Issues
Gun Violence Prevention
Jo Anne sponsored a major piece of legislation establishing a “red flag” law to help family members, law enforcement, and school officials prevent gun tragedies and has supported enhancements to the law, to increase public education and improve implementation. She spearheaded the effort to establish New York’s first-ever firearms violence research institute. Jo Anne also pushed for a package of bills to ensure comprehensive background checks, ban bump stocks, promote gun buyback programs, ensure safe storage, and more. We have worked hard to invest in frontline community programs and make sure that New York has one of the lowest rates of gun-related death in America, but we still have far too many New Yorkers dying from gunfire each year. The NRA has consistently given her an “F” rating and she’s even been targeted for her gun violence prevention work
Community-Driven Land Use Planning
Jo Anne has advocated for community input, responsible city planning, and real affordable housing in new development projects. Jo Anne fought to bring affordability and accountability to the Atlantic Yards project. The developer promised the community a Garden of Eden, but what we got was a “field of schemes.” The developer still hasn’t delivered all of its promised affordable housing or open space, but Jo Anne hasn’t let up because she is in this fight for the long haul.
Jo Anne fought for the Downtown Brooklyn Plan to address the transit and residential needs of the Brooklynites who would be living and working there (proponents believed it would be all commercial) this plan has also shortchanged Brooklyn). Jo Anne led the community planning effort for Boerum Hill, including the Hoyt-Schermerhorn development to affirmatively plan for 6.5 acres of parking lots to become housing, 37.5% of which was low-to-moderate-income, achieving a city-wide model for community-based planning. No one is fighting about development at Hoyt-Schermerhorn because it came from the community and is working.
Affordable Housing
For far too long, families have been forced out of their homes and neighborhoods because of steep and unfair rent increases and landlords who gamed the system. Jo Anne helped pass the NYS Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, which are the strongest rent laws and tenant protections that the state legislature has ever passed. She also helped pass this year’s Good Cause eviction law which provides protections for market-rate renters for the first time ever – and she will keep working to strengthen it. Jo Anne also supported this year’s budget deal to build more housing — and fought to ensure it included affordable housing and fair labor wage standards.
Jo Anne has delivered funds for NYCHA and helped raise revenue at the state and federal levels to protect New Yorkers from the long-term economic impacts of the pandemic.
Just as she’s stood with our neighbors facing eviction at 63 Tiffany Place who built their community, just as she’s stood with older adults facing eviction from their residence at 1 Prospect Park West, and just as she’s helped deliver supportive housing to prevent homelessness in our district and throughout Brooklyn – Jo Anne will never stop fighting for our communities.
Jo Anne will continue to push for more and more deeply affordable housing in development projects, where the community’s needs have too often been given short-shrift.
Environmental Advocacy - Public Power
The challenges of climate change, widespread pollution, and the disproportionate burden it places on communities of color cannot be met with half measures. We need bold and big measures to reduce climate change, and that’s one of the reasons she supports the shift to public power so that our utilities and electric generation are publicly owned and renewable. Jo Anne supported the designation of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site to clean up the canal and its uplands. She was an early advocate to bury the Gowanus Expressway into an environmentally just and sustainable tunnel to reduce asthma and pulmonary disorder rates and pollution. Jo Anne strongly opposed the siting of fossil fuel infrastructure, including the Williams pipeline and will be working hard to pass her Stop Polluters Handouts bill which would repeal certain tax exemptions and incentives for various economic development programs that encourage the use of fossil fuels. She has earned a 100% rating from both the NY League of Conservation Voters and Environmental Advocates of NY. She was one of the few Assemblymembers to support a fee on plastic bags, voting in favor of the City’s original proposal.
Transit & Accessibility
New Yorkers need more equitable access to public transit so we can reduce our reliance on cars. Jo Anne has advocated for multiple fair and sustainable sources of funding for the MTA to fix the subway crisis. Nearly two decades ago, Jo Anne was one of the earliest supporters of congestion pricing to fund mass transit, reduce vehicle usage, and the equalization of tolling policies. As a disability rights advocate, Jo Anne has long pushed for an accessible subway system, which is not only the right thing to do, but our legal obligation. We must also increase sustainable and alternative modes of transit, including expanded bike lanes, car shares, and improved bus service. She was an early supporter of the Safe Streets Program from its beginnings in the mid-1990s and was proud to vote to expand the speed camera program.
Equality & Women's Rights
Jo Anne stands strong for social, racial, gender & economic justice for everyone. She passed gender-neutral legislation to update antiquated and inaccurate language in state law relating to police officers and firefighters and promote these professions to women and gender non-conforming people. Jo Anne helped pass a historic package of women’s rights bills, including codifying Roe v. Wade into state law to ensure a woman’s right to an abortion in New York well in advance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs. She also helped ensure Paid Family Leave, equal pay for equal work, justice for victims of workplace discrimination including sexual harassment, and a bill to ensure insurance companies cover contraceptives. She has also been fighting to ensure that women aren’t duped into going to fake health clinics aka “crisis pregnancy centers,” that thwart their access to real health care.
The national dialogue and action coming from DC are moving us backward in terms of basic empathy and equal rights for everyone, including the disability and LGBTQ communities. And yes, at every level of government, preserving our democracy is key.
Education/Dyslexia/Reading Proficiency
A former teacher of the deaf and sign language interpreter, Jo Anne has been a strong advocate for quality education for all kids. She pushed the state to comply with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity’s court case to ensure equitable funding in foundation aid, which has finally been fully funded. She has also been a staunch advocate for students with disabilities, especially those with dyslexia, to get the instruction they need to be able read and be successful students, starting with early identification of children at risk for reading disability and evidence-based teaching of reading. She founded the annual Dyslexia Awareness Day at the Capitol in Albany and is actively partnering with all levels of New York State government to align the teaching of reading with evidence-based approaches consistent with the science of reading. All our children deserve to read proficiently.
Criminal Justice Reform
Jo Anne helped enact major criminal justice reforms, critical to dismantling the deep flaws that perpetuate racial bias and economic bias in our justice system. She recently passed a landmark bill in the Assembly to ensure that everyone in prison without a high school diploma is screened for dyslexia, so that we can break the school-to-prison pipeline. She was a strong supporter of the recently enacted Clean Slate Act and champions fair and timely parole and granting parole for older people who have already served significant time.
Election Reforms + Campaign Finance
Jo Anne passed a major campaign finance reform bill to close the notorious “LLC Loophole.” She doesn’t take donations from real estate developers, special interests or corporate PACs. She also worked to ease New York’s onerous voter registration deadlines for party enrollment, and paved the way for a significant reform. She’s worked hard to increase access to voting and to modernize our voting system and will continue to advocate reforming the Board of Elections.