Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Grace Lee for NY Assembly District 65

Candidate Name: Grace Lee

Office Seeking Election for: NY Assembly District 65

Website: https://www.graceleeforassembly.com/

With the possibility of Donald J. Trump winning (stealing) the next Presidential election and ending democracy and civil rights in the United States, it is more important than ever that we elect progressive, dynamic leaders to the New York State Senate and New York State Assembly.

1. Based upon your life experiences and accomplishments why should we believe you would be a dynamic, progressive leader who would stand up for Civil Rights and Democracy?

I am a community activist and organizer and an involved and concerned parent. I know firsthand how important it is that decisions be grounded in the everyday realities of the district, and I have a proven record of fighting for the most vulnerable in our community and against powerful interests.Before I was elected, I was an events coordinator for Swing Left, organizing thousands of volunteers and raising money for democratic candidates across the country to successfully flip the House in 2018 after Trump was elected President. I co-founded Children First, a parent-led coalition, fighting against a corporate developer trying to build on a Brownfield clean-up site in the South Street Seaport across from two elementary schools. I was also a lead organizer for deaf tenants on the Lower East Side living in deplorable conditions. I partnered with a tenant advocacy group in Lower Manhattan and together we helped the tenants establish a tenants association, organize rallies and stand up to their building’s management company to demand housing justice. As a legislator, I have continued to stand up to fight for our most marginalized. I led the effort to secure $391mm in the budget for public housing and subsidized housing residents statewide. This fall, I stood with sexual abuse survivors of former Columbia OB-GYN Robert Hadden and called for accountability from Columbia for its role in the abuses against over700 women under Columbia’s care and successfully forced the University to take action. I have and will continue to lead through action and conviction, protecting the rights of New Yorkers, defying powerful monied interests, enhancing and safeguarding our democracy, and building a more justice and equitable future for all.

2. What is your involvement in the LGBTQ Civil Rights movement? What candidates have you or are you supporting who are openly LGBTQ? What legislation have you/do you support to further LGBTQ rights? Do you /will you have an LGBTQ liaison in your office? What LGBTQ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer or professional basis?

As an ally, I look to the leadership of my LGBTQ colleagues and community leaders to support important initiatives and funding for the LGBTQ community.

In the budget, I was a proud signer to a number of budget letters led by my colleagues -Assemblymembers Deborah Glick, Danny O’Donnell and Tony Simone supporting the LGBTQ community, including funding to support: The Trevor project to support LGBTQ youth, The Network -NY State LGBT Health and Human Services Network, and the LGBTQ+ Museum.

Some of the bills thatI have co-sponsored that specifically support LGBTQ rights include the Walking While Trans Bill, A1273 establishing the LGBTQ+ advisory board, and A4576 a bill to require school districts to establish policies and proposals regarding the treatment of transgender or gender non-conforming students.

I was proud to show my solidarity with the LGBTQ community this year by walking in the Pride Parade and to bring my daughter to the Drag Story Hour at the Center at a time when these story hours were being politicized and attacked to drive the agenda of right wing conservatives. I am a proud supporter of democratic clubs that uplift that LGBTQ community, including this club and Stonewall Democrats. In addition -as an Events Director for Swing Left -I enthusiastically supported and fundraised for several openly LGBTQ candidates during the 2018 Blue Wave election.

3. What demonstrations, rallies, and protests have you participated in support of LGBTQ issues, African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American Civil Rights, pro-choice legislation, criminal justice issues, and Resist Trump?

I have long been a vocal advocate for our communities -from the earliest resistance protests during the Trump administration such as the women’s marches to protesting against the Chinatown jail in just the past few weeks. I marched in solidarity against the Muslim ban, against anti-Semitic violence in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, and for the Black Lives Matters protests and rallies.

4. Do you support reparations to compensate African Americans for the history of slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic racism in this country?

Yes, I’m a proud co-sponsor of the New York reparations Bill.

5. What are your concrete proposals to address current systemic racism in terms of employment, housing, voting rights, and the criminal justice system in the U.S.?

