A sustainable future is a human right. As capitalism and fealty to corporate profits plunge us deeper into climate crisis, we are fighting to ensure a sustainable future through policies that move us off fossil fuels now and transfer ownership of our energy system to the public.

Hudson Valley Power Authority (HVPA) Act (A2127 | S2026)

Confronted with the lowest-ranked corporate utility in the state, the Hudson Valley is picking up a century-old fight to reclaim energy as a public good. The Hudson Valley Power Authority Act would eliminate the profit motive from energy delivery, and create a model utility owned by the public, operating to serve the best interest of its community. A transition from fossil fuel to renewables is not enough to address the climate crisis—we must also transition from corporate monopolies to democratic and accountable public institutions

Solar for Schools (A2720 | S2632)

Not only are public schools a great equalizer, they also stand to serve as anchor institutions whose healthy facilities can translate into healthy communities. Solar for Schools allocates $500 million to provide complementary funds and technical assistance to select schools that would otherwise not be able to seek federal tax credits to pursue renewable projects. Instead of having to pay costly utility bills and cancel classes when temperatures are too high, we envision schools as model sites of green infrastructure, with the potential to serve as resiliency hubs during extreme weather events. Using gold-standard labor language from the Build Public Renewables Act, Solar for Schools carves a path forward.

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The existing criminal legal system–the police, prosecutors, courts, and New York’s jails and prisons–causes enormous harm to individuals, communities, and the entire social fabric of our state. These institutions claim they act in the interest of public safety, yet no evidence supports their underlying premise that locking human beings in cages for years promotes public safety or provides any benefit to our communities. The criminal legal system has created and implemented racist policies and practices that disproportionately impact people of color and low income communities, all supported by an interconnected web of laws and institutions. These laws must be dismantled by the legislature, and affirmative steps must be taken to end the decades-long trauma caused by the criminal legal system, police brutality, and mass incarceration. We must establish alternative community-based restorative processes and structures to address individual and community accountability and harm. The Socialists in Office support the entire Justice Roadmap, including:

Elder Parole (S2423/A2035)

For too many people in our prison system, a sentence is a de facto death penalty—24% of the NYS prison population is serving life, or near-to-life, sentences. Our prisons also hold 4,704 older adults (those 55+), many of whom are sick and dying. Elder parole would allow individuals aged 55 and older—who have served 15 or more consecutive years—the opportunity to be considered for parole and return to their communities.

Fair & Timely Parole (S307/A162)

New York has the second highest rate of parole-eligible individuals in the country; these individuals languish behind bars, subject to a slow, racially biased and impersonal parole system. We must make our parole system fairer to these thousands of people. Fair & Timely Parole would instruct the Parole Board to evaluate those who are already eligible for parole on the basis of who they are today, including their personal transformation and current risk of violating the law.

Treatment Not Jail (S1976A/A1263)

To end mass incarceration, investing in care will be a vital solution, and Treatment Not Jail does just that. After decades of disinvestment, violent policing, and mass incarceration, working class communities across New York are suffering. In particular, this crisis has hurt those with functional impairments: intellectual disabilities, mental health issues, and substance abuse issues. Without adequate care, those suffering from functional impairments are often sent into jails and prisons where they are exposed to further trauma, and where their issues frequently go untreated. Treatment Not Jail will dramatically expand access to diversion courts; give individuals accused of crimes the right to be evaluated by a certified mental health professional for eligibility for drug court or mental treatment court; and improve the services offered and the dignity provided by the diversion court system.

End Predatory Court Fees Act (S313/A4183)

Daily, we arrest and cage people and/or enter damaging civil money judgments against them because they cannot pay mandatory court fees and surcharges in traffic or criminal cases. This is a system of taxation predominantly levied on Black and brown communities and those who cannot afford to pay such fines. These fees and surcharges were created by the legislature solely to raise money for the state budget and to do so in the most regressive manner possible. The End Predatory Court Fees Act would abolish court, parole, and probation fees, as well as mandatory minimum fines, wipe out all civil judgments or arrest warrants based on these fees, and end these practices of police-as-revenue generators and tax collectors.

Stop Violence in the Sex Trades (S4396/A8605)

Policing and prosecuting sex work does not keep our communities safe. Criminalization forces sex workers—who are disproportionately LGBTQ+, immigrants, and people of color—to work in the shadows and avoid legal remedies to violence and labor violations. The Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act would permit consenting adults to trade sex while upholding protections against human trafficking, rape, and the exploitation of minors.

Daniel’s Law (S2398/A2210)

Daniel Prude was killed by Rochester police while experiencing an acute mental health crisis – they held him face down on the pavement. Daniel’s Law ensures mental health professionals are the first responders to mental health crises – not the police. As we work towards building community safety through positive investments such as healthcare, housing and good jobs, we must transform our response system to people experiencing mental health crises. By providing 24/7 crisis response units comprised of trained mental health workers, EMTs and peers (people with lived experience), Daniel’s Law will actually foster safety for those experiencing crisis, bystanders and the broader community.

