On November 2, voters will go to the polls to pick a new governor, attorney general, comptroller and Congress members.
Senate
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is running to keep his seat against Republican Jay Townsend, Colia Clark of the Green Party and social activist Randy Credico.
Schumer fought for funding for an independent living center and an employment service for people with disabilities. The United Spinal Association gave him a certificate of appreciation last year for helping to secure the Community First Choice (CFC) Option and the Community Living Assistance and Supports (CLASS) Act.
Townsend opposes the health care reform measures that Schumer supported. He, Clark and Credico have no apparent record on disabilities.
Six candidates are challenging State Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, including Republican Joseph DioGuardi and Green Party candidate Cecile Lawrence.
Gillibrand’s work for people with disabilities includes a mandate for insurance companies to provide quality, affordable autism treatment for families, improving treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and increasing education for nurses. She supported a proposal to give $250 in emergency funds to seniors, veterans and people with disabilities to account for cost of living changes. She also supports the Uniformed Services with Autism Heroes Act requiring the military health insurance program to cover the entire cost of autism treatment.
DioGuardi is a certified public accountant and Vietnam-era veteran. One of his platforms is to support local programs to increase healthcare and retirement benefits for veterans. He states that, “There are too many instances in which veterans are not afforded the appropriate levels of physical and mental healthcare they deserve for disabilities incurred in fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Lawrence is active in health care reform and an advocate for a national single-payer health care system.
In Long Island, State Senator Carl Marcellino of the 5th district will fight to keep his seat against Larry Silverman.
Marcellino was the prime sponsor of a disability registry law to provide information to aid in rescues and evacuations. He spoke out against Able-Ride cuts, sending a letter to Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Jay Walder saying, “I am sure that you can understand the significant impact that this service cut will have on the ability of people with disabilities to get to and from medical appointments as well as to and from places of employment and school. The Able-Ride Service is their lifeline and critical to their health, livelihood and overall welfare.”
State Senator Kemp Hannon of the 6th district will run against Francesca Carlow, president of Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce.
Hannon participated in establishing the Child Health Plus (CHP), Family Health Plus (FHP), and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) programs. He sponsored a bill establishing an arthritis management and education program in the Department of Health, and another directing the commissioner of education to adopt and implement rules for treating and monitoring students with traumatic brain injuries. Hannon also sponsored a bill establishing a three-year respite care demonstration program for informal caregivers of people who receive home care services.
State Senator Craig Johnson of the 7th district sponsored a bill prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. It was passed into law in July, recognizing the right to employment, education, public buildings, housing and commercial space as a civil right and prohibiting boycotting, blacklisting or refusing to sell or trade with a person with a disability. He also supported a bill expanding insurance coverage for autism.
Jack Martins, Republican mayor of Mineloa, is running against Johnson. Martins helped negotiate an affordable senior housing facility with a preference for locals wanting to stay in the community.
Carol Gordon of the Democrat and Working Families parties is running for state senator of the 8th district. She has done community and volunteer work for 30 years, and her career includes the positions of Mental Health Clinic Manager and Patient Advocate at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she worked with veterans for 25 years.
Gordon will challenge State Senator Charles Fuschillo Jr., who wrote a law amending the New York State Clean Indoor Air Act that established smoke-free workplaces and public places in 2003.
George Sava of the Democrat and Working Families parties is running against Republican State Senator Dean Skelos of the 9th district, who served as the Senate representative to the MTA’s Capital Program Review Board.
Sava, a lawyer from Ohio, has no apparent record on disabilities. In October 2009, Skelos sponsored a bill requiring training for school bus drivers and attendants who ride with children to preschool special education schools.
Comptroller
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has fought to promote inclusion and oppose discrimination for groups including those with disabilities. He told the 504 Democratic Club that there are no people with disabilities on his campaign staff but he would accept a volunteer with a disability. His work has included establishing the Division of Diversity Program to promote a fully inclusive work place and signing an Executive Policy and an Executive Order prohibiting discrimination and harassment against groups including those with disabilities.
DiNapoli has worked to ensure financial resources are used efficiently in state agencies serving people with disabilities. As comptroller, his audits of the New York Development Disabilities Services Office (DDSO) and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) uncovered a transportation service that was paid for but never provided, and a lack of competitive bidding for a project. Both findings helped to restore financial accountability. One of his recent projects was adding new links to the financial education website called Your Money New York, to address financial issues related to disability.
Libertarian candidate John Gaetani worked for six and a half years as an associate internal auditor at the state OMRDD.
Harry Wilson, a Republican hedge fund manager, once drove a van for students with disabilities as a summer job. Julia Willebrand of the Green Party and Rus Thompson of the Tea Party have no apparent record on disabilities.
Governor
The candidates for governor are State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Tea Party candidate Carl Paladino, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is Too Damn High party and City Council Member Charles Barron.
