I wrote into law an exception to the Uniformed Anatomical Gift Act requiring doctors to contact a hierarchy of the deceased’s family in order to obtain permission to harvest in cases where there are religious objections to organ transplantation.
At a time when state law said that death occurs with the cessation of brain stem activity, which is in conflict with Jewish law, I changed the law to say that death occurs when the heart ceases to function.
I authored the Get Law, which enacted limited matrimonial protections for Jewish women.
In 1997, I chaired a series of public hearings on Holocaust assets held by Swiss financial institutions. I transformed the testimony we received into a model for tough, comprehensive Holocaust justice legislation.
I advanced legislation barring discrimination in the car rental industry after chassidic and other Orthodox Jews came to me with complaints. I also authored the law that now prevents insurance companies from denying life and health coverage to those who’ve traveled to Israel.
From my first year in our state capital, I succeeded in advancing several kosher laws that were overturned in court. Working with the attorney general, I created a task force of Jewish community leaders, which led to the enactment of the Kosher Law Protection Act of 2004. This year, I sponsored legislation to make sure food inspection violations, including for kosher certification, are available online.
Budget appropriations for the funding of fertility services that are now helping couples bring children into their lives and communities are another part of my record of service in which I take great pride.
I have also fought to ensure that yeshivas and Jewish service agencies receive their fair share of state support. I have taken it upon myself to be the defender of Hatzolah, advancing legislation that affects this outstanding agency.
In this year’s budget, I worked hard to increase funding for mandated services at yeshivas. If the voters of New York pass the $2 billion Smart Schools Bond Act, they will find I have added language guaranteeing that yeshivas will be permitted to use funding to upgrade their classrooms.
More recently, I helped forge an agreement with the city of New York on the placement of special needs children in private schools that will hopefully expedite the reimbursement of tuition costs.
The privilege of serving as Lower Manhattan’s assemblyman and as speaker of the “People’s House of the New York State Legislature” has also enabled me to effect change outside of the borders of the Empire State.
I cannot overstate how proud I am to be in a position to be of service to Israel. Many years ago, I authored an “Arab boycott bill” to prohibit the state from doing business with companies that supported the Arab boycott of Israel. Last year, I passed the Iran Divestment Act, which bars those who invest in Iran’s energy sector from doing business with the state of New York.
Over the years I have led numerous state and national delegations to our Jewish homeland and helped to forge partnerships between the state of New York and Israeli businesses and academic institutions. Most recently, I joined Governor Cuomo, leaders of the State Senate, and New York Jewish leaders on a diplomatic mission to Israel intended to express our solidarity with Israelis as they continue to defend themselves from the scourge of Hamas terrorism.
While I am certainly proud of my record on behalf of our Jewish community, my responsibilities extend far beyond that. I have negotiated multi-billion-dollar budgets, helped to strengthen and reform our education and public health systems, advanced laws to make our communities safer and our environment cleaner, taken actions to increase state investment in affordable housing, roads and bridges, fought for enhanced funding to care for our most vulnerable citizens, and worked with leaders at every level of government to rebuild and revitalize Lower Manhattan.