State Commission of Correction Reform Act (S5877/A5709)

The State Commission of Correction is supposed to be a full-time, vigorous independent watchdog ensuring that New York’s sprawling correctional system is humane and law-abiding. While we seek to abolish the current racist system of incarceration, we must guarantee that so long as a jail or prison exists in New York, it meets or exceeds acceptable standards and safeguards the constitutional rights of every person in its custody. The State Commission of Correction has failed in its role and must be substantially reformed to accomplish this task. This legislation would expand the membership of the SCOC, distribute appointments among the legislature and the Correctional Association of New York, and require that commissioners are formerly incarcerated or have backgrounds in public health, indigent defense, and other fields useful to reform New York’s prisons and jails.

Rights Behind Bars (S7772/A8364)

Protects the rights of people in prisons, jails and forensic facilities; limits the use of segregated confinement; ensures access to tablets and visitation. This bill aims to accomplish two goals: (1) to clearly place the rights of incarcerated people and their families in New York within the framework and protections of international human rights law and norms, and (2) to correct, clarify, and establish certain specific protections relating to how incarcerated individuals and their families are treated within New York's prisons, jails, and secure forensic facilities, including relating to visitation, use of segregated confinement, due process rights, packages, and other matters.

A society that trammels workers and their right to the fruits of their labor depends on excluding the working class as much as possible from democratic participation and access to power. Corruption of the political process by the wealthy also depends on a scarcity of transparent and accurate information about government and the economy. We support legislation that will deepen democracy and transparency in New York in order to ensure that the political demands of the working class are always represented and New York’s government is free from corrupting influences.

Voting Rights for Incarcerated People (S316/A412)

Disenfranchisement of people because they have felony convictions or are incarcerated is an ugly and stark vestige of chattel slavery and Jim Crow in this country. In New York, one obstacle to eliminating this racist denial of full human rights is enshrined in the New York Constitution. Enactment of this bill would lead to a state-wide referendum to amend the New York Constitution to eliminate these provisions which would pave the way to full enfranchisement.

Public Authority Confirmation Process (S7655/A8022)

This bill closes a loophole that was recently exploited to confirm NYPA CEO Justin Driscoll after significant opposition from the #DumpDriscoll campaign led to him not being approved by the Senate, and it’s the only known time of the loophole being used. If this bill had been law last year, Driscoll would be out at NYPA. It restores the Senate's advice and consent power regarding nominations of chief executive officers of the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and three other authorities.

Legislative Oversight of Automated Decision-Making in Government (LOADinG) Act (S7543A)

AI algorithms may be a black box, but our government should be transparent. Untested, emerging technologies should not be allowed to usurp the human-led decision-making process when it comes to crucial government functions like deciding who receives public benefits. This bill will require agencies to disclose the generative AI and ADS tools they are using, manadates periodic assessments of AI tools for bias and accuracy, and requires legislative oversight before agencies adopt new tools.

We cannot fund all the comprehensive social programs needed in a compassionate state without increasing the size of the state budget. We must increase taxes on the wealthy and promote the equal distribution of wealth, ownership, and control in order to bring about true democracy: economic democracy.

Public Banking (S1754/A3352)

In contrast with much of the world (and North Dakota), our banking system in New York is entirely privatized. That means that New Yorkers place billions of dollars into private banks that routinely exploit and extract wealth from low-income communities and neighborhoods of color. Money that is earned by the working class is repurposed as finance capital that chases after the greatest profits it can find, regardless of the social costs. However, here in New York, we have an alternative: we can establish— as S1754/A3352 does— a system of public banks that democratizes credit, directs New Yorkers’ money toward socially valuable projects, and ensures that working people have meaningful oversight over how their money is used.

Consumer Utility Protections During Investigations (CUPDI) Act (S6803/A7537)

Investor-owned utilities often take advantage of New Yorkers because they provide a monopoly service and they can. At the very least, when the Public Service Commission (PSC) investigates a utility for a major issue, customers should be protected from terminations and late fees. For almost two years, the PSC has been investigating Central Hudson for massive billing system failures, and the responsibility should not be on customers to pay what the utility claims is owed and then try to recoup what they overpaid later. There have been many instances in which an incorrect bill for thousands of dollars was ultimately corrected.

Progressive Income Tax (S2059/A3115)

In 1972, the state tax code included fourteen tax brackets. In subsequent years, Republicans eliminated the brackets for the wealthiest and narrowed the range of taxes to benefit the wealthy. In 2021, socialists in office fought and raised the PIT for those making over $1 million a year, and added progressive tax brackets at $1M, $5M, and $25M. Today, they’re fighting to restructure the income tax code to create more progressive tax brackets and raise revenue from the top 5% wealthiest New Yorkers.

Capital Gains Tax (S2162/A2576)

Most New Yorkers pay taxes on their wage income with every paycheck. But the very wealthy make much of their money from buying and selling investments, or “capital gains,” not wages. Federal tax law provides a large tax break for capital gains, which means that feckless billionaires like Elon Musk pay less tax than you do. The wealthy should be taxed on their capital gains just as if it were personal income. This bill adds an additional tax on the investment income of only the top 1.3% of tax filers. About 99% of filers would see zero change in their tax rates.

