October 2nd Meeting to Move Our Progressive Agenda
At the last State Committee meeting we achieved a resounding victory in our long-standing efforts against the so-called IDC! The Progressive agenda moved forward when we passed our Progressive Caucus resolution condemning the IDC for caucusing with State Senate Republicans, and demanding that those Senators caucus with the Senate Democrats or no longer run on the Democratic Party line.
By caucusing with the Republicans, the IDC has effectively blocked progressive and just plain common sense legislation, as well as aligned itself with the Republicans who incubated Donald Trump, and we have succeeded in getting the New York State Democratic Committee on record demanding that these Democrats act like real Democrats, not fake ones, or leave the Party.
This is an issue that the Progressive Caucus has fought for years – and kudos here to our Vice Chair Elisa Sumner who kept this important issue front and center. The importance of finally getting the State Party on record on this issue – and by extension the State Party’s real head, Governor Andrew Cuomo, cannot be overstated.
Our next Progressive Caucus meeting will be on October 2nd at 9:30 a.m. and we have a very exciting and full progressive agenda to build on our success.
Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, a co-founder of our Caucus, will be our guest speaker and will be discussing her draft legislation on Election Law Reform: how can we empower duly elected County Committee members in filling vacancies in State elected offices – most recently in the case of Senator Daniel Squadron stepping down mid-term – without disempowering our rural Democratic colleagues?
We will also be discussing several proposed resolutions that we intend to raise on the floor of the State Committee meeting:
- building on our successful anti-IDC resolution, we will put forward a resolution stating that the State Committee will not provide any pass through or in-kind funding of any IDC member;
- a resolution calling for greater budget transparency on the part of the State Committee;
- a resolution dedicating a certain percentage of the State Committee budget to the support of local Democratic campaigns.
In addition, we will consider the ongoing issue of Bylaws Reform. At the July meeting we passed an important revision that finally made Meeting notices and the submission of resolutions congruent, as well as a resolution that essentially cleaned up improperly updated Bylaws language. We also passed a resolution agreeing that the State Party would form a Committee to consider overall Bylaws Reform. Those Bylaw Reforms have not yet been reflected in the State Party minutes or distributed Bylaws, and we will be moving from the floor to guarantee that they are. The three remaining Bylaw Reform resolutions will be coming to the floor of the full committee for a vote.
At the last State Committee meeting we put forward a resolution regarding Sanctuary State legislation for immigrants. Mayor Joanne Yepsen of Saratoga Springs and others spoke about the critical role that immigrants play in their local economies, as well as the larger community. Since the original legislative sponsor Francisco Moya is now leaving the State Assembly and running for the City Council, the current legislation is still being re-written to try to ensure that New York does not lose important Federal funding. As a result, the Sanctuary State resolution was significantly revised and passed as a general statement of support for the rights of immigrants and New York’s long-standing support for the rights of immigrants.
Lastly, as we announced at the last Progressive Caucus meeting, we will be holding our Executive Committee elections.
For those of us who will arrive in Rye on Sunday evening, Vice Chair Elisa Sumner, Treasurer Dan Cohen, and I will all be there, and we plan to caucus informally at the planned reception. If that reception is cancelled, we will instead be meeting in the hotel bar.
In resistance and solidarity,
Rachel Lavine, Chair
