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Workers Rights
It is no coincidence that the more power we give large corporations, the less empowered their workers become. This is especially true for those workers who have been historically disenfranchised: including women, people of color, and immigrants. It is imperative to hold these corporations accountable when their workers’ rights are abused. As Attorney General I will:
Investigate wage theft, especially in vulnerable sectors like the service industry
Investigate any company doing business in New York that violates the New York State Fair Pay Act or the Lilly Ledbetter Act. No employee with the same job should be paid a different wage on the basis on sex, race or national origin, and their claims should never be barred by a statute of limitation. To close the pay gap for women and people of color in New York, we need an AG who will vigorously pursue violations of these laws.
Ensure workplace safety regulations are enforced.
Voting rights and voter suppression
New York has one of the worst voter turnout rates in the nation, all due to archaic laws that work to discourage participation in our electoral system. I support same day voter registration, lowering the voting age to 17, consolidated election days, automatic voter registration, and pushing for Election Day to be a statewide holiday.
As the Attorney General I will vigorously pursue all claims of New Yorkers being denied free access to the polls, including any instances where ballots and voter rolls were dismissed.
Protect Tenants and Enforce Fair Housing
Many New Yorkers struggle to afford housing, receive unfair or unequal treatment, and suffer at the hands of abusive landlords. I believe housing is a human right, and I will use the full powers of the NYS Attorney General afforded by law to protect those rights. In NYC, asthma is the leading cause for children to seek emergency medical treatment, and to miss school. And lead poisoning in already disadvantaged communities is unacceptably high. Research suggests these problems are directly linked to housing.
My office will seek referrals from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) for rent regulation abuses and to investigate substandard and dangerous conditions at public and publicly supported housing units.
My office will pursue repeated overcharges in rent stabilized apartments in New York City, and in Nassau, Rockland and Westchester counties, where rent control and stabilization laws apply.
My office will also investigate and prosecute companies that violate the Fair Housing Act in their advertising and operations.
Protect Civil Rights
With a federal government openly hostile to equal rights, and with the U.S. Supreme Court primed to rollback hardfought civil rights victories, the NY Attorney General must be a fierce defender and enforcer of all people’s rights.
My office will use its full power under local, state, and federal law to protect: voting rights, reproductive health rights, LGBTQ rights, disability rights, religious rights, equal education opportunity, and employment rights.
The NYS OAG’s work in Oswego County, where transgender employees were being denied healthcare coverage until the AG intervened, and the guidance OAG issued, reaffirming New Yorkers’ protections through Title IX and the Dignity for All Students Act, in the wake of Trump administration’s rescinding of federal guidance, are examples of the important work my office will pursue.
I am proud to have been endorsed by the civil rights icon and lawyer Robbie Kaplan, who put this moment in perspective: “Now, more than ever, as our nation faces imminent threats to our democratic system and the potential reversal of long-established fundamental rights for women, minorities, immigrants and LGBTQ Americans, it would be hard to overstate the importance of having an Attorney General with courage, deep knowledge of constitutional law, and a demonstrated commitment to integrity and independence.”
End Cash Bail and Mass Incarceration
The NYS Attorney General has the opportunity to take a transformative role in the fight to end mass incarceration. As the chief law enforcement officer in the state, the attorney general has a moral obligation to play a leadership role in reforming a system that infringes on the basic human and legal rights of our citizens.
We must examine fully the state of the criminal justice system. As AG, I will investigate and report on injustices at each point of contact with the system; these include policing in our schools and neighborhoods, arraignment and pre-trial detention, adequate public defense, incarceration practices, parole and probation, and re-entry rights and services.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 70 percent of people in jail are innocent in the eyes of the law — men and women awaiting trial — a majority of whom are young men of color, caged up because they cannot afford to post bail. This policy of cash bail serves to criminalize poverty, and often ensures inmates suffer further abuse and violence within the system.