Heir’s Tax (S2782/A3193)

The rich remain rich because they inherit enormous amounts of wealth, often completely untaxed. Intergenerational wealth accumulation is one of the main sources of long-term inequality and must therefore be directly addressed by the tax law. New York currently has an estate tax, which imposes a tax on the total assets of a deceased person; however, the current estate tax rate is very low, ranging from 5% to 16%, and it only applies to estates worth more than $5.85 million (this is one of the highest estate tax exemptions in the country). This bill would overhaul our inheritance taxes with an Heirs Tax that properly treats inheritances and gifts as taxable income.

Corporate Tax (S1980/A3690)

In 2017, Republicans cut the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Many businesses, such as LLCs and partnerships, don’t pay corporate tax at all. In 2021, due to our advocacy, New York State added a new corporate tax bracket for businesses making over $5 million a year, raising their tax rate from 6.5% to 7.25%. We must ensure this tax is made permanent and expanded to close tax loopholes and ensure the wealthiest corporations pay what they owe.

Mark-to-Market Billionaires’ Tax (S1570/A3252)

The wealthiest New Yorkers pay almost no tax on their vast accumulations of wealth because they almost never sell their assets. Billionaires use these assets to derive huge amounts of cash through loans and other instruments, and then pass on their wealth to their heirs while avoiding taxes. The mark-to-market income tax creates a yearly tax on the annual increase in value of a billionaire’s total wealth. This would require billionaires to pay tax on their real economic income (their total gain in wealth).

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Repealing Egregious Property Accumulation & Invest it Right (REPAIR) Act (S7797 & S7798/A8478 & A8479)

Private universities benefit from charitable status under New York State law and thus do not pay real property taxes like other private landholders. While benefiting from this status, private universities have increasingly accumulated properties and depleted the state's tax base of critical revenue. In New York City alone, private universities receive cumulative exemptions costing $659 million, with Columbia University and New York University accounting for almost half of this at $321 million. By accumulating properties and evading property taxes, these institutions amass more wealth while shrinking the collective revenue pot that funds municipal services-services they also rely on, including Sanitation, the Fire Department and more. Meanwhile, CUNY schools are crumbling and perpetually underfunded, despite serving predominantly working class New Yorkers of color. As our city slashes essential services and CUNY faces cuts, we can’t continue to give private university landlords a free pass on their responsibilities to our city. A8478 and A8479 repeal these exemptions and bring desperately needed funding to CUNY. Read more here.

Past generations fought for—and won—free education for all children in public schools because they recognized that education is a basic right that cannot be left to market forces or reserved solely to those who can afford it. Today, that same struggle continues for early childhood education through higher education.

New Deal for CUNY (S2146/A4425)

The imposition of tuition at CUNY during the fiscal crisis of the 1970s was a direct assault on one of New York’s most important working class institutions. The last five decades of tuition increases and cuts are a prime example of how institutionalized racism and austerity hurt working New Yorkers. The New Deal for CUNY would eliminate undergraduate tuition, rebuild CUNY’s crumbling facilities, end the system of adjunct exploitation, and hire much-needed mental health and advising staff. Passing the New Deal for CUNY and eliminating tuition for undergraduates would cost $1.7 billion, less than 1% of the state operating budget.

Free SUNY (A8080)

New York State continues to devalue public education, continually reducing investment in the SUNY system and–in the governor’s latest budget–proposing a 3% tuition increase for all SUNY and CUNY students. Our state schools should by definition be welcoming and accessible to all New Yorkers, not a select privilege for the most resourced among us. Free SUNY corrects for the state university’s emulation of tuition overinflation across the country by making it free–a justified and compassionate investment by the state in its citizens.

Stop the Shock (S900/A1166)

Rather than funding safe and adequate supports for children with disabilities, New York State spends tens of millions of dollars every year sending children to an out-of-state institution that uses electro-shock behavior modification techniques that the United Nations has described as torture. Passing the “Stop the Shock” legislation will end this state subsidy, and allow New York to devote those resources towards providing better support here in the state.

Ending Charter School Expansion (S2974/A6561, S2137/A5672, and S1395/A4502).

Our public education system is at risk of being privatized, and transformed into a for-profit system. Wealthy individuals have spent years promoting privatized “charter schools,” and making strategic campaign donations to try to accelerate this troubling trend. Even as New York is finally starting to provide the funding for public schools (“Foundation Aid”) that it illegally withheld for years, charter schools are chipping away at that funding, and attempting to expand. It is our obligation as socialists to protect public institutions, like our public schools, and guard against any attempts at privatization. Here in New York, we can pass legislation to stop using public funds to subsidize charter schools’ facility space (S2137/A5672), stop the SUNY trustees from rubber-stamping charter school expansions (S1395/A4502), and close the “grade expansion loophole” for charter schools (AS2974).