I am dedicated to dismantling the long and terrible legacies of our racist and discriminatory history. I will fight bias, bigotry, and hate, wherever we find it. I will also fight to center equity in every policy: fully and equitably funded public schools that address historic disenfranchisement; equitable distribution of goods and services so that marginalized communities like communities of color and of immigrants are prioritized for much needed resources; equity in hiring, in healthcare, and in housing. We need to address the continuing effects of redlining on schools, housing, and infrastructure.

. Employment -As a member of the Black Puerto Rican Hispanic Asian Caucus, I have and will continue to support policies that uplift and call for the hiring of MWBE.

. Housing -Housing is a human right. We must make sure that everyone has a safe and dignified place to live. I will fight to address the housing crisis in our state with policies that protect tenants rights, encourage more housing supply, and support public housing residents. We must fight misleading narratives from the real estate industry and developers that try to block us from passing a fair and equitable housing plan in New York. Last year, I was proud to lead the movement to secure $391mm in the state budget for public and subsidized housing residents to fully fund ERAP. I am a proud co-sponsor of Good Cause Eviction, HAVP and TOPA.

. Voting Rights -Now more than ever, it is important that we continue to protect and strengthen our democracy. I support laws to expand voter access and to make it easier for people to vote, as well as good government policies such as the state matching fund program that make it easier for people to engage in our democracy. I ama participant in the state matching funds program.

. Criminal Justice – Recognizing the systemic challenges and injustices embedded in our current system, I support policies that call for reform of our criminal justice system. I am proud to support the Elder Parole Bill, Earned Time Act, Eliminate Mandatory Minimum Bill, and Second Look Act.

6. Will you advocate for elder parole where incarcerated individuals aged 55 and older who have serviced in excess of 15 years obtain parole hearings? Are you a sponsor of the Elder Parole Bill, Assembly 2035? Yes

7. Do you sponsor the Earned Time Act, Assembly 01128 which strengthens and expands “good time” and “earned time” to support rehabilitation efforts? Yes

8. Do you sponsor Eliminate Mandatory Minimum Bill Act, which reduces excessive sentences and enables Judges to look at individual factors and mitigating circumstances? Yes

9. Do you sponsor the Second Look Act, which allows for reconsideration of prison sentences based on changes in law and circumstances? Yes

10. Have you participated, and will you participate in demonstrations and protests in relation to the issues of clemency and parole? Yes

11. Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals?

Yes

12.

Have you and will you visit incarcerated constituents to learn of their conditions?

13.

What are your proposals to have prisons focus more on rehabilitation and less on punishment?

Yes, we must always ensure the just treatment of those who are incarcerated and I will make sure to see their conditions and hear their voices and needs.

I believe rehabilitation in prisons is an investment in people to support their ability to successfully reintegrate back into the community after prison and as a way to reduce recidivism and to benefit communities. I support bills like the Earned Time Act that create incentives for people in prison to follow prison rules and participate in educational, vocational, and rehabilitation programs. In addition we need to fight for adequate funding for programming and support non-profits that do rehabilitative work in prisons.

14. Do you support ending the cruel punishment of solitary confinement, such as was recently mandated by the New York City Council? Yes

15. What are your proposals to facilitate individuals who have recently entered the U.S. to be able to live decently with employment and housing?

As a child of immigrants, this issue is deeply personal to me. Our city is built on the backs of countless generations of immigrant communities seeking a better life for their families. We must do everything we can to protect and uplift our immigrant communities -both those who have roots here and the newly arrived. For those who have recently entered the U.S. and are seeking shelter in New York, we must ensure that our housing supply keeps up with the great needs of New Yorkers and the recent stream of asylum seekers and others.

I also support economic policies that would strengthen immigrant communities like improving wages both by lifting the minimum wage and utilizing prevailing wage requirements, strengthening worker protections, and funding job training programs. In my office and across government, I have and will continue to advocate for greater language access requirements and push for linguistically and culturally accessible outreach for programs and services. But New York City alone cannot meet these desperate needs. The federal government must step up. We need federal relief funds, work authorization, placement

programs, and a streamlined visa and asylum application process. It is inhumane that families are waiting overnight on the street in the freezing cold, hoping to see what few immigration officers are available. I continue to demand that the federal government step up its assistance efforts so that we can fulfill our promise to be the gateway to a better life for all who come to our shores.

