Gottfried Wishes Medicare a Happy Birthday
Assembly Member Richard Gottfried (D-Chelsea, Midtown) sent out a tweet yesterday commemorating Medicare’s 54th birthday.
On July 30, 1965, Medicare and Medicaid, the fist federal health insurance programs in the country, were signed into law. Today, the former provides coverage to over 60 million Americans – but Gottfried thinks that we need to expand that coverage universally.
“The first federal health insurance programs, they’ve helped provide health care for millions of Americans,” said Gottfried. “It’s time to expand coverage to everyone!”
Johnson Talks “Breaking Car Culture” on NY1
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen) appeared on NY1 Spectrum News yesterday to discuss bike fatalities and the need to break New York’s “car culture”.
The appearance was scheduled a day after Em Samolewicz, 30, was struck and killed in Sunset Park – New York’s eighteenth cyclist death since the beginning of the year.
“You’re literally taking your life in your hands if you are cycling in New York City outside of a protected bike lane,” said Johnson. “The first protected bike lane in New York City was built on Ninth Avenue between 14th Street and 23rd Street, over ten years ago. And people said, ‘This is gonna ruin the neighborhood’. We know that it’s actually saved lives, and we’re moving far too slowly in doing that for cyclists all over the city. It’s time to reclaim our streets for pedestrians and cyclists.”
Rosenthal Applauds Signage of Bill to Allow Campaign Funds for Childcare
Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a bill yesterday to allow political candidates in New York to cover childcare expenses with campaign funds.
The bill, S2680, cements New York as the twelfth state in the union to allow campaign funds for childcare. Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal (D-Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen), one of the bill’s most outspoken advocates, could not have been happier.
“When childcare is an allowable campaign expense, we send message to moms, on whom majority of childcare still falls, that we want them to run for office,” Rosenthal said in a tweet. “We ensure that Legislatures begin to look more like the communities they represent. We encourage mothers to run for office, and signal our commitment to tackling the child care crisis and to developing more family-supportive policies.”