Universal Child Care (S3245/A4815)

New York’s child care infrastructure is in crisis. Many parents have no access to affordable or quality care, and many child care providers earn below the minimum wage. Decades of treating and funding child care as a private service rather than vital public infrastructure have left the system on the verge of collapse. Although some piecemeal approaches and temporary solutions have kept New York’s child care system on life support, many child care centers have already been forced to close, and parents are struggling to access the child care they need. Today, remaining child care availability is largely due to a dramatically underpaid workforce overwhelmingly made up of women—especially Black women and women of color—who are paid wages that leave the majority in or near poverty. This legislation would expand New York State’s capacity over a period of four years and create a system where child care is truly universal and free at the point of service—just like our public school system—and where early childhood educators are paid adequate wages that are at parity with that of public school teachers.

The War on Drugs is a war on people, and is America’s longest running and most expensive war. It has failed in its purported goal of creating a “drug-free” world, and instead has created more dangerous conditions, especially for vulnerable New Yorkers. The U.S. saw a record 100,000 overdose deaths in 2021, and the rate is increasing each year. The criminalization of drugs creates the conditions for a poison drug supply, and diverts resources away from proven harm-reduction strategies that can save lives. The drug war is also the main fuel behind our mass incarceration and over-policing crisis, with drug possession as the most-arrested offense in the U.S. and Black people disproportionately targeted. Our socialist vision for ending the drug war rejects all carceral approaches, is rooted in compassion, and respects the autonomy and dignity of people who use drugs. Most immediately, in New York State we support:

All Drug Decriminalization (S2340/A3434)

Decriminalizes all low-level drug possession and expunges past misdemeanor drug convictions—similar to the landmark legislation passed in Oregon in 2021.

Buprenorphine Decriminalization (S699A/A4013A)

Decriminalizes buprenorphine, a lifesaving treatment for opioid use disorder.

Repeal Mandatory Minimum Sentencing (S6471/A2036)

Mandatory minimum sentencing is a key mechanism of mass incarceration, especially when held over the head of a defendant as a threat to encourage them to take a plea deal (in New York State, 98% of convictions are the result of plea deals).

Safer Consumption Services Act (S399/A338A)

This bill would authorize Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs) state-wide. New York City is currently home to the only two sanctioned OPCs in the United States, despite the model being proven and effective at over 100 sites, in 60+ countries over the past 30 years. New York City’s OPCs have intervened to reduce 700 overdoses in their first year of operation, in addition to providing wrap-around services like HIV and Hep-C testing and treatment, counseling, hot meals, and syringe clean-up in the surrounding community. Passing this bill is necessary to get this life-saving care to neighborhoods and communities across New York State.

Healthcare is a basic human right. Today, our health system produces enormous inequality in the quality of care afforded to people: some are able to access high-quality, life-prolonging treatment or advanced techniques to ensure comfort even during illness, while others experience debt and expenses so prohibitive that basic preventative care is all but impossible to receive. In communities where industry was previously dominant, healthcare jobs remain some of the most well paid work available, particularly among women of color. Our health system should promote dignity for workers and care recipients alike, and should be a centerpiece of our vision for an economy that runs for the many—not the few.

New York Health Act (S7590/A7897)

We believe in a society where healthcare is provided to all and treated as a human right, rather than treated as a commodity. This legislation, which was first introduced thirty years ago, would establish a single-payer health care system within the State of New York. Moreover, it has the votes to pass—at least on paper. It will take a big push this year to pass this legislation over the objections of the insurance industry, however.

Fair Pay for Home Care (S3189/A8821)

For many of our seniors, especially working class seniors, options for quality long term care are extremely limited. Nursing homes and Adult Care Facilities can offer care that verges on abuse, and the experience of residential treatment for the elderly can often produce feelings of loneliness and pain. In the wake of the myriad nursing home deaths in 2020, New York needs to invest in expanding access to home care and ensure that seniors who are able can remain in their homes and communities well into their lives. Fair Pay for Home Care guarantees dignity for patients and workers by raising the minimum wage of home care, which will boost the availability of home care services while also improving the lives of those predominantly women of color working in the field who dedicate their lives to care for our elderly.

Repeal the Global Medicaid Cap (S4861/A7786)

For more than a decade, NYS Executive policy of capping increases in Medicaid spending has starved working class and poor New Yorkers of the quality care they deserve. New Yorkers deserve a well-funded state health program that ensures quality care for all, regardless of ability to pay. Removing this arbitrary spending limit will ensure better quality care for those who work and will pave the way to expanding Medicaid to broader segments of the population: vital for attacking the unaffordability of healthcare for middle income families.

Home Care Savings & Reinvestment Act (S7800/A8470)

This act would cut managed long term care companies out of the provision of home care, returning home care management directly to the State. It will generate ~$3 billion in savings annually, which could be used to pay for growing home care needs, improve service quality, and ensure continuity of care by funding higher wages for home care workers to help resolve New York’s worst-in-the-nation home care worker shortage.

Indigent Care Pool Reform (S1366/A6027)

Since 1983, New York has had a fund dedicated to ensuring that safety-net hospitals, which serve a large portion of poor New Yorkers, are able to continue to function. Unfortunately, this fund has poured money into hospitals that do not serve poor communities over the past few years, effectively starving hospitals in working class communities of vital funding. This bill will change the funding distribution by increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for safety net and qualified safety net hospitals, committing funding to critical access hospitals and sole community hospitals, and growing existing programs for financially distressed hospitals.