16. What proposals do you advocate to combat the cruel and inhumane immigration policies that the Trump Administration commenced and which, to some degree, are still in effect?

The Trump administration and the callous inhumanity it empowered continues to wreak havoc on the lives of immigrant families everywhere.Even now, those forces are attempting to scapegoat migrants as a cause for every problem, never acknowledging that the current situation is a direct result of those cruel policies. I am committed to making sure that New York remains a beacon of hope and liberty and that we build systems and services that will support our immigrant communities. Every migrant must be treated with dignity, provided with safety, and empowered with agency to pursue happiness and a better life for themselves and their families.

17. Do you believe in the decriminalization of sex work?

Yes. Sex work is work. Too often, the criminalization of sex work is used as a legal bludgeon to discriminate against and target people of color, LGBTQ community members, and especially trans women.

18. Do you oppose legislation that promotes the Nordic model?

Sex work is work. We should decriminalize it and allow sex workers to live and work with dignity and in safety. The Nordic model continues to hide and shame sex workers and may drive the trade deeper underground, creating a more dangerous environment than before. By fully decriminalizing sex work, we can remove stigma, improve safety, and ensure that sex workers are treated with dignity. We must, of course, always be wary of exploitation and human trafficking and crack down on any activities that harm sex workers or exploit them.

19. What concrete proposals do you support to lift up women after four years of Trump being President?

We must continue to fight back against the Republican assault on women’s reproductive rights. Reproductive rights must absolutely be protected, both in our state and outside of it. Everyone should have safe access to contraceptives, abortion services, and sexual education. In New York, we are protecting doctors who might provide tele-medicine health care to women out of state and to make sure women can travel and seek reproductive care in our state.

As a working mother with three young daughters,I understand the importance of helping women be able to care for themselves and their families. I support the Governor’s recent proposal to expand paid leave to during pregnancy.

20. Do you support a single-payer universal health care system? Please elaborate.

Yes, I am a co-sponsor of the NY Health Act

21. What have you done to facilitate reproductive rights, including access to contraceptives and abortion services?

I have co-sponsored a number of bills to facilitate reproductive rights, including: A1709 .A bill that provides certain legal protections for reproductive health service providers who provide legally protected health activities and A4091 -A bill that requires each institution within SUNY and CUNY to have at least one vending machine making emergency contraception available for purchase.

22. Will you refuse contributions from individuals or Political Action Committees representing the Real Estate industry, from police or correctional communities? Yes

23. Will you refuse and refund any contributions from executives or corporations complicit in the Trump anti-American agenda? Yes

24. How do you propose that we address the current surge of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism?

Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, like any bias, can be obvious or insipid, can be intentional or implicit. It is an attitude of hatefulness, fear, superiority, or evenof apathy towards Muslims and Jews, real or perceived. Elected officials -and all leaders -must affirmatively and actively confront and stamp out islamophobia and antisemitism and hate wherever it emerges. And just as stoking the hate is vile and unacceptable in leaders, so is apathy, disinterest, or attempting to hide and obscure the problem. These, too, lead to the proliferation of hate. Instead, we must confront the hate, expose it to the light, and stamp it out.

I will always call out and denounce islamophobia and antisemitism.I will support policies, programs and institutions that celebrate Muslim and Jewish culture. I am proud to co-sponsor legislation to make Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha a public holiday in New York and to sign on to letters to support funding for the Jewish and Muslim communities to address safety concerns.

25. Did you or would you have voted for the censure of U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib? No.

26. Do you support an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East?

While I fully support Israel’s right to defend itself and I fully condemn the terrorist attacks on October 7th, we have to make sure we have respect for the lives of both innocent Palestinians and Israelis. We must bring all the hostages home, ensure humanitarian aid is getting to Palestinian civilians and there is a long term two-state solution where Israel and Palestine can live in peace. All of this has to happen. We can and must ensure this happens in addition to ending conflicts and ending tragic violence towards civilians.The reckless actions of the far right government in Israel is jeopardizing the future of not just Palestinian civilians but Israeli civilians as well.

