PACE Candidate Questionnaire
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50 Broadway • Suite 1001 • NY, NY • 10004 • Phone: (212) 668-0050 ext #233• Fax: (212) 668-0305 Website: www.naswnyc.org/PACE • E-Mail: [email protected] PACE Candidate Questionnaire Candidate’s name: Marc Landis Campaign Address: 57 West 84th Street, New York, NY 10024 Campaign Phone: (646) 820-2013 Campaign Email: [email protected] Office Sought: City Council District 6 Party Affiliation: Democrat and Working Families Name and title of person completing this form: Marc Landis, candidate Before PACE’s specific questions, here are some broad underlying principles from both our sister chapter, NASW-New York State Chapter, which covers the rest of New York State other than New York City, as well as our own priorities. · NASW-NYS is concerned about a range of issues that affect the quality of life for all people in New York State, the ability of social workers to provide quality services, and the allocation of public funds for these services. NASW-NYS supports the development and maintenance of services and the allocation of public funds to meet the basic human needs of all New Yorkers and the maintenance of critical human rights protections needed to assure their equitable treatment. · NASW-NYS is committed to ensuring that every New Yorker has access to the resources and services necessary to maintain at least a minimum standard of living through social safety nets such as the welfare grant, Medicare, and Medicaid. · NASW-NYS advocates for a health care system that provides access to health and mental health care for all New Yorkers, without discrimination based on type of diagnosis, type of health plan, or financial status. · NASW-NYC’s priorities include addressing issues related to social work licensing in New York State, advocating for funding for student loan forgiveness, as well as assuring that the public, including government, human service programs, and the media understand the value and contribution of professional social workers. · NASW-NYC believes that the issue of poverty continues to be a major problem in New York City, yet, it is not being adequately addressed. We see the response to poverty as too often “being swept under the rug”. One remedy to this is for NASW-NYC and members of the social work profession to bring issues relating to poverty more fully to light. Thousands of social workers in New York City work with people who live in or near poverty and are intimately aware of the challenges that low income creates for individuals, families and communities. 1 · While poverty is a major issue in its own right, we also believe that understanding the relationship between poverty, diversity and multiculturalism in the City is essential, along with the oppressive nature caused by all of these factors, in combination. The intersection of these issues in the lives of the people of New York also needs to be our concern. · We would add to these points that world climate change threatens the well-being of all the world’s people, and expect that candidates for public office will develop policy platforms on state and local environmental issues such as fracking while promoting national and international measures as well. In addition to our interest in your policy platform or legislative history in regard to these issues, please provide a brief answer to these specific questions: Income 1. New York City has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. However, the level of income disparity is alarming, with poverty and homelessness at record levels. How would you advocate for all New Yorkers to enjoy the benefits of the wealth generated by our society? The level of income disparity in New York City is not only alarming, but the disparity continues to increase at an accelerating rate. Challenging poverty means raising incomes and providing support for financially challenged individuals and families. We need to boost wages through minimum wage increases (indexed for inflation so we don’t have to repeat the fight every few years), implementation of “prevailing wage” requirements for government contractors, expanded opportunities for M/WBE contractors, and improved health care benefits. I will also press our Albany representatives to pass the New York State Fair Pay Act. Creating new jobs and offering workplace training is also part of the mix – I have proposed a tax credit for small neighborhood businesses which create good-paying jobs that include health benefits and paid sick leave (even if they are not currently required to do so by statute). The increase in the numbers of homeless individuals and families in NYC is driven primarily by economics – breadwinners who lose their jobs, and families who cannot make ends meet, especially given the lack of available affordable housing. The extraordinary expense of providing “emergency” homeless housing adds insult to injury. The only solution to addressing economically-driven homelessness is improving economic conditions for these individuals and families – providing transitional housing while moving people toward permanent affordable housing, providing job training, health care and other support services so that those suffering from homelessness get a helping hand to get back on their feet. For individuals who face the challenge of homelessness as a result of mental or physical health issues, enhanced social services outreach, including case management services provided by social workers and other health care providers, are essential to bring the necessary resources to those in need. 2 Hurricane Sandy aftermath 1. What are your plans on how to address the needs of the victims of Hurricane Sandy? Once the triage efforts for individuals affected by “superstorm” Sandy were concluded, much of the City’s focus has been on infrastructure issues – retrofitting older buildings, repairing our transit system, protecting NYC from the next storm, and rebuilding or demolition of individual homes. Unfortunately, much less attention has been paid to providing support for people who lost their homes and surrounding communities – our first priority must be to provide both financial and human support to the victims. Many social workers have volunteered and continue to volunteer in this effort, but the task is too large to be administered by volunteers alone. In the absence of daily news coverage, people are quick to forget about other issues – especially the impact on families and children who have been displaced from their communities, and may not have the support in place to continue with their education. As the affected individuals and communities go through the stages of grief, especially as we approach the anniversary of the storm, we need to provide ongoing support to storm victims as well as the responders who have given so much of themselves over the last year. Health 1. In January 2014, the Affordable Care Act of ObamaCare goes into effect, in which all Americans are expected to be enrolled in health insurance. What do you envision as NYC government’s role in implementing the Act and assisting City residents in accessing health care? The most critical role for NYC government in implementing the Affordable Care Act is education – in short, ensuring that every City resident has the necessary information to understand how to obtain the right health insurance. I am a board member of the Public Policy and Education Fund of New York; we are working with the Community Service Society as part of the “Navigator” program that will assist individuals and small employers in purchasing health insurance through the exchanges to be created under the Affordable Care Act. I remain a strong supporter of single-payer universal health care, and will continue to fight to accomplish this in New York. 2. We share a commitment to the public and individual health of this city’s residents. How would you ensure that the health care needs of all New Yorkers are met, especially pertinent in consideration of the closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan and the recommended closure of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn? The closures of St. Vincent’s and LICH and the pending merger of Mt. Sinai with Continuum reinforce our understanding of the fragile financial condition of our health care system. Inevitably, more of the burden will be shifted to our municipal hospital system, which means standing up to protect the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation from severe financial pressure and proposed budget cuts. 3 The amount of Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) funding from the Federal government is expected to decline significantly in the coming years, which means that we will need to join with our Albany representatives in advocating to make sure that New York City receives the lion’s share of remaining DSH dollars, along with other true safety-net institutions. Should our advocacy efforts be unsuccessful at the state level, I would also commit to increasing the city’s share of the burden, hopefully on a temporary basis, to make sure the bedrock of our public health efforts has adequate funding to fulfill its mission. 3. What is your position on protecting a woman’s right to reproductive choice? Do you support women’s access to emergency contraception? I fully support a woman’s right to choose, and emergency contraception should be available and affordable for those who choose to use it. I am proud of the work that I have done to preserve and expand reproductive rights, including the following efforts: • In early 1994, following anti-abortion protests, the owner of 1995 Broadway denied a renewal lease to Lincoln Women’s Services, the only abortion provider on the Upper West Side. As the newly-elected president of Community Free Democrats, I led our Democratic club activists in working closely with then Assembly Member Scott Stringer, then-District Leader Eric Schneiderman and others – first, to raise public awareness and later, to bring public pressure on the landlord to reconsider its decision.