Ending Mandatory 24-hour Shifts for Home Care (S6561/A6899)

New York is currently experiencing a massive shortage in the availability of long term care, harming both our seniors and the workers who provide those services. In some cases, the hours required of home care workers serving the poorest communities can be outright abusive, demanding significant unpaid work. This legislation would overturn this egregious reality, requiring 24-hour care cases be staffed in two twelve-hour shifts, and further protecting workers against employer retaliation. As our state faces a growing population in need of long term care, this bill will ensure fair compensation for home care workers, better care for home care recipients, and a robust place for home care in our economy.

Coverage for All (S2237/A3020)

Today, 154,000 New Yorkers are uninsured because of their immigration status. Federal programs like Medicaid currently exclude undocumented immigrants. As a result, many delay care or avoid it altogether. Coverage for All would create a state-funded Essential Plan for all New Yorkers making up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, irrespective of immigration status. It would cost the State over $345 million annually.

Set Limits on For-Profit Nursing Homes (S2929/A7186)

Forty-two percent of long-term care recipients in New York State receive their care in nursing homes, two-thirds of which are for-profit. New York’s COVID-19 response revealed widespread corruption in the management of New York’s for-profit nursing homes when thousands of elderly New Yorkers died after Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed patients into for-profit nursing homes. The State must now act to limit for-profit nursing homes; this legislation directs the Public Health and Health Planning Council to deny the construction or expansion of any for-profit nursing homes.

End Insulin Co-Pays (S504/A4141A)

New York, like the rest of the country, has experienced a diabetes epidemic and the average price of insulin has skyrocketed in recent years, with some insulins tripling in price over a decade. Too often, people with diabetes are struggling to afford the insulin their doctor has prescribed and as a result are forced to skip doses, threatening their health and their life. This bill would eliminate copays on insulin prescriptions entirely, making insulin accessible to all who need it, regardless of ability to pay and moving us one small step toward a healthcare system that is based on need rather than profit.

Lower the Cost of Prescription Medicine (S398/A9086)

Drugs cost way more than they need to in the United States - over three times more on average for brand drugs. This bill creates a pilot program to set an upper limit on how much the most expensive drugs can cost based on how much they cost in Canada. Given how broken the healthcare sector is, it can be hard to know where to start, but setting prices is an important step to take power and profits away from the private sector.

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We believe that all New Yorkers should have a safe, stable, and affordable place to live. In order for this to happen, the power of the real estate industry must be reduced, and tenants must be empowered to organize for improved conditions and resident control. This requires investments in public and supportive housing, funding for rental assistance, and key tenant protections.

Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants (REST) Act (A4877 | S4659)

The housing crisis is a statewide phenomenon, and tenants across the state need the protection of rent stabilization. The REST Act empowers local governments outside of New York City to keep their communities stable by making it easier to declare a housing emergency and opt into rent stabilization. Specifically, the bill  removes the burden of costly and arbitrary vacancy studies, brings buildings constructed 15 years ago into rent stabilization on a rolling basis, and gives municipalities the option to adjust the size of buildings that are covered.

Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act(S221/A3353)

Tenants should have the first right and opportunity to purchase their homes if their buildings come up for sale. TOPA would allow tenants to form a tenant association to bid on a building and democratically run it as a co-operative, limiting displacement and speculation. Versions of TOPA have existed in multiple states and cities for many years now. In DC, where it has been law since 1980, it has been shown that TOPA preserved a large amount of affordable housing for significantly less than building new units.

Housing Access Voucher Program(S568A/A4021)

With over 78,000 homeless people in the state, it is urgent that we invest in rental assistance that will allow homeless people to have stable housing. Stable housing costs less than shelter and leads to better health, economic, and educational outcomes. The Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) would be a statewide rental subsidy for families and individuals that are homeless or at-risk of eviction. Undocumented people, those without income, and those with felony convictions would all be eligible for this program. We need to include $250M/year for five years starting with this year’s FY24 budget for these critical vouchers.

Statewide Right to Counsel(S2721/A1493)

This bill would establish a right for all tenants across the state to free legal representation in eviction court cases. As of right now, many low-income tenants do not have access to representation, creating a power imbalance skewed towards the landlord. This leads to higher rates of evictions and the negative outcomes associated with them. Given the success of Right to Counsel in NYC and other localities, Statewide Right to Counsel is a priority. Funding for this program, which is estimated to be $500 million, must be included in the budget.

Banning Brokers Fees(S2783/A4781)

When the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) passed, it included language that prohibited landlords from pushing the cost of brokers’ fees onto prospective tenants. However, this was struck down by a state judge for supposedly not clearly prohibiting the practice. Even for some of the lowest priced neighborhoods in New York, a fifteen percent brokers fee, combined with first month’s rent and security deposit, means that tenants must often have at least $7,000 on hand just to move into an apartment. This translates to 16% of a low-income family’s annual income, and is an amount that is absolutely out of reach for the unhoused.

