My Committee Assignments

Breaking down the committees on which I’ll serve and my priorities as a member

I am so grateful and excited that in my first term in the New York Senate, I have the opportunity to serve as the Chair of the Elections Committee and a member on six other committees. Here, I’ll break down what these committees do and what I hope to accomplish by serving on them.

First, Committees 101

For any bill to become a law, it has to be approved by a committee first. The purpose of Committees is to control the flow of legislation each session by reviewing bills and deciding which should go to the Senate for a full membership vote. When Committees review bills on laws within their jurisdiction, they can either report the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, amend it, or reject it.

Now, onto the breakdown of my committees and priorities.

Elections

I am proud to serve as Chair of the Elections Committee, which handles a wide range of laws that concern our elections, voting rights and procedures, and campaign finance/conduct.

We got off to a running start in this Committee. On January 14, my colleagues and I passed legislation to allow early voting in New York State, along with many other crucial reforms to our voting laws. For more info on the bills we passed, check out the article I wrote that breaks down what’s in the bills and why they matter.

In my view, these reforms were a fundamental step forward to protect and expand our democracy. This is not the end of our voting reform efforts—it is only the beginning.

Judiciary

The Judiciary Committee handles bills relating to judges, jury selection, fines, forfeitures, and many other judiciary matters.

As a firm believer in the need for a better justice system, I see my service on this committee as an opportunity to promote and reform judicial procedure so that our whole justice system is equal, fair, and efficient for every New Yorker who interacts with it.

Social Services

The Social Services Committee handles bills on Social Services Law and New York’s Social Service programs, including welfare, child support; homeless housing and support, and many other related matters.

The importance of social services is deeply personal to me. My mother moved from Costa Rica to Brooklyn 40 years ago on the promise of a mattress in a friend’s apartment and a job at a factory. My father has been a special education teacher for the past 17 years, and is a current member of The United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Serving on this Committee will allow me to fight for working families just like my own by expanding access to affordable housing, increasing education funding, and defend the rights of the diverse communities I serve.

Housing, Construction, Community Development

This committee handles bills on affordable housing, construction, loans, occupancy regulations, homeless housing financing/development, and many other critical matters.

Having grown up in a rent-stabilized apartment, this committee is near and dear to my heart. I believe that housing is a human right and that our crisis-level affordable housing situation demands a crisis-level response. I am committed to protecting and expanding affordable housing and ending the unfair influences that continue to push my constituents out of their homes. I will seek to reform the process of housing development, close the loopholes that allow landlords to push tenants from their homes, and reform processes of building development so that all of my constituents are able to afford and access housing that is clean, comfortable, and safe.

Crime Victims, Crime, and Correction

This Committee handles bills on Criminal Procedure, Penal, and Correction Laws, including criminal liability/criminal defense, standards of proof; warrants/arrest procedure, public safety, community supervision/conditional release/probation, and many other matters.

A wide body of research has made clear that our criminal justice system is broken and disproportionately harms communities of color and the poor. As a member of this Committee, I intend to fight for commonsense reforms such as ending cash bail, passing speedy trial reform, and allowing undocumented immigrants to find opportunity and success without the threat of prosecution.

Codes

The Codes Committee handles bills on Criminal Justice Codes. These can include sentencing codes, classification of criminal conduct, substance abuse criminal and rehabilitation classifications, domestic violence prevention and criminal classification, and many other related matters.

Serving on this Committee is an opportunity for me to help protect the rights of the most vulnerable in our community through more humane and equitable criminal codes. I will support criminal justice reform, women’s health rights, and LGBTQ rights through this committee. Specifically, I intend to reform criminal codes that allow the mass incarceration of communities of color, and codify reproductive health rights in New York.

Consumer Protection

The Consumer Protection Committee handles legislation on cyber security, identity theft, business regulation, and consumer complaint assistance and procedure, among others.

Serving on this Committee is an opportunity for me to move forward legislation that will protect everyday people throughout New York state. I am committed to supporting laws that protect consumers from unfair and criminal business practices, identity theft, and cyber security breaches and to strengthening consumer protection in any way I can.

The work ahead

As you can see, these Committees encompass an enormous range of issues that are immensely important to my District and the entire state. I couldn’t be more grateful for this opportunity to make a positive impact on so many important matters and I look forward to the work ahead.