On the Issues

Assemblywoman 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, enabling them to maintain their quality without increasing the burden on local taxpayers. She has helped create breathing room in family budgets by voting to expand the child tax credit and the availability of free school meals, and accelerate middle-class tax cuts. Dana also voted to increase New York’s minimum wage and tie it to inflation to protect the value of people’s paychecks. Dana will continue to promote affordability by working to reduce healthcare costs, address the state’s housing crisis, supporting legislation like the New York HEAT Act 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 has a 100% rating from the New York League of Conservation Voters for her support of measures to reduce carbon emissions and increase adoption of renewable energy. She is also working to make our infrastructure more resilient in the face of a changing climate, most recently by securing $20 million for resiliency projects along Metro-North’s Hudson Line. Dana has also supported legislation to keep our air, water, food and clothing safe from forever chemicals like PFAS, as well as legislation to protect New York from the harms of carbon dioxide fracking. Dana is also a co-sponsor of the Climate Change Superfund Act, which if passed, will make corporate polluters foot the bill for their environmental damage instead of taxpayers. She will continue to fight for a fair and affordable transition to a clean energy future. 

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 will put New York’s existing protections for reproductive freedom and against discrimination into the state constitution, making these rights more secure. She has a 100% pro-choice rating from Choice Matters for her record of defending reproductive freedom in the State legislature. Recognizing the threat that technology could 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. She is off to a good start, with repaving scheduled for Route 9A and $20 million for the next phase of engineering to modernize the worst stretch of that road. 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 (A.8423).

Education

Dana has been involved in the fight to secure full Foundation Aid since her own children were students in the Ossining public schools. Since taking her seat in the Assembly, she has delivered record levels of state funding to our schools, while also pushing for a study of the Foundation Aid formula to help us right-size education funding and ensure it goes where it is needed most. Dana supports public funds being used for public schools, and opposes right-wing attempts to undermine education through moves such as banning books. 

Economy & Taxes

Like her fellow Democrats on the ballot this year, Dana is working to build an economy that works for everyone – including Mother Earth. Dana has taken strong action to protect our local economy, passing the “Save the Hudson” legislation and opposing unlimited barges on the Hudson River to ensure that businesses that depend on the river continue to remain viable. She will continue to support workers and their right to collectively bargain for higher wages and better workplace standards. Recognizing that affordable child care is necessary to bring many people into the workforce, Dana has also voted to increase state funding for child care assistance and support for child care workers’ wages. Dana has fought hard for middle-class tax relief, and this year, she voted for a budget that brought the middle-class personal income tax rate to its lowest level in 70 years. She will continue to make sure that middle-class New Yorkers keep more of their hard earned money. 

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 residents have access to equitable, comprehensive health care. During this budget cycle, she pushed for increases to Medicaid reimbursement rates to help us move closer to Medicaid equity. Dana is also keen 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 working to reduce intimate partner violence, voting to increase funding to organizations that help survivors of abuse, and co-sponsoring legislation like Melanie’s Law to protect family members of abuse victims from abusers.

Immigration

Well-managed immigration benefits our economy and our communities, and we have enough resources to support citizens while also accomodating newcomers. Comprehensive immigration reform must come from the federal government, and Dana will continue advocating for such a solution. Unfortunately, former President Donald Trump killed a bipartisan immigration reform bill this year because he would rather campaign on problems than solve them. MAGA politicians like Donald Trump and his state-level acolytes are scapegoating immigrants – those here legally along with the undocumented – to divide and distract us from their real agenda, outlined in Project 2025. Dana rejects the dishonest fearmongering of MAGA. She will continue to work with local, state and federal partners on solutions to facilitate the successful integration of people who come to New York seeking safety and opportunity.