Billions in funding for NYCHA

NYCHA public housing stands as the only major stock of decommodified and deeply affordable housing in New York City, yet it has fallen into deep disrepair with residents experiencing deplorable conditions. The State must re-assume financial responsibility for NYCHA committing billions in capital funds and operating funds to remedy decades of disinvestment.

Repealing Tax Breaks for Real Estate Developers

New York State has offered and currently offers multiple tax breaks to real estate developers. Through these programs, developers promise to provide affordable housing in exchange for low or no property taxes. Two such programs are 421-a and J-51. In reality, these programs create little to no truly affordable housing and act as a giveaway to luxury developers. Although 421-a was rightfully allowed to expire in 2022, there is a potential for its reappearance under a different name each year, and J-51 continues to exist. We reject any form of these programs, and they must be repealed.

Shelter Wi-fi (S4516A/A05649A)

High-speed internet access is as essential to participation in our modern society as electricity was in the 1930s. For our most vulnerable New Yorkers to be cut off from a basic need just because they are in temporary housing is unconscionable. Without a high-speed connection, those in temporary housing cannot access jobs, housing, healthcare records, banking services, or other essential goods and services. Without this access, short stays become long stays and temporary economic distress becomes a permanent lack of housing. Families are separated, survivors are made more vulnerable, and those who would otherwise have found their way out of a vicious cycle of poverty and insecurity are trapped. More than 200 temporary housing facilities across New York State serve a wide-range of New Yorkers—including families with children, domestic violence survivors, LGBTQIA+ youth, veterans and asylum seekers. Without internet access, these residents have few options to access permanent housing or employment resources.

All people deserve an equal, dignified existence and the ability to live free of the harassment of state authorities—regardless of their immigration status. Centuries of capitalism and imperialism, and their continuance today, have created a global system of unequal development which manifests in social, political, and economic instability. Climate change caused by capitalist industry is destroying ecosystems and ways of life worldwide. Those who come to the United States are refugees from the brutal conditions that are in large part the consequence of our country’s policies. We are fighting for legislation that expands rights and protections to all, regardless of when they migrate, to end the stratification of workers on the basis of citizenship status. The Socialists in Office support the entire Justice Roadmap, including:

Dignity Not Detention (S306/A4354)

Immigration detention is inhumane and deadly, undermines public safety, and harms not only the individuals detained but also their communities. Allowing New York institutions to contract with ICE fuels a larger deportation machine, which separates people from their loved ones and forces them into cages. Dignity Not Detention would end New York's collaboration with ICE detention, reuniting families and enabling individuals targeted by the deportation machine to fight their cases from home, with the support of their communities.

New York for All (S987/A5686)

New York agencies and officials should not obtain or disclose information relating to a person’s immigration status. It is not the job of New York’s police, courts, jails, prisons, or other state or local agencies to assist the federal government in immigration enforcement. New York for All would ensure that all of our neighbors are safe and won’t have ICE called on them by local or state officials.

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Over the course of the pandemic, the vast majority of workers who make our state run have been repeatedly told they were “essential.” Yet these same workers still lack a number of fundamental rights and basic protections at work. Even though it is the labor of working people that allows our state to function, the billionaire class has exerted so much power over elected officials that these workers' needs go ignored and unmet. The Socialists in Office support legislation that will shift power from the few to the many, and that will empower working people both on and off the clock.

Universal Right to Strike (S903/A906)

Workers not covered by the National Labor Relations Act, with some exceptions, are prohibited by law from striking in New York. In particular, public sector workers such as teachers, transit workers, and sanitation workers face steep penalties for any type of labor action under the Taylor Law. Workers cannot build power unless they can use the most fundamental tool at their disposal: the ability to withhold their labor in protest. This bill proposes enshrining the right to strike in the New York state constitution – for all workers.

One Fair Wage Act (S5567/A1710)

Under current law, bosses can pay food service workers a much lower minimum wage and expect workers to make up the difference through tips. Forcing workers to rely on gratuities leads to discrimination, abuse, and harassment. Tipping as a practice has been rejected in many other industrialized nations. Workers in Washington, D.C. have recently led successful efforts to phase out the tipped minimum wage, despite resistance from the restaurant industry and political establishment. This bill would similarly phase out the tipped minimum wage in New York, bringing food service workers to $15/hour in the next five years.

The Temperature Extreme Mitigation (TEMP) Act (S1604A/A3321A)

Workers in logistics, agriculture, construction, and other industries have long suffered from dangerous heat and cold. Climate change will only make these extreme weather events worse. We have already seen workers fall seriously ill and even die on the job due to heat waves and freezing temperatures. It’s time to make the bosses pay to keep workers safe. This bill would require that bosses provide certain safety measures, such as rest, water, shade, temperature control, and first aid when workplace temperatures go beyond certain thresholds.