As state attorney general, Cuomo investigated the Long Island Railroad and secured an agreement regarding employee abuse of disability benefits. He also obtained an agreement in April with a half dozen real estate developers to provide accessible housing.
Paladino is the real estate agent collecting rent from the Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance ($454,363), the Office of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities ($128,425) and the Office of Vocational & Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities ($337,606), according to the Daily News.
Hawkins has made a general commitment to public assistance and income opportunities for people with disabilities. His running mate for lieutenant governor, Gloria Mattera, has a master’s degree in special education and taught children with special needs for five years.
According to a Newsday article, McMillan retired from working for the U.S. Post Office because he has a disability, although his campaign site focuses solely on rent and jobs.
Barron has a history of fighting for civil rights and being an advocate for seniors and the economically disadvantaged.
Attorney General
Eric Schneiderman supports civil rights and marriage equality. He supports a Hate Crimes Bill for bias crimes against groups including those with disabilities.
Carl Person of the Libertarian party supports a proposal to allow every employer to hire three people without paying benefits including disability insurance, and another to allow small businesses to forego paying benefits through off-the-books hiring.
Ramon Jimenez is a litigator in the South Bronx who represents injured workers seeking workers compensation, as well as community groups and low-income families.
Republican Dan Donovan, a former Richmond County Attorney General and Staten Island District Attorney, is also running. He pledges to reduce Medicaid fraud.
Congress - Long Island
U.S. Rep. Steve Israel of the 2nd district supports health care reform bills that benefit people with disabilities. Israel, with Republican Congressman Peter King supported a federal bill to increase resources such as disability benefits for homeless veterans. Israel also supported a bill to provide service dogs to people with disabilities, called the FY2010 Omnibus Appropriations Act.
Israel is running against Republican John Gomez, and Anthony Tolda of the Constitution party.
King is running to keep his seat in the 3rd district against Democrat Harry Kudler. King is an advocate for veterans’ benefits and has supported funding to fight cancer. He served three terms as comptroller of Nassau County prior to being elected to Congress. His main platforms are related to national security. He opposed the President’s health care reforms.
In July, King supported the Veterans’ Disability Claims Efficiency Act of 2010, a bill for the employment of new veterans. He supported legislation in July easing the process for veterans to obtain disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“Our brave servicemen and women who have become disabled while defending our country should not have to wait months to receive the benefits they deserve for their sacrifices made in combat,” said King. “The disability claims backlog has reached an unacceptable level, which is why I am proud to cosponsor a solution that creates a fast-track system to begin the claims process without delay.”
Congressman Carolyn McCarthy of the 4th district is running against Republican Francis Becker to keep her seat.
McCarthy, a member of the Democrat and Working Families parties, voted for the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Act to increase disability compensation for veterans and increase the clothing allowance for some disabled adults. She voted for the Disabled Military Retiree Relief Act, which extends eligibility for the receipt of military retirement pay and veterans' disability compensation to veterans who were retired or separated from the service due to physical disability, through 2013. In February 2009, she voted for H.R. 1, which provides incentives for businesses to hire unemployed or discharged veterans, and expands housing assistance for veterans with disabilities.
Becker, a certified financial planner and the first representative of the sixth legislative district, opposed the President’s healthcare reforms, and received an endorsement from Congressman King.
Congressman Gary Ackerman of the 5th district supported recent health care reforms and spoke in favor of reforming veterans’ claims benefits. He supports civil rights including equality in the workplace.
Republican candidate James Milano, who is challenging Ackerman, is an emergency physician. Elizabeth Berney is also running for the seat.
Congress - New York
In district 1, Democratic Congressman Tim Bishop is running against Republican Randy Altschuler.
In September, Bishop contributed to an effort to ship audiobooks to local veterans and armed forces from a local library to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He supported the Affordable Care Act that gave $250 rebate checks to Medicare beneficiaries for prescription drug costs. In 2007, he called for better health care for veterans with disabilities.
Altschuler opposes the President’s health care plan and has no apparent record on disabilities.
Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of the 6th district is running against Republican Asher Taub.
In June, Meeks launched an outreach effort to educate Medicare beneficiaries on how to avoid being victims of fraud. He voted for health care reform in March. In April 2009, Meeks voted for an anti-hate crimes bill to help protect groups including those with disabilities from bias crimes.
Taub, a personal injury attorney, wants to revoke the 2010 health care bill.
In the 7th district, Democratic Congressman Joseph Crowley is running against Green party candidate Tony Gronowicz.
Crowley proposed a Bill of Rights for Access-A-Ride customers, worked for greater accessibility at the Jackson Heights post office, supports full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and opposed legislative proposals that he said would undermine the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Gronowicz has no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 8th district, Democratic Congressman Jerrold Nadler is running against Republican Susan Kone.
