Tom Abinanti is up for re-election in the New York State Assembly’s 92nd District. He has fought hard for all of us and deserves our full support. Over his past six terms, he has co-sponsored nearly 500 bills that have passed both houses and has been the prime sponsor of nearly 100 alone. Half of those were in just his last two terms: it takes time to move from the back bench to the front, building consensus with colleagues who do not share the same point of view. There are 150 seats in the Assembly, and that means getting at least 76 people to agree. This requires compromise. New York State and Westchester are especially diverse with many cultural backgrounds and varying needs; they encompass large urban and rural populations, with many residents sympathetic to the needs and demands of large cities at one end, and many who feel just the opposite at the other. This means that almost no one is happy with every one of Tom’s positions, but despite that he has stood up and taken nuanced positions on many difficult issues, defending all of us at our most vulnerable.
Tom is the Chair of the People with Disabilities Committee, and his interest in protecting his constituents does not stop there, for we are all vulnerable. He has sponsored successful legislation to protect our environment, a woman’s right to choose, voting rights, food relief, retirement benefits, property tax relief, predatory banking and gun control, to name just a few. His attention ranges from large policy objectives to focused and practical implementation. He has protected us from pothole damage and helped smaller municipalities regulate on-street parking. More critically, he has passed legislation banning 3-D printed handguns, while also requiring supermarkets to make excess food available to food banks. He has passed laws protecting striped bass, lobsters, and most recently, pollinating birds and insects from new forms of destructive neonic pesticides. Now most urgently, he has sponsored three bills to protect a woman’s right to choose: a NYS Constitutional amendment protecting reproductive freedom, an act to protect clinic access, and patient and provider protections from other states attempting to criminalize healthcare legally provided in New York.
Tom works hard for us, does not take no for an answer, and knows how to get things done. Please remember to cast your vote for Tom Abinanti for Assembly on June 28, 2022.
Morgen Fleisig
Trustee, Village of Hastings-on-Hudson
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