Constitutional Amendment to Abolish Prison Slavery (S225/A3412) & Labor Rights for Incarcerated Workers (S6747/A7452)

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned slavery over 150 years ago, but with a major exception – prison slavery. New York has continued to exploit incarcerated workers, for example by paying such workers pennies to manufacture hand sanitizer during the pandemic. This is an abomination. These bills would (1) amend the state constitution to prohibit forced labor in state and local carceral facilities, and (2) ensure rights such as fair wages for incarcerated people who work voluntarily.

EMPIRE Worker Protection Act (S541/A1893)

When workers want to sue their bosses in court, they can generally sue only for harms that they suffered themselves, and with right wing courts taking away workers’ rights to bring class actions, it has become more difficult to hold bosses accountable for widespread labor law violations. This bill would add another weapon to workers’ legal arsenals – the private right to bring whistleblower lawsuits on behalf of the state, and to collect a portion of the civil penalties and fees the state would have otherwise collected from bosses.

Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council Act (S1800/A378)

The nail salon industry is notoriously abusive and exploitative, and bosses are abetted by the fact that nail salon workers are predominantly immigrant women. In addition to the usual issues of wage theft and precarity, these workers are also exposed to dangerous and harsh chemicals over long periods of time. This bill would empower workers by establishing a council made up of worker and employer representatives to investigate and recommend regulations for the industry.

SWEAT Act (S1977/A46)

As we have seen with Amazon and Starbucks’ blatant refusals to obey the mandates of federal labor law, getting a court order or judgment against a boss is often only the first step in getting relief for workers. And that is if a worker is lucky enough to even get a final judgment after years of litigation. This bill would give workers a lien on their bosses’ property based on a wage theft claim – thus making sure that workers, once they prevail on their claims, will indeed get paid.

Unemployment Bridge Program (S3192/A4821)

The unemployment insurance system currently excludes huge swaths of the working class – immigrants without work authorization, “independent contractors,” self-employed people, and workers trying to re-enter the labor force after a period of incarceration, to name a few. This bill would set up a permanent unemployment insurance fund to expand coverage to these excluded workers.

Mandatory Paid Vacation (S8219/A8354)

Workers face an immense amount of alienation in today's society. This negatively impacts workers' health, social lives, and even their quality of work caused by burnout. Many workers only get 1-2 weeks of paid vacation, which employers can dictate when it’s used, while others get none at all. This bill would mandate that all full-time employees, after one year of employment, get two weeks of paid vacation; after three years of employment, three weeks; and after five years of employment, four weeks of paid vacation, none of which an employer can dictate when it is used.

The Wage Theft Attachment Act (S7539/A7752)

This bill would create a right for victims of wage theft to hold the ten members with the largest ownership interests in a non-publicly traded company personally liable for wage theft. Wage theft directly serves business owners, and providing workers with the power to hold those who benefit accountable will promote class consciousness.

Paid Medical Leave Reform (S2821B/A4053A)

We must align Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) benefits with Paid Family Leave by providing employment and insurance protections and raising the weekly benefit. Updating TDI will empower vulnerable communities, including women, birthing people, people of color, those who struggle with substance use, those with diseases that require attention to prolong life, and veterans.

Reduce unemployment benefits waiting time for striking workers (S4402/A1443)

2023 saw more than half a million workers go on strike nationwide. Currently, in New York, workers going on strike have to wait two weeks to be eligible to receive Unemployment Insurance Benefits. This waiting period gives employers an upper hand in class struggle by forcing unions to drain strike funds to support members and can deter workers from going on strike at all. By lowering the waiting period to one week, this bill will empower workers to strike and help level the unequal power dynamics between capitalists and workers.

Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act (S5081B/A3309A)

Warehouses are notoriously dangerous for workers, with workers suffering high rates of musculoskeletal injuries due to the rapid, repetitive, and strenuous nature of their jobs. This bill would require warehouse workplaces to be evaluated in consultation with a qualified ergonomist, and for employers to implement plans to minimize risk factors such as pace and break times.

Gratuities received by third-party food delivery workers (Bill numbers forthcoming)

Third-party food delivery services have made gratuity payment more difficult in response to recent New York City minimum wage reforms. While it is illegal for third-party food delivery services to block payment of gratuities to workers, some have altered their platforms’ gratuity payment procedures so as to occur after the order has been assigned to a delivery worker. This drastically undercuts both the total amount of gratuities paid and the workers’ agency in choosing the most lucrative recent orders in the local area. This legislation establishes that third-party food delivery services shall provide an option to include gratuity payments at the same point of the ordering process when the underlying order is placed, and sets terms for penalties for violations of this section and enforcement thereof. By removing capitalist class control over the gratuity payment process, this bill aims to provide relief to many working-class food delivery drivers - many of whom are undocumented - from the retaliatory actions placed by the industry in response to the worker's recent minimum wage win in New York City. This bill guarantees humane wages are earned and kept by a sector of workers who have been marginalized and unprotected.

