Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Yuh-Line Niou for NY Assembly District 65
Candidate Name: Yuh-Line Niou
Office Seeking Election for: New York State Assembly District 65
Campaign Address: Peck Slip Station, P.O Box 10, New York, NY 10272
Campaign Website: nioufornewyork.com
Campaign Telephone:
Campaign Social Media Handles (Facebook/Twitter):
facebook.com/yuhlineniou twitter.com/yuhline instagram.com/yuhline
Campaign Contact (name/phone/email):
Johnson Ya 646 470 0540
ylforny@gmail.com
1. Explain, based on life experiences and accomplishments, why you believe you are best qualified to represent your district.
My parents immigrated to the United States when I was only 6 months old. I grew up like many immigrant kids, with my parents seeking educational and job opportunities. My parents moved us around to many different states, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. I grew up seeing different communities and different ways that government looked and felt. I lived in El Paso when Ann Richards was the Governor. That was the first time I thought about how women could be elected officials! I lived in Washington and was an intern there when Gary Locke was Governor and Washington State had more women in office than men in the legislature. That was when I first thought about the lack of representation in certain communities in government. I started working for a few amazing women legislators: Senator Debbie Regala who I interned for and was a session aide to, Representative Eileen Cody who was the health care chair who I was the Staffer to. I started to see the interconnectedness of all of the policy issues that we worked on piecemeal. I knew that the biggest issues we faced seemed to circle around poverty.
Whether it was environmental injustices that were killing people, or lack of housing, or education funding...I wanted to see how we could end poverty. I worked then for the Statewide Poverty Action Network as their policy person. I regulated the payday lending industry, worked on legislation to stop redlining in the insurance industry, and worked on bills to heal the foreclosure crisis. This work drove me. I knew I needed to take on more to fight more. So, I then followed in my parents’ footsteps and moved to New York to pursue my own Masters degree at CUNY
Baruch. During that time, I chose a fellowship with the US EPA to utilize my environmental science background alongside my policy background to successfully build programs for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs and the Office of Diversity. When I finished my fellowship, I met an alumni of my program at the National Urban Fellows, who was looking to run for office as the first Korean American to win an elected office in New York. He ran, won, and I became Assemblymember Ron Kim’s Chief of Staff where I continued to work on behalf of immigrants, seniors, and our working families. In 2016, when Sheldon Silver was indicted, I was asked to run against his hand picked candidate. I lost that special election, but I ran again in the primary and was able to win the seat as the first Asian American to represent the area.
I am currently the only Asian-American woman representative in the New York State Legislature, and the only candidate running for this seat with over 17 years of state-level experience. My political philosophy stems from my belief that everything is interconnected. We can’t address the affordable housing crisis without also addressing climate change. We can’t protect our vulnerable and marginalized communities without also passing criminal justice reforms and working to decriminalize sex work. This is true everywhere, but it’s particularly true when we’re talking about quality healthcare, diverse representation, and equal protections for all. I think it’s crucial that policymakers take a comprehensive and intersectional approach to governance.
At my core, I’m an organizer and coalition-builder. I believe in linking people together across disciplines and interests in order to best serve our communities. I also believe that policy is layered, and that everyone’s perspectives are valid and necessary when collaboratively creating great policy. We need to make sure that our lawmakers are diverse in order to make sure our multifaceted problems can be looked at from all different angles.
During my 17 years working on state legislation, I’ve dedicated my efforts towards:
Economic justice and fighting poverty through strong consumer protection laws to close loopholes which allow predatory practices that prey on working families and communities of color;
Insisting on a safe and harassment free workplace for all New Yorkers and all workers;
Working as an advocate and organizer on anti-poverty issues by building a broad coalition to fight predatory lending and assist low-income families build financial assets;
Fighting for workers’ right to unionize, prevailing wage, paid sick days, safe staffing, access to affordable health care for all workers and clear definitions of who is an employee and who is an independent contractor;
Advocating for permanent and deeply affordable housing for all;
Fair and transparent elections, and campaign finance reform to support public financing;
Fighting for transparency, language access, and accessibility in government for youth and working families
I’m running for reelection because my community needs someone that listens to their needs and fights for all of us. I have always stood on the side of workers and working families. We need to
take big money out of politics and focus our policy back on serving our most vulnerable communities, many of whom are working people who live in my district. I am proud to always fight on the side of the people.