Mass incarceration is the legacy of slavery and it is inextricably linked to the system of oppression that locks black people behind bars, and out of jobs, schools, and markets. As Attorney General I will advocate several necessary reforms to ensure a moral and just criminal justice system:
Discovery Reform
Speedy Trials
Legalization of marijuana
Re-entry programs
Changing the culture of prosecution
Consumer Debt/Student debt/Fair Lending
New Yorkers of all ages continue to be victimized by predatory lenders and financial scams, whether by payday lenders, debt settlement companies, or unscrupulous mortgage lenders. New Yorkers with burdensome student debt and car loans are pursued by debt buyers, who often engage in abusive debt collection practices and “sewer” process service. There are insufficient legal services available for so many who are already facing financial insecurity, and abusive debt collection disproportionately affects low income, elderly, and disabled New Yorkers.
My office will use its parens patriae powers to investigate systemic risk to New Yorkers and enjoin the loopholes used by Too Big to Fail banks in the consumer debt-supported swaps market.
I strongly support the revival and passage of the Consumer Credit Fairness Act, to better protect consumers from unfair debt-collection lawsuits, and I will use my position as AG to advocate for iis passage.
Make Climate Liability Real
Big fossil fuel companies cost New York money, and cost New Yorkers their health. On hot days, municipalities have to pay more to cool buildings because of fossil fuel companies. In big storms, counties have to pay for repair, while people sit in the cold, isolated and without help. We know the changing weather patterns are caused by fossil fuel companies. In floods, sewage takes over the streets, roads are eroded, and people’s homes are filled with mold. After Sandy, people suffered incredible harm, health effects, and difficulty with housing.
All of this costs us our health and costs taxpayers money. The companies responsible for climate change must pay.
We must also continue the important ExxonMobil litigation that the AG’s office is currently pursuing.
Protect our Clean Air and Water
Big fossil fuel companies are some of the worst polluters in our state. Lax regulations have allowed them to operate in a manner that endangers the quality of life of so many New Yorkers. This cannot continue. As Attorney General, I will investigate and litigate any corporations that pollute our air and contaminate our water, creating high rates of asthma, and producing water that is unsafe to drink. Profits should not be prioritized over the health of New Yorkers.
But it is not just big fossil fuel: in Newburgh, the biggest polluter is the Department of Defense, which has exposed the children of Newburgh to unacceptable levels of PFOS. And despite New York’s purported commitment to renewable energy reliance, new gas pipelines are being approved and pushed.
As AG, I will be aggressive in suing the big polluters, and where necessary, demanding that the Governor refer criminal and civil matters to the AGs office so our hands are not tied. I will intervene when New Yorkers are denied fair process by FERC, to comment on and pushback against fossil fuel projects that threaten their air and water.
Sue Big Pharma for Fraud and Illegal Drug Pricing
We are facing a national public health crisis driven by the deceptive practices and aggressive marketing of addictive and dangerous opioids. New York, and the Attorney General’s office specifically, must take the lead to abate this deadly crisis.
Abatement will require major funding — for treatment programs, live-saving intervention services, and more — and counties and municipalities are being crushed by the costs of the crisis, both human and financial. The big pharmaceutical companies that profited grossly off this misery must be held to account, and to fund the recovery.
This is perhaps the most abusive, egregious scandal in the history of the pharmaceutical industry, where deceptive marketing converted a niche opioid painkilling drug into one of the most widely used prescription drugs in the country. Pharmaceutical companies convinced the medical community to overuse these dangerous drugs, whose efficacy is to treat chronic pain is highly questionable, putting everyone prescribed at risk of opioid addiction.
Drug prices generally are out of control, and the costs are passed on to New Yorkers. Antitrust violations like illegal price-fixing have led to rising co-pays and crucial medicine being unaffordable.
Investigators must not be fearful of taking on too big to fail pharmaceutical giants. If they are too big to fail, they are too big to do business.
My office will use the full extent of its legal powers, including the Donnelly Act, to stop consolidation in the market and prevent pricing abuses by the industry.
Trustbusting: Break up corporate monopolies
The link between prioritizing corporate needs and the growing wealth gap is inextricable. We cannot have a conversation about poverty and not discuss corporate greed and consolidation. The NYS Attorney General has the power to investigate and prosecute any corporate wrongdoing, but also to sue to block large mergers.