27. Should we condition further aid to Israel? What conditions should we stress that Israel abides by?

I am not a member of Congress but I do believe that aid to foreign countries should go towards strengthening democracy and national security and while also having safeguards to ensure that aid does not harm innocent civilians in any region.

28. Will you refuse funds from Trump-supporting AIPAC?

Yes.

29. What are your concrete proposals to prevent Trump and his cult from taking over this country and ending democracy?

We have seen a significant shift in voting patterns in communities of color from Democrat to Republican in recent years in New York. In order to fightTrump, we must strengthen the Democratic party. Communities of color are a critical voting bloc and we must make sure that the Democratic party is communicating with these voters, in their language, on the issues they care about. On the government side, I have worked to ensure that the issues important to the Asian community are being addressed through policy so that the Asian community feels seen and heard by their Democratic representatives.

30. How can we combat the movement in this country to ban books, prevent colleges from discussing issues and demonizing intelligence as “woke”?

Education, challenge, and the free exchange of ideas are absolutely essential to liberty, justice, and progress. Our educational institutions -schools, libraries, museums -must be celebrated and supported. We must maintain spaces that encourage dialogue, exploration, and oftentimes uncomfortable ideas that challenge our established ways of thinking.

It isn't just about headlines like book bans and college administrator resignations. Valuing education and intellectual freedom starts with equity from the very beginning. That’s why I support making SUNY and CUNY free, increasing equitable school and library funding, and expanding accessibility and equity programs for marginalized communities.

31. As Christopher Columbus caused the death/slavery of thousands, should we replace the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle, and if so, what should replace it? Do you authorize the use of your name for such a purpose?

I don’t have a specific person or idea in mind for replacing the statue, but I do know that I want our city to be celebrating people who fought for justice who uplifted the downtrodden, not those who got rich on oppression.

32. As Edward I Koch caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with AIDS and was blatantly racist, should we rename the former Queensboro Bridge? Do you authorize the use of your name for such a purpose?

Yes and yes.

33. What will you do to support nightlife in New York State? Do you commit to speaking with liquor license applicants and restaurant/nightlife industry representatives before taking a position on policies affecting their businesses?

We need to make sure that New York recovers from the pandemic and that it’s an equitable recovery that works for all. I would push for budgets to advertise nightlife and tourism, offer grants and abatements to small businesses, bars, and restaurants that have been so heavily affected by the virus, and coordinate a citywide push to help make New York’s nightlife exciting and lively once more, bringing back tourists and locals alike. There is no New York with New York nightlife. Yes I will speak with liquor license applicants and industry reps before taking a position on policies affecting their businesses.

34. What is your opinion of Eric Adams as New York City Mayor? Are you involved in finding someone to run for Mayor of New York City?

My job and solemn duty as a member of the Assembly and a leader of my community is to fight to enact good policies, strengthen our city, and safeguard our rights. I will work with anyone to help build more affordable housing, improve public safety, and improve our quality of life. I will work with anyone who genuinely wants to partner on these priorities, and I will call out anyone whenever they are promoting policies that hurt my constituencies.

35. How can we mandate that every community do its share to have affordable housing and care for the recently arrived people?

We must absolutely treat recent arrivals with decency and kindness, providing shelter and care to all who need it. At the same time, far too often the city and the state unfairly place the burden of space on already marginalized communities. Whether in Harlem or Chinatown, which is in my district, we need to stop shoving all of those with needs into the same places.Services should be distributed equitably. All communities should be accessible, welcoming, and equitable. One of the ways we can guarantee dignified and affordable housing for recent arrivals is by guaranteeing dignified affordable housing for all people and breaking the control of the real estate lobby.

36. Are you a sponsor of Good Cause Eviction legislation?

Yes.

37. Do you support allowing legal Immigrants to vote in local elections?

Yes.