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(Para ver la versión en español visite aquí).
Dear Neighbors,
Albany has a way of teaching patience, sometimes more than democracy should require.
The state budget, due April 1, has now stretched deep into May. With each passing week, the calendar tightens around the rest of the legislative work New Yorkers sent us here to do. A late budget is not merely an inconvenience of government. It is a warning about how power moves when deadlines fade, negotiations harden, and too much policy is packed into a process meant first to fund the public good.
Budgets are where values become law. They decide whether schools have what they need, whether tenants can remain stable, whether working families can breathe a little easier, and whether communities receive the services they were promised. That is why the process matters. When major decisions are made behind closed doors, when sweeping policy questions are folded into fiscal negotiations, and when time itself becomes a bargaining tool, the people are asked to trust a system they are not allowed to fully see.
A democracy as vast and vibrant as ours deserves better.
For too long, our state’s budget process has allowed governors to wield extraordinary influence over both spending and policy. This year has exposed that imbalance in plain view. The sheer volume of policy embedded in the budget has demanded long and difficult negotiations, pulling time and attention away from the broader work of session and delaying decisions that families, schools, workers, and communities cannot afford to wait on.
That is why I carry Senate Bill S945, a constitutional amendment rooted in a simple principle: the people’s money should move through the people’s process. This legislation would help restore balance between the executive and legislative branches, strengthen transparency, and ensure that major policy decisions receive the public debate and democratic scrutiny they deserve.
This is not reform for reform’s sake. It is about whether government conducts the people’s business in the open, or behind closed doors where urgency becomes leverage. It is about whether budgets reflect shared priorities or concentrated power. Democracy is measured not only by the laws we pass, but by the fairness, transparency, and public trust that shape how those laws come to life.
Still, even in a season of delay, our work continues. We continue to move legislation that lowers costs, protects consumers, defends tenants, supports students, honors workers, and responds to the daily realities of New Yorkers trying to build steady lives in uncertain times. This week, that work included advancing a suite of consumer protection bills targeting hidden fees, discriminatory pricing algorithms, and exploitative corporate practices across multiple industries. The budget may be caught in the machinery of negotiation, but our purpose remains clear.
Through delay, disagreement, and difficult negotiation, my commitment remains unchanged: to keep fighting for a government that does not simply manage crisis, but answers it with courage, clarity, and care.
And amid the delays, debates, and difficult decisions of governing, let us remember that democracy is not self-sustaining. It survives through participation.
- Early Voting: June 13–21, 2026
- Election Day: Tuesday, June 23, 2026
- Poll Hours: 6 a.m. – 9 p.m.
I encourage every eligible voter to confirm your polling site here, make a plan, and make your voice heard.
In the sections below, you will find community updates, resources, and opportunities for you and your family.
In Unity,
RJ
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