We have seen the adverse effects of the mergers of cable giants. The quality of service has declined; with little incentive to create a good product, consumers are left without options. And workers rights have been decimated, all while CEOs receive hefty bonuses. I will hold cable companies accountable, and ensure consumers receive the service they deserve. I will use my power as the Attorney General to prevent these large mergers from occuring in the first place.
As Attorney General I will:
Continue the important lawsuit against Spectrum.
Fight to block mergers that hurt New Yorkers, even if the federal government doesn’t act
Investigate the ways in which big distributors illegally squeeze farmers and producers
Stand up for the privacy rights of New Yorkers against tech giants
Protect Immigrant rights and lead the fight to abolish Ice
I will work tirelessly to return all children separated by the Trump administration to their parents, and use the laws of New York to protect the rights of all those children being held in our state.
I will work to ensure the people of New York, regardless of status, can freely access our courts and schools without threat from ICE; and to protect an already vulnerable population from scams and immigration fraud. I support drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants.
We must Abolish ICE. I will be a champion for moving our immigration policy out of the Department of Homeland Security, where there is the least amount of oversight and most opportunity for abuse.
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence
Time’s Up.
The reckoning over the rampant and systemic mistreatment of women, in the workplace and in private, is long overdue. This movement is characterized by the incredible bravery of survivors; women who individually and collectively are saying, “No more.”
Yet survivors face a system that fosters secrecy and retaliation against the accuser, making it more difficult to enforce laws designed to protect workers from sexual harassment. And local authorities long have failed to adequately address sexual assault complaints, from untested rape kits to inadequate support for victims.
It is this broken system that has allowed for decades of sexual misconduct allegations to be swept under the rug in Albany, and allowed for alleged abusers to avoid facing a full investigation, much less punishment. As Attorney General I will:
Investigate county and municipal level handling of sexual assault claims. In New York, reports indicate nearly 2,000 rape kits remain untested.
Investigate companies doing business in New York State that repeatedly violate statutes providing women the right to a safe workplace environment.
Use investigations to lift the shroud of secrecy, including pushing for the release of accusers and employees from Non Disclosure Agreements that only protect serial abusers.
I strongly support the recommendations put forth by Harassment Free Albany, available here: https://www.harassmentfreealbany.com.
Clean up Albany
New York’s corruption problem is deep, and it disproportionately hurts low and middle-income New Yorkers. Big donors get big contracts, as wages remain stagnant. Politically connected hedge funds block policies that would help our schools and kids. Some of the corruption is legal, but a lot of it is illegal. We have a rolling scandal of corruption and sexual misconduct, and it is clear that Albany cannot police itself.
As Attorney General I will:
Investigate corruption among lawmakers and lobbyists. I will use the powers of the Attorney General’s Office to reopen the Moreland Commission, under the existing Executive Order that created it.
Lead the fight for #TimesUp in NY government
Beef up the public corruption and criminal units of the AG’s office
I do not take corporate PAC money or LLC money, and I have called on my opponents to pledge the same.
Trump Lawlessness and Corruption
The New York Attorney General has a unique role to play as the single most important law enforcement agency with the power to force the Trump administration, and the Trump Organization and Trump Foundation, to follow the rule of law.
I have been in the legal fight against Trump’s lawless actions from the moment he was elected, and I am fully ready to lead that fight for the people of New York. Three days after he was elected, I was one of a team of top lawyers to sue Trump for his violations of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. That lawsuit, which is still ongoing, would force him to divest his business interests. I will continue to aggressively follow the evidence of his personal, campaign, and business activities that violate NY State and federal law.
I will be relentless, independent, ethical and swift, acting without fear or favor. I believe that we in New York can and must do more, because Trump’s businesses are here, giving us jurisdiction to investigate, restrain, and where necessary dissolve corporations founded on fraud.
As AG, I will be fully ready to prosecute any associate of Trump who is pardoned in a self-serving pardon under state law.
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