2. Do you now support or have you ever supported an openly LGBTQ candidate for public office? Yes
3. If applicable, what legislation directly affecting the LGBT community have you introduced or co-sponsored? (indicate accordingly)
GENDA. Prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or expression and includes offenses regarding gender identity or expression under the hate crimes statute. Assembly: A747 (Gottfried) Senate: S1047 (Holyman)
Repeal Walking While Trans. Repeals section 240.37 of the penal law, relating to loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense. Assembly: A654 (Paulin), Senate: S2253 (Hoylman)
Child Victims Act. Provides for the timeliness of commencing criminal and civil action for sexual offenses committed against children. Assembly: A2683 (Rosenthal), Senate: S2440 (Holyman)
Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act. Relates to the decriminalization of sex work. Assembly: A08230 (Gottfried), Senate: S6419 (Salazar)
Expanding Gender Neutral Restrooms In All Public Spaces. Relates to making all single occupancy bathrooms gender neutral in school districts, charter schools, SUNY, CUNY, community colleges, restaurants, bars, mercantile establishments, factories and state owned or operated buildings. Assembly: A6500A (O'Donnell), Senate: S6479 (Salazar)
Comprehensive Sexuality Education which requires comprehensive sexuality instruction for students in grades K-12 which addresses age and developmentally appropriate physical, mental, emotional and social dimensions of human sexuality and reflects the national sexuality education standards. Assembly: A6512 (Nolan), Senate: S4844 (Metzger)
4. What LGBT organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
Stonewall Democrats of NYC NYC Pride
New York Transgender Advocacy Group Equality NY
5. If applicable, what LGBT organizations have you allocated funds to?
Many of our local grassroots and health organizations actively work to support and protect individuals in our LGBTQIA+ community, and I have been proud to fight for funding allocation for groups like DecrimNY, APICHA, and Make the Road.
6. Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBT community?Yes
7. Have you marched in Pride? Which marches and for approximately how many years?
Yes, I have marched in NYC Pride every year since I started working in the NYS legislature for more than 7 years now.
8. Have you employed openly LGBT individuals previously? Do you employ any currently?
Yes, my staff has always included individuals who are openly LGBTIA+ and/or non-binary. Many of my current staff and interns on both my government and campaign teams identify as LGBTQIA+.
9. If you receive the endorsement, do you agree to identify the club on all literature and electronic materials where you list endorsements? Yes
10. What press conferences, demonstrations, rallies and protests in support of LGBT issues, pro choice legislation, criminal justice issues and the Resist Trump Movement have you attended?
I have been proud to stand with many of our most vocal advocates and fighters at numerous press conferences and rallies on issues of decriminalization of sex work, GENDA and repealing the “walking while trans” statue, and bail reform. I have been present at many of the labor rallies and protests in demand for labor protections and safe working conditions. I have been one of the most vocal advocates for the Child Victims Act, and have been proud to stand alongside many fellow survivors in our fight.
11. Have you ever been arrested? If so please explain why and outcome of arrest.
Yes, I have been arrested for protesting with my brothers and sisters in labor against unfair labor practices and unsafe working conditions.
12. Will you advocate and sponsor legislation to mandate the review of sentences of incarcerated individuals over the age of 55 who have served in excess of 15 years to determine if they warrant release? Yes
13. Do you commit to visit constituents who are incarcerated in state prisons such as Bedford Correctional Facility? Yes
14. Do you believe sincere remorse, risk of reoffending and actions taken while incarcerated should be considered over the original crime in determinations of parole? Yes
15. Have you participated in any demonstrations or protests in relation to the issues of clemency and parole? Yes
16. Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals? Yes
17. Do you believe in the decriminalization of sex work? Are you sponsoring the bill introduced by Jessica Ramos?
Yes, I am one of the most vocal advocates for the decriminalization bill, and have been working with the Asian Pacific American Task Force, DecrimNY, and State Senator Jessica Ramos closely on this issue.
