Weekly E-News: Monday, January 11th

This past Wednesday’s events at the United States Capitol — as well as two stabbings here at the foot of the NYS Capitol — shook and disgusted many of us to the core. I could not be more dismayed and disheartened at what took place. Wednesday night I called to invoke the 25th Amendment and did not do lightly — but it is warranted. I recognize that less than two weeks remain in office for the sitting President, who has helped to desecrate our democratic institutions as well as the Office of the Presidency by inciting riots and mob mentality.

Please read my full statement on Wednesday’s events below.

Meanwhile, in Albany, the Assembly and Senate kicked off the 2021 legislative session on Wednesday and I was sworn in for another term as your elected State Assemblymember. As always read on for the latest community happenings and events.

LEGISLATIVE NEWS AND PRESS: Chaos and Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol

• Full Statement: ⚠️ I’m calling to invoke the 25th Amendment, and I do not make this call lightly — but it is warranted. I, along with many of my fellow New Yorkers, recognize that less than two weeks remain in office for the sitting President, who has helped to desecrate our democratic institutions as well as the Office of the Presidency by inciting riots, and mob mentality. I urge the Vice President and Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment because enough is enough — every time we think we can’t be more shocked or hit a new low under this President, we are faced with yet another constitutional crisis. When we say to ourselves “America is better than this,” we need to act for those words to have meaning.

• 2021 Legislative Session Begins and My Swearing In: ✅ On Wednesday I was sworn in for another term serving as your #109th District Assemblymember as we began this year’s legislative session. Thank you once again for your continued support and I look forward to tackling the host of serious challenges we face as a region and state in the coming weeks and months.

• Vaccinate New York: New York State is rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination program and the Capital Region’s Vaccination Task Force has launched a website to help answer questions about eligibility, vaccination sites, FAQs, and more. View that website here.

COMMUNITY EVENTS AND RESOURCES

• Talking To Your Kids About Violence at the U.S. Capitol: The organization Prevent Child Abuse New York has released resources for parents to use that are helpful in explaining the events that occurred in the past week at the U.S. Capitol.
• COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act Resources: The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York has released resources for tenants, renters, and homeowners to use that are a result of the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act passed by the state legislature shortly before the New Year. You can reach LASNNY at (833) 628–0087 for an intake call. A hardship waiver is available that can help to prevent displacement, you can download these documents by clicking here. Please note: our work is not finished and the bill we passed last month will be followed with new federal assistance of $1.3 billion. We need assistance targeted particularly at small landlords who were not covered in this legislation.
• Paid Sick Leave Law Goes Into Effect: Available Starting This Year: 📣 Beginning this year (effective January 1st, 2021), most workers in #NYS are now able to access and use Paid Sick Leave when needed regardless of part-time status or occupation — I’m proud that New York again leads on this issue nationally and will join the 140+ countries around the globe who already provide some form of paid sick leave to workers.
• COVID-19 Small Business Assistance Program: Applications are now available for the CERT’s Small Business Grant Program on the Community Loan Fund’s website. To be eligible, applicants must: ✅Be a sales-tax-generating for-profit business, with no more than 50 employees and located within Albany County. ✅The business must show that its revenue has decreased by at least 25 percent due to COVID-19; ✅Show how the current COVID-19 economic conditions make the grant request necessary to support the ongoing operations of the business.

PODCAST: The Fahy Files: What Makes the NY Capital Work (Or Not!) — Connecting in a Time of Chaos

To highlight some of the individuals in the Capital Region who exemplify what it means to remain connected within our community and cope with the chaos of the past year, I’ve launched a new series of my podcast The Fahy Files, ‘Connecting in a Time of Chaos’.

Listen to our first 6 (3 of these are featured below) episodes from this year so far on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, or wherever you listen to your podcasts!

