Joe on the Issues

Cutting Property Taxes and Fiscal Responsibility

After the tough, post-9/11 budget, Joe Addabbo has fought to cut our property taxes. He’s passed seven straight balanced budgets. He’s delivered $400 tax rebates for four years in a row. And while others wanted to raise taxes this year, Joe held the line and insisted we cut spending first.

That’s the kind of fiscal discipline he’ll demand from Albany as our State Senator. Among the reforms Joe will fight for in Albany:

  • Creation of a nonpartisan independent budget office.
  • Increased independent oversight of public authority budgets.
  • Improved reporting on legislative budget additions including capital projects and member items.
  • Eliminating the hiring of expensive consultants to do work that could be performed by state workers.

    • Tough on Crime

    The NYPD put their lives on the line for us every day. Joe believes we owe it to them to do everything possible to protect their lives.

  • Fought to get police officers new, state-of-the-art bullet proof vests.
  • Supports common sense gun laws to protect children and help the police
  • As our State Senator, he’ll fight for tough new laws to keep dangerous sex offenders away from our families.

    • Delivering for Education

    Joe Addabbo knows, for parents, nothing is more important than the quality of our schools.

  • Fought to secure $11 million for local schools for technology and classroom improvements and to strengthen security.
  • Fought against cuts to school aid in the city budget and he will fight in the State Senate to get our schools their fair share of state aid.
  • Supports Tuition Assistance Program, and educational opportunity programs that encourage college graduation rates by increasing scholarships and student aid.
  • Supports lowering interest costs on student loans and instituting loan forgiveness programs for students who commit to public service careers in fields where the state faces shortages, like teaching, nursing and firefighting.

    • Expanding Access to Health Care

    As our State Senator, Joe will fight to expand access to health care for all New Yorkers.

  • Supports legislation to increase the income eligibility for the EPIC Program.
  • Supports state legislation to ban insurance companies from implementing costly "tier 4" prescription drug pricing plans.
  • Supports mandating paid medical leave for new moms and those in need.

    • Preserving Affordable Housing

    Joe supports efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing including preserving quality rental properties, expanding homeownership opportunities and assisting constituents facing foreclosure.

    • Helped pass legislation protecting tenants from harassment.
    • Supports strengthening existing rent control and rent stabilization laws.
    • Supports restoring local control over New York City rent regulation policy by repealing the Urstadt law.
    • Supports measures such as inclusionary zoning measures which require new multi-family housing to provide a reasonable percentage of units for lower-income families.

    Getting Results for Seniors

    Joe Addabbo has always believed we owe a special obligation to our seniors—from the veterans who’ve defended us in war to the parents and grandparents who’ve sacrificed to build a better life for all of us. That’s why Joe Addabbo has fought so hard on the City Council to get results for seniors.

  • Secured over $625,000 in funding for local senior centers and golden age groups to support programs and activities.
  • Pushed legislation to help more seniors qualify for home heating assistance, worked to change traffic light timing to make street crossings safer.
  • Fought to make housing more affordable for seniors on fixed incomes by expanding the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption and the Senior Citizen Homeowner’s Exemption.
  • Fought harmful cuts to senior center funding and proposed frozen meal programs.
  • Supports the expansion of the EPIC program so that more seniors can afford prescription drugs they need.

    • Expanding Transportation Options

  • Secured funding to create a new Ferry service from Rockaway into Manhattan after a six year effort with the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Transportation.
  • Worked with the MTA to provide better bus service along the QM15 and QM11.
  • Supports legislation that would help enforce laws that address New York City traffic congestion, such as clogged up intersections and preventing cars from using bus-only lanes.

    • Protecting the Environment

    Joe has worked to make New York a cleaner, more sustainable city

  • Sponsored legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions, creating green buildings requirements, reducing traffic congestion and expanding the City’s recycling programs.
  • As former chair of the City Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee, led the fight to maintain funding for City’s parks and recreation facilities.
  • Secured over $11 million dollars for maintenance and improvements of area parks.
  • Crafted the New York City Adopt-a-Park Law, which allows individuals, community groups, businesses and corporations to help in preserving our parks and supporting recreational programs.
  • Supported Council legislation requiring a recycling program for plastic carryout bags and film plastic.

    • Providing Opportunities to New Americans

  • Co-sponsored legislation expanding language access services to non-English speakers to ensure equal access to health and human services and increasing the number of languages on City brochures and forms.
  • Funded workshops for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, legal services for recent immigrants to assist with applications for citizenship or permanent residency, and legal services for immigrants that focus specifically on wage and hour disputes and other workplace issues.

    • Reforming our State Government

    Joe recognizes that Albany needs reform and will be a leader in efforts to create a more open and democratic process in the State legislature, as well as an electoral process that responds to the wishes of voters rather than well-funded special interests.

  • Supports campaign finance reform and a public financing system.
  • Supports the creation of an independent nonpartisan redistricting commission.
  • Supports restricting contributions from lobbyists and those receiving government contracts and more stringent reporting requirements for financial disclosure for public officials and lobbyists business relationships with lawmakers.
  • Supports legislative rules reform to provide equal resources for all senators and strengthen the committee and bill drafting processes.
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