Get Involved

New York's family policing system functioned as a system of surveilling, harassing, and breaking apart Black and indigenous families, rather than providing genuine assistance. These agencies routinely violate the rights of the families they are ostensibly meant to protect, coercing their way into families homes and treating symptoms of poverty as cause for harassment. However, even as attention to police abuse has come to light in recent years, the abuses of family policing agencies ("child protective services") has not received as much public attention. Our Socialists In Office support legislation that will protect families against agency overreach, remove systems that are used to harass Black and brown families, and focus instead on programs that are designed towards equitably and humanely caring for children, meeting families’ needs, and keeping families safe.

Parental Bill of Rights (S901/A1980)

The problem of family separation is not just a relic of the Trump administration, but is something that New York State practices on a daily basis. New York has a longstanding and deeply troubling history of over-policing Black and Brown families, through invasive child protective services (CPS) agencies. Our family policing system has been established to intrude into the homes and lives of families, to judge parents for "neglect" based on perceived symptoms of poverty, and then to legally separate those families. Rather than acknowledging the failings of racial capitalism and providing genuine assistance to families, Black parents are pathologized and torn apart. All of this is deeply traumatic, and has evolved through decades and centuries of explicitly racist policies. The investigations themselves are often fraught with flagrant violations of parents' legal rights, with CPS agents regularly lying to families about their legal rights, coercing their way into a family's home, and unnecessarily strip searching children. This legislation would simply require that CPS agents read parents their already-existing legal rights—just like the police are required to do after the Miranda decision—when an investigation is commenced, so that their already-existing legal rights might be respected.

Confidential Reporting under Child Protective Services (S902/A2479)

One of the underlying reasons why New York's family policing system is so invasive is because of a system of "anonymous reporting" to the Statewide Central Register (SCR). Anyone can report anyone else to the family policing authorities of the state, who will then commence a traumatic and invasive investigation. This system of anonymous reporting has been historically abused, with obvious racial disparities in who gets flagged for involvement with the family policing system. The overwhelming majority of these "anonymous reports" (more than 96%) are ultimately found to be baseless, but nonetheless involve Black and Brown families with heavy-handed and aggressive state authorities. This legislation would simply require that SCR reports be made confidentially, rather than anonymously, so that the current system does not serve as a vehicle for abuse and harassment.

With the monumental overturning of Roe vs. Wade on the national level, it is clear — now more than ever — that state-level protections securing reproductive healthcare and accessibility are essential. New York State has been a key leader on reproductive rights, and a model for the rest of the nation. In 2019, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nine percent – or 7,000 – of the abortion procedures performed in New York were for people from out of state. New York clinics will experience post-Roe pressure as New York becomes a destination state for abortion access. We cannot let extremists politicize abortion care. The Socialists in Office believe in a woman’s right to an abortion without any stigma or apology, as well as the development of robust services and programming networks to further codify reproductive healthcare protections.

Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program (S348C/A361B)

This bill establishes a funding mechanism through the NYS Department of Health to provide grants to abortion providers and abortion funds, the organizations that make the right to care a reality for people seeking abortions. The program would provide funding for uncompensated abortion care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay for care or their insurance status. Finally, the program seeks to address the abortion care needs of individuals from outside of New York by awarding grant funds to non-profit organizations that provide support to individuals that travel to New York. To protect the privacy of the individuals seeking care, the legislation prohibits the state from tracking the personal information of patients. This funding would allow abortion providers and non-profit organizations to grow capacity and meet present and future care needs.

Get Involved

Transportation is a high priority need for all people. Just as we fund libraries and schools, we must fund transit – a public good that creates access to opportunities in life.

Transit, like sewers, roads and bridges, also requires large investments. Adequate transit funding is crucial to the functioning of our cities and state – not just providing a good for ordinary people, but also propping up local economies and tackling climate change.

Get Congestion Pricing Right (S8658/A9415)

Congestion pricing has long been promised to transform NYC’s public transit system. But with just months to go before its implementation, we need to ensure this promise rings true for New Yorkers – we need to radically improve service. Improving public transit now will attract new riders, and increase ridership for the long-term, making congestion pricing a success. That’s why we’re calling for targeted bus system investments in this year’s budget: (1) $45M to increase bus frequency and reliability – because, as London's successful implementation of congestion pricing shows, better buses are key to getting congestion pricing right! (2) $45 million to expand the fare-free bus pilot we won last year, bringing three new fare-free routes to each borough – because, as we make it more expensive to drive, we must make it cheaper to take public transit. Read more here.

Sammy’s Law (S2422B/A7266B)

Last year, 141 people died from traffic violence in NYC, with thousands more injured. Despite these recurrent tragedies, New York City government currently cannot intervene with one of the main safety tools at its disposal: adjusting speed limits. This legislation would allow NYC to set its own speed limits, and properly address dangerous areas of the city. It is one critical step to enabling the NYC government to intervene and address the city’s unequal distribution of safe streets.

NYC Bike Lane Safety Pilot Program (S3304/A4637)

Over the past decade, cars have been involved in 92% of all bicyclist accidents and fatalities in NYC, with the city seeing 18 fatalities and 5,018 injuries last year alone. Protected bike lanes have been associated with a 34% reduction in accident risk. This legislation would establish a bike lane safety pilot program in New York City, beginning a much-needed study to ensure that cyclists in NYC can ride without fear of collision.