Brooklyn Lawmakers On The Move Dec. 15, 2015

Hillary Brooklyn Speech Promises Immigration Reform, Bashes Rubio

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton yesterday came to Brooklyn yesterday promising to enact comprehensive immigration reform with a path to full and equal citizenship for undocumented immigrants that meet certain qualifications.

Speaking at the National Immigrant Integration Conference at the Brooklyn Marriott,  in Brooklyn, Hillary Clinton built on her immigration proposals to keep families together by promoting naturalization through the expansion of fee waivers and by providing additional support to help the millions of people who are eligible for citizenship.

Clinton also took shots at the Republican Party’s seemingly anti-immigrant stance and in particular at demagogue Donald Trump, and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who a number of pundits feel would offer a competitive election should he grab the GOP nod and Clinton the Democratic nod.

“We are hearing all kinds of anti-immigrant sentiment in the news right now. Candidates for president are calling immigrants drug runners and rapists. They promise, if elected, to round up and deport millions of people, build a mammoth wall, militarize the border, tear families apart. And after the terrorist shootings in San Bernardino, at a time when a lot of Americans are fearful about future attacks here at home, some candidates are even stoking those fears more and turning people against Muslim Americans, saying some really hateful, hurtful things.

“Meanwhile our policies towards immigrants and also towards refugees and asylum seekers are begin hotly debated. Now this election, which we know is going to have a big impact on our future, has now become even more consequential.

“So I’m here today to tell you where I stand, what I believe and what I will fight for as President. And here’s my starting point: our immigration system is broken and we need to keep families together. Millions of undocumented people are living and working and raising their families here. We could add hundreds of billions of dollars to our GDP by passing comprehensive immigration reform, which is why people across the political spectrum from labor unions to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported the 2013 Senate bill.

“Now, you know Senator Rubio actually helped write the 2013 Senate bill. Now he renounces it. They’re all moving toward the extreme and away from the rest of America. Now I know it was a blow to a lot of people in this room and across our country when that 2013 bill failed. We were so close, but we can’t stay discouraged. We’ve got to keep pushing Congress to act and we’ve got to keep raising the stakes, so candidates and elected officials know there will be consequences if they do not support comprehensive immigration reform.”

 Cymbrowitz Bill Protecting Senior Rent Increases Gets Cuomo Signature

A bill (A. 7914a) that Sheepshead Bay Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz introduced protecting about 5,000 seniors and persons with disabilities who would have been at risk of losing their benefits under the New York City Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Disabled Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) programs has been signed into law by Governor Cuomo.

“This bill will make sure that if your rent was frozen, it will be stay frozen. I’m proud to have written and passed this legislation with my colleague, [Coney Island] Senator Diane Savino, and to help ensure that housing stays affordable for our constituents and all New Yorkers,” said Cymbrowitz, Chair of the Aging Committee.

Due to recent changes in the administration of SCRIE and DRIE by the New York City Department of Finance, many seniors and persons with disabilities were at risk of being dropped from these programs. The new law will grandfather participants into the SCRIE or DRIE program as of January 1, 2015 at their current frozen rent, as well as individuals who entered the program on or before July 1, 2015, for as long as they are in the program. New applicants will remain subject to the one-third rent-to-income ratio requirement.

Additionally, the new law will create a re-enrollment opportunity for individuals whose rent increase exemption expired on or after December 31, 2013, and whose income made them ineligible to renew the benefit, but who then became eligible for the benefit once again under the increased income limit that took effect on July 1, 2014. This re-enrollment change will allow these individuals to regain their previous frozen rent amount as if they had not left the SCRIE or DRIE program, rather than the higher rent that was set under the new income limit.

The law takes effect immediately.

 Citizens Defending Libraries Protest At City Hall

As the City Council is expected to vote to sell the Brooklyn Heights Public Library at Cadman Plaza, the ad hoc organization Citizens Defending Libraries (CDL) will hold a press conference against it at 3 p.m. today on the steps of City Hall.

The City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to approve the sale and drastic shrinkage of Brooklyn’s second largest library, the Brooklyn Heights Library (includes the Business, Career and recently expanded Education Library), the central destination library in Downtown Brooklyn, according to the CDL release..

If the City Council votes in favor of this program prototype it is expected that Mayor de Blasio will approve it not long after that.   Mayor de Blasio has been taking money from the developer and his team while their application to acquire and shrink the library was pending.

The press conference comes as Downtown Brooklyn City Councilman Steve Levin last week approved the sale with changes as KCP reported.  

Southern Brooklyn Congressman Dan Donovan yesterday called on Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement Director Joshua Vinciguerra to adopt Interconnect, an electronic data-exchange program allowing pharmacists using one state database to query any other participating state database.

Currently, 39 states – including New Jersey and Connecticut – utilize Interconnect to prevent prescription abuse and save lives.

“Drug abuse has become an epidemic. Too many parents have buried their sons and daughters; too many families have been torn apart. We must take advantage of every resource at our disposal to combat this scourge. With New Jersey so close by, Interconnect is a critical tool to stop potential abusers from simply crossing state lines to refill a prescription at multiple locations. New York State should adopt Interconnect immediately and without delay.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the rate of drug poisoning deaths involving opioid painkillers in New York City increased by 267 percent from 2000 to 2011, to 229 deaths per year – an average of four overdose deaths each week. About 1.2 million cross-state checks are made through Interconnect. Importantly, the system is merely an exchange – it does not store any private medical information. Despite the clear life-saving benefits of Interconnect, no final decision has been made for New York State to join the program, said Donovan.

“This isn’t a partisan issue. I stand ready to work with Republicans and Democrats to save lives and restore families torn apart by the opioid abuse crisis. I thank Governor Cuomo and his team for the work they have already done to address this growing problem, and my office is available to assist in any way necessary,” said Donovan.

Sheepshead Bay City Councilman Chaim Deutsch is holding a free CPR Training and smoke/CO alarm giveaway tonight.Participates will learn basic CPR techniques, fire prevention methods, and the Heimlich Maneuver. They will also receive a free smoke/CO alarm and a CPR Training video.

The training will be held in English and Russian, at 7 p.m., tonight at the Shorefront Y, 3300 Coney Island Avenue.