Legislative visit with Assemblymember Shrestha
2/21/2025
Attending: Dare Thompson, Karen Miller & Cindy Bell
Dare began with a brief history of LWV and our mission, which remains the same today as when the League was founded more than 100 years ago. Assemblymember Shrestha’s Chief of Staff Ben Wolcott was also in attendance.
We knew that this would be a relatively easy visit, as many (or even most) of our positions are already aligned. Shrestha said “everything that can be a crisis, is a crisis” right now, noting that it’s budget time. She also stated that there are a few bills out there with misleading information about them (spin) from the other side of the aisle.
Topics covered:
• Citizen engagement- this was stated as an important goal of Shrestha’s.
• ERIC- we asked about support of this program and she said that fear has driven the political dynamics and that there is a problem with lack of funding. ERIC allows for interstate sharing of voter information.
• Regarding combining federal/state/local election days- there are pros and cons for this, but since the courts struck down the measure, it is now a moot point.
• Shrestha is supportive of funding for civics/voter registration in jails (#A2121).
• Bigger, Better Bottle Bill is basically dead at this point because of issues not considered when the bill was written, such as how small wine producers work with empty bottles (unfunded mandates without exceptions). It looks better for Plastic Reduction Act this year, which will see some amendments before final passage, though there is some degree of confidence that it will.
• Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act has been passed and there were questions about implementation renewable energy, land use policies and labor standards. The main obstacles, not surprisingly, are corporate utilities.
• Home care reform is a critical issue and actively being pursued, but again, corporate interests stand in the way of the work.
Assemblymember Shrestha’s issues of note:
• Emergency Tenant Protection Act- Complex and expensive requirements make it difficult to sign on. Only Kingston has done this so far. There are actions to simplify.
• Public Campaign Finance Reform- This perennial League issue is working its way through with very little support from either party. No surprise there.
• NY Health Act- This is a single-payer healthcare system that eliminates all other insurance. Since there is zero federal political will, it is hoped that NYS might institute so that others can be confident and will follow. All studies lead to better outcomes physically and financially.
• Solar for Schools program through the Federal Inflation Reduction Act to fund $500M of up-front costs, which is the main reason most schools don’t do it. There are credits available after installation as well as future energy cost savings.
Believe it or not, this is as brief as I could make this report. There was a lot of conversation that took place around these topics and a few others during the conversation-packed hour we spent.
A fair amount of time was spent talking all at once. 😊
Good meeting.
Cindy Bell