On the Issues

Pulse aquí para leer esta página en español.

Assemblymember Dana Levenberg is on a mission to build healthy communities in every sense of the word – environmentally healthy, economically healthy, physically and mentally healthy, all through the lens of equity. She’s working hard to make New York more affordable, and protecting our personal and civil rights from MAGA politicians.

Affordability

Quality of life in the Hudson Valley is excellent for those who can afford it. Dana is working to make this area more affordable for all residents with short-term relief and long-term solutions. Dana fought to protect state funding for our schools and helped create breathing room in family budgets by voting for universal school meals, an expanded child tax credit, and lower state tax rates for middle-income households. Dana also voted to increase New York’s minimum wage and tie it to inflation to protect the value of people’s paychecks. As an intervenor in the most recent Con Edison rate cases, Dana fought to lower utility rates and gained insight that she used to push for utility reform, including measures enacted in this year’s state budget. Dana will continue to promote affordability by working to reduce healthcare costs, address the state’s housing crisis, supporting legislation to lower household energy costs, and more.

Dana understands that climate change is real, and that the costs of ignoring it are getting higher with increasingly damaging storms, heatwaves, wildfires, and more. Dana sponsors multiple pieces of legislation that will lower energy costs while also supporting a transition away from fossil fuels. With solar energy now being the cheapest form of energy, she sponsors legislation to make it easier to put solar panels in locations like parking lots, and co-sponsors legislation like the SUNNY Act which will make it easier for New Yorkers to produce their own energy using plug-in solar. She is also the legislative sponsor for the New York State Compost Coalition, leading efforts to decrease food waste and the associated emissions. 

Dana co-sponsored the Climate Change Superfund Act, legislation to make corporate polluters pay for their environmental damage. During every state budget negotiation, Dana pushes for funding to make our infrastructure more resilient in the face of a changing climate, securing funds such as $20 million for resiliency projects along Metro-North’s Hudson Line. Dana also co-sponsors legislation to keep our air, water, food and clothing safe from forever chemicals like PFAS, as well as legislation to enact a stronger data center moratorium.

Freedom & Civil Rights

MAGA politicians are threatening personal freedoms and civil rights all over the country, including here in New York. Dana is a true believer in personal liberty, supporting reforms to ensure fairness in our justice system, equality in our constitution, and the sanctity of our votes. She proudly co-sponsored the second passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, which put New York’s existing protections for reproductive freedom and against discrimination into the state constitution in 2024. She has a 100% pro-choice rating from Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts for her record of defending reproductive freedom in the State legislature. Recognizing the threat that technology can potentially pose to our elections, Dana has co-sponsored the Voter Integrity and Verification Act of New York, legislation that would codify the right of New Yorkers to use a hand-marked paper ballot and ensure that a verifiable paper trail of every election exists. 

Roads

Dana is working hard alongside her Hudson Valley colleagues in the State Legislature to ensure that our roads get the resources and attention they deserve. Since her first term in office, repaving and other critical fixes have been completed at Annsville Circle and Route 134 and scheduled for Routes 9A, 133 and 100. She will continue to push for more road funding in each budget and advocate for those funds to come to our NYSDOT region. She will also continue to advocate for roads that can be shared equitably by all, pushing for passage of legislation requiring broader implementation of Complete Streets principles in NYSDOT projects.

Education

Since taking her seat in the Assembly, Dana has helped deliver record levels of state funding to our schools, which recently included the full funding of Foundation Aid and, most recently, an 85% increase in the Universal Pre-K reimbursement rate. Alongside her Democratic colleagues, Dana has also expanded educational opportunity for adults, voting to initiate and expand the Opportunity Promise Scholarship program giving New York’s adult learners the chance to attend community college tuition-free. Dana supports using public funds for public schools, and opposes charter school expansions and school vouchers. She also opposes right-wing attempts to undermine education through moves such as banning books. 

Economy & Taxes

Dana believes our economy should work for everyone – including Mother Earth. By sponsoring the “Save the Hudson” law and opposing unlimited barges on the Hudson River, Dana has taken action to protect our local economy, especially economic interests that depend on a clean and healthy Hudson River. She has also helped steer state funding toward projects that promote economic development by upgrading our infrastructure and supporting local entrepreneurship and artistic creativity. She will continue to support workers and their right to collectively bargain for higher wages and better workplace standards. Moreover, recognizing that affordable child care is necessary to keep many workers in our workforce, Dana has worked to increase state funding for child care assistance and support for child care workers’ wages. 

Healthcare

Healthcare is a human right, and getting to universal healthcare – including mental health coverage – is a priority for Dana. She supports passing the New York Health Act and other measures, like Coverage for All, to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to equitable, comprehensive health care. Dana is also working to ensure that those who care for our most vulnerable, such as the elderly and the disabled, are compensated well enough to continue their vital work. She has also supported efforts to address opioid addiction and co-occurring disorders, both through the budget process and by providing grants to organizations such as the Harris Project. 

Public Safety

Real public safety comes from preventing crime by addressing its root causes, as well as ensuring accountability and justice. In addition to building healthy communities in which people’s needs are met, Dana supports evidence-based solutions for keeping communities safe, like sensible gun legislation. She voted to strengthen New York’s red flag law to keep guns away from those who pose a threat to others, and for increased funding to the state’s successful Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) program. She also voted to invest in a dedicated police unit to get illegal guns off our streets. Dana has supported efforts to reduce retail theft, funding a grant program to help shop owners improve their security and increasing penalties for organized shoplifting. She is also fighting child abuse and intimate partner violence by co-sponsoring legislation like Kyra’s Law and Melanie’s Law, as well as voting to increase funding to organizations that help survivors fleeing abuse. 

Immigration

Well-managed immigration benefits our economy and our communities, and we have enough resources to support citizens while also accommodating people who come to New York seeking safety and opportunity. Dana was a co-founder of Open Arms for Refugees, and she will continue to work with local, state and federal partners to advocate for and facilitate the successful integration of newcomers. She will also continue standing up to the Trump-Vance regime because their violent, lawless approach to immigration endangers all New Yorkers, regardless of citizenship status.