18 Will you actively oppose legislation that would implement the dangerous Nordic model instead of decriminalization of prostitution? Yes
19. What proposals will you advocate for to protect immigrants and the further New York as a Sanctuary City?
As an immigrant myself and someone who has experienced anti-immigrant bigotry first-hard, this issue is deeply personal for me. We need to organize and advocate from the grassroots
level all the way up to the federal level to build a true sanctuary environment in New York State. This means occupying ICE offices, gathering at airports to protect and fight for immigrant rights, keeping ICE out of our courthouses, and planning marches and rallies. This also means fighting for legislation on the city, state, and federal level to provide protections for our immigrants and to limit cooperation between local police departments and federal immigration authorities. We need affordable and accessible pathways for citizenship, as well as equitable access to education, employment, and housing. We need language accessibility and representation in our government, schools, and public services. We need to decriminalize poverty which disproportionately affects immigrants and communities of color. Above all, we need to work together and organize as a coalition from all levels of activism in order to effectively build a true sanctuary environment in New York State, one where immigrants and all people are welcomed and represented. Our legislative houses have to stand united on these issues and commit to combatting racism and discrimination in our city, state, and country.
20. Will you advocate, including introducing legislation, to remove public funding from religious schools?Yes
21. Do you support the establishment of supervised drug consumption spaces? Yes
22. Have you ever endorsed any member of the IDC or any candidates who challenged IDC members? Please identify all candidates
NO! IN fact, as this article (https://www.newyorkcountypolitics.com/2020/02/24/yuh-line-niou-kicks-off-re-election-campaign/) indicates, I worked hard to defeat the IDC to give our state a real Democratic majority in the State Senate. I have never endorsed any member of the IDC, and I proudly supported my friends who challenged IDC members including Jessica Ramos, Alessandria Biaggi, and John Liu.
23. Will you commit to hiring a member of the LGBT community to serve as a liaison to the community?
I have always been and always will be committed to hiring a diverse and representative staff including diversity in race, gender LGBTQIA+, and economic background.
24. Will you commit to ensuring diverse LGBT representation among your staff?
Yes
25. Who did you support for office in the following races A) mayor and Public Advocate in 2014 B) President in 2016 C) Governor and Attorney General 2018
I was not in public office in 2013, so no one really wanted my endorsement! But in that primary I voted for John Liu, Tish James, and Scott Stringer
Hillary Clinton for President
Letitia James for Attorney General, did not endorse in Governor race
26. Describe any legislation and policy changes that you support in order to address the ongoing effects of slavery, racism, colonialism, and discrimination.
All policy is intersectional, and when we’re working on legislation that affects our constituents, the city, and state, we need to be actively fighting to dismantle the ongoing effects of slavery, racism, colonialism, and discrimination. These effects visibly manifest in our fight for economic justice, our unequal education system, and in our housing crisis.
To that end, I believe these are the top issues we need to focus on to dismantle this system of inequity that continues to oppress our marginalized and vulnerable communities:
Economic Justice, including ensuring a prevailing and living wage for workers (including public utility workers); closing the racial wealth gap by increasing access to financial services and ending redlining; ensuring public money works for public good by ending the public financing of the fossil fuel industry, enforcing the Community Reinvestment Act and creating a public banking system, fighting for fair and equitable e-bike legislation; demanding higher taxes on the wealthy, and removing the barriers that keep people in poverty by removing asset limits on public assistance programs to ensure people can save up instead of forcing people to spend down.
Education, including getting schools the CFE funding they are owed; ending the barriers and inequalities (including those with regards to foundation aid/CFE funding) that have led to such deeply segregated schools; and combating the school-to-prison pipeline.
Housing, including fully funding public housing and having more oversight over NYCHA in order to address the horrifying conditions in New York’s public housing; working to end homelessness holistically by addressing the increased costs of living and housing while also treating cycles of addiction and violence and ensuring that people are not becoming homeless in the first place; and leading the fight for what ultimately turned out to be the most significant strengthening of tenant protections in a generation.