In 2008, Nadler co-sponsored a bill supporting the goals and ideals of National Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month. In April 2010, Nadler held an oversight hearing on Achieving the Promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the Digital Age as chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
Kone opposes recent health care reforms and has no additional record on disability.
In the 9th district, Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner is running against Republican Bob Turner.
Weiner has obtained funds for programs for the developmentally disabled. He supports giving $250 rebate checks to seniors, veterans and people with disabilities. In September, Weiner and Meeks released a report by the Office of Emergency Management that gave a low rating to evacuation plans for seniors and disabled residents in the Rockaways and said more attention should be paid to those efforts.
Turner opposes current health care reforms and favors the creation of high-risk insurance pools subsidized by government funds.
In the 10th district, Democratic Congressman Ed Towns is running against Republican Diana Muniz and Conservative Ernest Johnson.
Towns has supported efforts to reduce chronic diseases. In January 2009, he sponsored a bill directing the Secretary of Transportation to study and report on the level of vehicle sound that is needed to alert people with blindness and other pedestrians of approaching cars. The next month he introduced a bill to provide emergency funds to trauma centers.
Muniz and Johnson have no apparent records on disability.
In the 11th district Democratic Congresswoman Yvette Clarke is running against Republican Hugh Carr.
Clarke sponsored a bill amending project rental assistance for supportive housing for the elderly. In August, she supported a bill extending federal matching funds for Medicaid through the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act, which saves New York $2.2 billion in Medicaid costs. She supported changes at the Veterans Administration to provide better care for people with post traumatic stress disorder.
Carr has no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 12th district, Democratic Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez is running against Conservative Alice Gaffney.
In 2007, Velazquez sponsored the Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act to ease the process for agencies to sign contracts with small businesses owned by veterans with disabilities.
Gaffney has no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 13th district, Democratic Congressman Mike McMahon is running against Republican Mike Grimm and Libertarian Tom Vendittelli.
In 2009, McMahon introduced the Veterans Mental Health Screening and Assessment Act that aims to improve mental health care for veterans, as well as another bill expressing that the House of Representatives should increase funding for type 1 Diabetes research. He sponsored a bill honoring Mental Health America on its 100th anniversary, and another expressing support for National Autism Awareness Month in April 2009.
Grimm is a Marine veteran endorsed by the Vets For Freedom Political Action Committee who opposes the President’s health care reforms.
Vendittelli has no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 14th district, Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is running against Republican Ryan Brumberg and Independence Party candidate Dino Laverghetta.
Maloney sponsored the Veterans Housing Fairness Act, allowing veterans to use Veterans Administration loans to purchase cooperative housing, and another bill restoring $125 million to 9/11 responders with illnesses. In 2000, she sponsored the Older Americans Protection from Violence Act to protect seniors and people with disabilities from institutional, community and domestic violence and sexual assault.
Brumberg and Laverghetta have no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 15th district, Congressman Charles Rangel is running against Republican Michael Faulkner.
Rangel sponsored the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009. In 2008, he was criticized for calling Sarah Palin “disabled” in a CBS-TV interview, clarifying later that he meant she a “disadvantage in the area of foreign policy.”
Faulkner has no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 16th district, Democratic Congressman Jose Serrano is running against Republican Frank Della Valle.
In 2009, Serrano sponsored a bill directing funds to recruit, train and hire 100,000 new classroom paraprofessionals. He also sponsored the Glaucoma Screening Act of 2009 to expand screening coverage.
Della Valle has no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 17th district, Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel is running against Republican Anthony Mele and Conservative York Kleinhandler.
Engel sponsored the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act, allowing more Home Infusion therapy care to be done at home instead of nursing homes, and the Medicaid Spousal Impoverishment Protections to extend Medicaid spousal protections.
Mele is a veteran who thinks Medicaid and Medicare need more funding.
Kleinhandler, Chief Warrant Officer in the Army National Guard, opposes the new health care legislation and favors a private market system.
In the 18th district, Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey is running against Republican Jim Russell.
Lowey voted for the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act to improve health care for veterans, make the disability evaluation system more efficient and increase resources for the study of traumatic brain injury. She also introduced a bill making it easier for people who work part-time or take time off from work to take care of a family member to do so without losing Social Security income.
Russell has no apparent record on disabilities.
In the 19th district, Democratic Congressman John Hall is running against Republican Nan Hayworth.
Hall is chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Disability Affairs and Memorial Assistance. He supported an increase in funding for the Department of Veteran Affairs and fought for a bill making it easier for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder to apply for disability insurance. He also introduced the COMBAT PTSD Act.
Hayworth, an ophthalmologist, opposes nationalized health care.
This article was published in the November 2010 issue of Able News.
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