ICYMI: 2020 By-The-Numbers in the 109th Assembly District:

• Early this year, it quickly became clear that the need to assist constituents with navigating state and federal resources, relief programs, unemployment insurance, housing services, and more would exponentially grow as our response to the COVID-19 pandemic was adjusted almost daily. Although this is just a snapshot of some of our work this year, I’m proud of the work my office continues to do in our community and for constituents throughout the 109th District as we came together to weather this crisis:

ICYMI: Our Top 10 Highlights from 2020:

1. A New Works Progress Administration. In response to an economic downturn not seen since the depression era, I’ve proposed a bold legislative solution evoking the legacy of FDR. The NY-Works Progress Administration (NY-WPA) would fund projects to benefit the public good in a number of sectors, including the green and creative economies and the food and agriculture sector. Those projects would be staffed by out-of-work New Yorkers, with a focus on areas experiencing high unemployment and training unemployed youth.
2. Bold Proposals to Reduce Income Inequality. As income inequality continues to grow and become, in many ways, one of the defining issues of our age, I’ve championed bold solutions to lift families and young people out of poverty. This year I’ve introduced a bill broadly increasing the value of the Earned Income Tax Credit in New York, expanding eligibility for the credit to many single and unmarried individuals, and allowing for the credit to be paid out to recipients in advance.
3. Lead Advocate for #SaveOurRestaurants. I’ve hosted 3 roundtable forums with Assemblymember John McDonald and with Capital Region restauranteurs and workers hearing their industry’s challenges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, I’ve introduced legislation to limit the fees from third-party delivery services which have taken advantage of the Covid situation and gouging up to 30% of a restaurant bill for delivery services. I also carry a bill pending to allow these cornerstones of our communities to continue to serve cocktails by delivery and to prevent 3rd party delivery services from taking an unfair share of food sales.
4. Champion for Small Businesses and Workers. I was proud to help lead the charge in organizing a number of stakeholders and advocates to urge the governor to re-consider the needs and realities of small businesses — and end the bias toward big box stores — by re-opening gymnasiums, movie theaters, retail and shopping malls. While big box stores remained open and largely avoided the economic downturn this year, our small businesses have disproportionately suffered as a result!
5. Landmark 2020 Greenway Trails Plan Released. Multi-use trails — or Greenways for short — have been observed to have an important economic impact on the communities around them, with the Erie Canalway Trail alone having an estimated impact of $253 million. I sponsored legislation in 2019 to require the State Department of Parks and Recreation develop a comprehensive statewide trails plan, which was signed by Governor Cuomo the same year. New York State Parks has released the draft 2020 Greenways Trail Plan, and participated in a forum with myself and Greenway trail advocates to discuss next steps and capitalize on outdoor tourism.
6. Funding Our Schools. I continue to be an outspoken advocate for increasing K-12 school foundation aid and closing the Gap Elimination Aid (GEA) by supporting several successful multibillion-dollar education increases. This past year, I organized a key press event in the Capital Region to urge re-opening schools and to pushback against proposed cuts to the state education budget, which would have disproportionately impacted higher-need schools.
7. Childcare Champion. I joined State Senators and Assemblymembers from around the state earlier this year for a statewide day of action urging that CARES Act funding earmarked for providers of childcare and similar programs be released as soon as possible. By the end of the week — this funding was released to the providers, ensuring many were able to continue operating and providing a critical service especially amidst a global pandemic.
8. Leader on Toxic Chemical Safety. I proudly sponsored the legislation to ban harmful, carcinogenic PFAS chemicals from food packaging which was signed by the Governor this year. This important step made New York the 3rd state in the nation to enact such a ban and made New York the state with the strongest regulation on PFAS in food packaging. I look forward to ensuring New York leads in this issue-area in the future.
9. Historic Reforms in Policing. In response to the massive demonstrations for justice that resulted from the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer this summer, the New York State legislature acted swiftly to pass one of the most historic criminal justice and police reform packages in state history and the nation. I was proud to support these bills including the repeal of section 50a, which take a step towards rebuilding public trust by allowing police disciplinary record to be accessed by the public.
10. Building Out Clean Energy-Transportation Infrastructure. As a founding member of the Assembly’s Upstate Caucus, I’ve helped secure an unprecedented increase of more than $100 million in Upstate Transit capital funding over four years since 2016, which has led to critically needed expansions in CDTA services. As part of an electric vehicle package of bills I sponsor, I also passed my legislation in 2019 to help electrify New York’s transportation sector by mapping electric vehicle infrastructure and giving condo owners the “right to charge”. I have also proposed a groundbreaking initiative to study the re-engineering of Interstate 787 into a boulevard in order to open access to Albany’s waterfront, and reconnect historically-disadvantaged neighborhoods to our City.

For more on my work in the state legislature, please visit my official Assembly website, Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, or Medium to stay updated in 2021 and beyond! As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with any questions or concerns during this time at fahyp@nyassembly.gov or (518) 455–4178.

Sincerely,