27. What legislation or other policy changes do you support in order to make college and graduate school affordable for poor, working-class, and middle-class Americans and to alleviate the crushing loan debt that many students and alumni are facing?
As an alumna of CUNY-Baruch College, I understand the importance of quality and affordable higher education in our city and state, and recognize the role that higher education can have on giving lower income individuals, immigrants and communities of color a stronger path to the middle class. As a State, we need to fight a new deal for our public higher education system by demanding full public funding for CUNY, no tuition and fee increases, and a plan for adding the number of full-time faculty and counselors that CUNY actually needs. We also need to pay our faculty better. Adjunct professors are woefully underpaid in both systems and their roles are key to building the future leaders in our State. Additionally, the State’s continued negillence of CUNY/SUNY facilities parallels the State’s negligence of many of our public systems, and sends the message that they do not care about New Yorkers. Our students and teachers deserve better, and our community deserves quality and affordable public higher education.
I support cancellation of student debt; and the expansion of loan forgiveness programs to include health care workers, more teachers and others. Additionally, we need to waive SUNY Graduate assistant fees that cut into the salary of our working students. We should not support a “pay-to-work” system and instead look at ways to uplift our CUNY/SUNY students and provide opportunities for career growth.As part of this, I fully and strongly support the rights of graduate students to unionize. We must pass progressive revenue generating bills such as the corporate stock buyback tax, the pied-a-terre tax, and the Billionaire Wealth Tax. The revenue from these bills should go directly back into fully funding our public higher education system and to help alleviate the loan debt that our students and alumni are facing. We need to be investing in our students and alumni to build pathways for career advancement and economic growth, not cutting spending to key programs through an austerity budget.
28. Do you support a single-payer universal health care system? Please elaborate.
I am a strong supporter of a single-payer universal health care system. I’m currently a co-sponsor of A5248 also known as the New York Health Act which will establish a single-payer healthcare system in New York State which will serve our residents regardless of income,
pre-existing conditions, or any other nefarious and dubious reasons health insurance companies use to deny people coverage. Single-payer universal health care is critical for ensuring our community is healthy and safe, and will refocus healthcare on preventative care and preparation rather than crisis management like what we are seeing with this pandemic.
29. Discuss your stance on reproductive rights, including access to contraceptives and abortion services.
Throughout my career, I have been a fierce advocate for reproductive health, rights, and justice. In the Assembly, I’ve co-sponsored pieces of legislation to protect and expand access to affordable, high quality reproductive healthcare in New York for all — regardless of income or zip code. I helped pass and supported landmark legislation for reproductive rights such as the Reproductive Health Act, paid maternity leave, and equal pay. As access to abortion is under a strategic and unprecedented assault from the Trump Administration and extreme anti-choice legislators across the country, New York is on the frontlines of this fight in many ways. It’s more important than ever that we secure our rights and make reproductive healthcare truly accessible, affordable, and inclusive. I will continue fighting to protect reproductive health, and I look forward to championing further meaningful legislation.
Additionally, the connection between reproductive freedom and economic justice is crystal clear. By supporting and enacting policies like paid family or medical leave, universal single-payer health care, or raising the minimum wage and eliminating lower wages for tipped workers, we can start to level the playing field. If we are going to fight for access to reproductive healthcare, we have to make it truly accessible. And it’s not accessible if you don’t have insurance, can’t take time off work, or can’t afford transportation to the doctor, childcare, or medical fees and prescriptions. This is why I worked with my sisters and brothers in organized labor to fight for a
$15 minimum wage and why I’m working to pass single-payer, universal healthcare for every New Yorker. I also supported bills related to free feminine hygiene products in institutions like schools and shelters, and the elimination of the ‘pink tax’.
When we’re talking about reproductive health and justice, it’s important to remember how these policies intersect with the many different issues affecting women, from economic justice to justice for victims of sexual harassment. In order to truly fight for reproductive health and justice, we need to advocate on all fronts in our legislature and create intersectional legislation that reflects the lived experiences of women and women of color.
