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Dear Neighbor,
New York’s small businesses and street vendors are battling uncertainty throughout this crisis. Despite calls for comprehensive rent relief and legislation at all levels of government—the voices of our state’s most vulnerable are being ignored.
As you may recall—at the peak of the pandemic back in March, our district was left defenseless against the rampant hunger crisis sweeping across our state. And while the federal government turned a blind eye to our district, it was our neighbors who collectively organized to ensure no one went hungry in our community:
My office initiated an Upstate-Downstate Farm Partnership for 14 weeks throughout the health crisis. As mentioned by TIME Magazine, we partnered with the Northeast Dairy Producers Association to coordinate more than 34,000 pounds of fresh milk, beef, and produce from farms and co-ops across upstate New York to be donated to hundreds of hungry New York City families in need.
We fought against exorbitant fees placed on our local restaurants by the State Liquor Authority. I joined more than 20 state senators in calling on the State Liquor Authority to ease back its enforcement of coronavirus guidelines on New York state restaurants and bars. While punishments vary, businesses found in violation of the state’s COVID-19 regulations face fines up to $10,000 per violation. More serious violations can result in restaurants and bars having their liquor licenses suspended.
We introduced legislation to tax billionaires. I introduced a billionaire mark to market tax at the State Senate to direct revenue from into a worker bailout fund—establishing benefits to traditionally excluded workers to increase wage protection program access and unemployment benefits.
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