Weekly E-news — Sunday, January 24, 2021

Assemblymember Patricia Fahy
9 min readJan 24, 2021

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This past week we saw the historic inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In New York State, we continue to face setbacks in the rollout of the state’s vaccination program, and I announced introduction of a package of bills I sponsor in a multi-front approach to addressing the threat climate change poses to our economy and ecosystems in the upcoming legislative session.

As always read on for the latest community happenings and events from around the state and 109th District!

NOTE: Please take 3–5 minutes of your time to complete our 2021 Constituent and Budget Priority Survey — your feedback helps inform my legislative work in the State Assembly: bit.ly/109nysurvey

LEGISLATIVE NEWS AND PRESS

  • READ: My 2021 Environmental Agenda and Priorities. 📥 Today, I’m releasing a package of legislation and policy priorities I sponsor to address the immediate threat climate change poses to New York State’s economy and ecosystems. This package acts on a growing need to:
  • 🌲 Preserve and protect open space to bolster climate and disaster resiliency.
  • 🔌 Align with the goals of the #CLCPA to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by creating incentives and goals to electrify our transportation sector.
  • 🏢 Improve the energy efficiency of our building stock.
  • 🗞 View the full press release here: bit.ly/2021ejca

ICYMI: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

NEW: VACCINATE NEW YORK RESOURCES & UPDATES

  • 📲 Capital Region residents and #109AD constituents can utilize this information, updated daily (linked and below), on how to schedule appts. with NYSDOH — New York State Health Department, eligibility, upcoming eligible phases, and more: bit.ly/vaccine109 | ny.gov/vaccine
  • Following constituent concerns our office has received related to the rollout of the state’s vaccination program, we’ve been in regular contact with the Governor’s office, Albany County, and local government agencies and officials to rectify some of the serious issues with accessibility and more. A major obstacle to accelerating the dispersement of vaccinations in New York State is the federal government’s weekly supply of just 300,000 doses, while 7 million New Yorkers are now eligible and awaiting or scheduling their appointments.
  • Another serious obstacle was the Governor’s decision to adopt the CDC guidelines to allow 65-year-olds to be vaccinated. This alone almost doubled the pool of eligible New Yorkers to 7 million and in some cases has put healthcare workers, healthcare patients, developmentally disabled and many more with severely limited access to the vaccines.
  • By this timetable, the New York State Department of Health projects it will take up to 14 weeks (April 2021) to vaccinate all eligible persons in phases 1a and 1b. We will continue to advocate for healthcare workers, at risk patients, those in congregate care such as the developmentally disabled and elderly, and teachers so that we can re-open our schools.
  • ☎️ As always, my office is here to help you navigate this process with any questions and concerns that you may have: (518) 455–4178.

COMMUNITY EVENTS, RESOURCES

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!

If you know someone who might be interested in signing up for our weekly e-newsletter, forward them this e-mail or click and copy and paste the link found here.

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.

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Assemblymember Patricia Fahy

Member of NYS Assembly - 109th AD, representing Albany, Bethlehem, Guilderland, and New Scotland. Follows, replies ≠ endorsement.