30. Will you refuse money from individuals or Political Action Committees representing the real estate industry?Yes
31. Will you refuse and refund any contributions from executives at corporations complicit in the Trump agenda?Yes
32. Are you against the opening of casinos in New York owned and controlled by Trump mega-donor Sheldon Adelson?Yes
33. Will you cosponsor the legislation to prohibit evictions without good cause (previously S2892A)?Yes
34. Will you push for the passage of Home Stability Support (HSS) to bridge the difference between the public assistance shelter allowance and fair market rents for NY's 95,000 homeless?Yes
35. What additional information would you like Jim Owles to consider when we are making our endorsements decisions?
I deeply respect groups like Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, and look forward to the opportunity to work with you to advance our prpgressive goals and fight back against the many forms of bigotry we still face in this nation. Movements are built by individuals and organizations coming together to fight for change, representation, and justice. I have fought for these values all my life, and have been proud to work alongside many Jim Owles members. With our movement focused on people power and a progressive voice, we secured major wins for the people of NY in the past four years including the strongest rent laws in recent history, the Child Victims Act and GENDA, and bold criminal justice reform. I am proud to have worked alongside the many grassroots organizations working on the ground fighting for a more representative and progressive New York.
But equally importantly, I believe that in evaluating candidates, it is important to look for more than the “correct” answers on issues where most progressives and Democrats agree. We have strong Democratic majorities in both houses of the legislature right now, which is a good thing, but as we consider candidates for election or re-election, it is not enough to have people who will vote the right way. We need true leaders, champions on the issues we care about, who have fought for justice and progressive values outside of elective office, and who will fight the same fights inside the closed doors of the Democratic Caucus to make sure that whatever bills are voted on are not watered-down measures that look good but still leave too many out in the cold. That has been my life and my career, and I look forward to carrying on this fight.so long as I am able.
Endorsements public as of 5/6/20
LABOR UNIONS AND PROGRESSIVE GROUPS
WFP, Working Families Party, https://workingfamilies.org/
CWA, Communications Workers of America, https://cwa-union.org/ APALA, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, https://www.apalanet.org/ APBA, Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association, https://www.nycapba.org/ PEF, Public Employees Federation, https://www.pef.org/
32BJ, https://www.seiu32bj.org/ NYSUT, https://www.nysut.org/
Make the Road Action, http://www.maketheroadaction.org/ Citizen Action NY, https://citizenactionny.org/ AmplifyHER, https://www.amplifyher.nyc/
Empire State Indivisible, https://www.empirestateindivisible.org/ The Jewish Vote, http://jewishvote.org/
New York Communities for Change, https://www.nycommunities.org/ Downtown Women for Change, https://www.downtownwomenforchange.org/ Planned Parenthood Empire State Votes, https://www.ppesvotes.org/portal/ Equality New York Action, https://www.equalityny.org/
Women of Color for Progress, h ttps://www.womenofcolorforprogress.org/ Eleanor’s Legacy, https://www.eleanorslegacy.com/
Stonewall Democrats of NYC, h ttp://sdnyc.org/
New York League of Conservation Voters, https://nylcv.org/ Emily’s List, https://www.emilyslist.org/
Tenants PAC, www.tenantspac.org
LOCAL DEMOCRATIC CLUBS
Grand Street Dems, https://grandstreetdems.nyc/
United Democratic Organization, https://uniteddems.weebly.com/
New Downtown Democrats, h ttps://newdowntowndems.nationbuilder.com/ Democratic Club 504, h ttp://www.the504dems.org/history.html
CODA LES, https://twitter.com/coda_les
DEMOCRATIC DISTRICT LEADERS
AD65 District Leader Caroline Laskow AD65 District Leader Vittoria Fariello AD65 District Leader Daisy Paez AD65 District Leader Jenny Low AD74 District Leader Aura Olavarria AD65 District Leader Justin Yu
AD65 District Leader Lee Berman AD65 District Leader Paul Newell AD74 District Leader John Blasco
TENANTS ASSOCIATION LEADERS
NYCHA LaGuardia Houses TA President, Felicia Cruickshank NYCHA LES Infill TA President, Delores Morales
Grand St Guild Tenants Association President, Sandra Strother