the state take more responsibility for financing its own expenses. The state government has driven up property taxes by forcing local governments to finance about 15% of the state’s budget. This has led to the average citizen of New York state paying 2.5 times as much in property taxes than in income taxes. There are people who lose their homes and businesses to the burden of property taxes, while New York City millionaires get to pay less in taxes, due to the effects of state policy. Rather that undertaking serious fiscal reform, politicians in the state government have tried to scapegoat local governments and are working to gut local governments through forced consolidation. I support ending the forced consolidation of local services and allowing localities to voluntarily consolidate or maintain distinct services, based on what the members of the effected communities think is best. By reforming the state financial system and reducing the burden on localities, we can do far more to lower property taxes, and allow local governments to put more of their resources toward things that would benefit their communities.
Economics and State Revitalization
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I support a holistic approach to economic development, which takes into account comprehensive factors and the interests of communities. I also see the need to reform our state’s economic development programs, to root out corruption and toxic business practices which end up damaging the economy and hurting the wellbeing of people. I support revitalizing our state’s infrastructure, promoting the development of sustainable businesses, and working to develop a healthy economy that will help more people to be able to have a decent living within the state.
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