NRCC

A new poll of NY-17 shows DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney is losing to Republican Mike Lawler 49%-45%.

It turns out all the heat Maloney drew from his fellow Democrats after he bullied Mondaire Jones out of the district was well-deserved.

NRCC Comment: “Democrats should be panicking that their midterm fates lie with Sean Patrick Maloney, who will now have to siphon off DCCC resources to save himself. New Yorkers don’t like politicians who put criminals first.”  – NRCC Spokeswoman Samantha Bullock

New York Post

By Zach Williams

It was once unthinkable, but a path to Republican control of the House of Representatives could run through New York.

A new poll showing Republicans with the edge in the newly-drawn Congressional District 17 gives Democrats one more reason to worry how the GOP could capture the U.S. House this November by flipping swing districts across the Empire State in the midterm elections.

GOP Assemblyman Mike Lawler (R-Rockland) has a 49% to 45% lead over Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Hudson Valley) ahead of the Nov. 8 election, according to data released Tuesday by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The poll by the GOP firm McLaughlin & Associates, which had a margin of error of 4.5%, shows GOP attacks are endangering the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee head Maloney while he oversees his party’s national efforts to defend its eight-seat majority in the House this November.

“I will fight to cut taxes and spending to tackle inflation and end cashless bail to restore safety in our communities,” Lawler told The Post. “That’s what this election is about and the poll numbers bear it out.”

The race is among a half dozen races that appear to be competitive this year after the state’s highest court invalidated plans for a so-called “Hochulmander” that would have left the GOP with just a couple super-red seats.

“Democrats blew it by getting greedy with congressional lines in New York; now they’re paying the price with competitive races all across the state. That’s great news for voters who haven’t had a chance to vote in truly competitive elections for years,” Republican political consultant William O’Reilly said in a text.

Republicans are also aiming to flip the congressional seat of retiring Rep. Tom Suozzi on Long Island as well as District 18 and District 19 in the Hudson Valley – while defending three Long Island races, another on Staten Island and a seventh in the Syracuse area.

No other state has a critical mass of swing districts like New York, with the non-partisan FiveThirtyEight website rating three races (two in the Hudson Valley and in Syracuse) as toss-ups in New York – more than any other state.

“People from around the country looking to help win battleground districts are either going to discover what it’s like to be stuck on the Long Island Expressway or get to enjoy the fall foliage in the Hudson valley and upstate,” Democratic political consultant Evan Stavisky quipped.

FiveThirtyEight gives Lawler a 10% chance of beating Maloney, who recently reported having about $2.4 million to spend compared to $435,000 for Lawler, who is receiving help from the national party.

“Lawler is a radical MAGA Republican whose dangerous, out-of-touch positions are incompatible with this district; he supported the decision to overturn Roe, voted against bills to protect reproductive rights in New York, and opposes common-sense gun safety reforms,” Maloney spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said in response to what she called the “pathetically skewed” poll showing her boss down.

Stubborn inflation could boost Lawler in the homestretch of the campaign and in other races where Republicans are locked in a fierce fight with Democrats for control of the U.S. House.

Incumbent Rep. Nicole Malliotakis has a 93% chance of beating ex-Rep. Max Rose in a rematch of their 2020 race while GOP nominee Nicholas LoLota has a 69% chance of winning an open race for Congressional District 1 on Long Island, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Maloney remains the favorite to win reelection, according to the website, while Democratic nominees Laura Gillen and Robert Zimmerman have edges in open Long Island races against Republicans Anthony D’Esposito and George Santos.

The contests pitting newly-elected Rep. Pat Ryan (D-Hudson Valley) against Assemblyman Colin Schmitt (R-Orange) and the open Syracuse race between Democrat Francis Conole and Republican Brandon Williams remain a toss-ups amid Democratic hopes that Ryan’s victory in a “bellwether” August special election might hint at more victories to come.

But an encouraging poll for Lawler has him and other Republicans bullish about winning back control of the U.S. House with the help of voters in supposedly super blue New York where Democrats like Maloney are supposed to feel safe.

“On Nov. 8, we will defeat Nancy Pelosi’s campaign manager and serve as a check on the Biden administration,” Lawler vowed Tuesday.

New York Post

By Carl Campanile, David Meyer and Zach Williams

Congestion pricing is becoming the GOP’s sharpest political tool against Democrats in key New York midterm races.

Republicans are trying to use the controversial plan to impose a big toll on motorists entering Midtown Manhattan against Dems in races for governor, state Legislature and even Congress.

Growing fights over toll exemptions have only added fuel to attacks.

“Instead of this Hunger Games-like battle over special exemptions from the new congestion pricing scam, the better solution is to just stop this Hochul Hike altogether,” GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin tweeted Aug. 28.

Drivers could face $9 to $23 in fees during peak hours to drive into parts of Manhattan by late 2023, according to the MTA’s preliminary congestion pricing plan.

Disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-run state Legislature approved tolling drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street in 2019 to curb congestion and raise an annual $1 billion to help finance mass transit.

The plan puts some commuters in a bind. Many motorists in the outer-boroughs and suburbs want improvements to subway and commuter rail lines but don’t want to pay the new toll — and are clamoring for exemptions or discounts.

Hochul, who was Cuomo’s hand-picked lieutenant governor in the administration when the tolling plan got the green light, backs it.

“I support congestion pricing, 100%,” Hochul said during a Democratic primary debate for governor in June.

Zeldin, her Republican rival for governor from Long Island, has seized on the issue with growing intensity.

“At a time when they need financial help the most, Kathy Hochul wants to turn the screws on struggling New Yorkers upward of another $34.50 a day,” Zeldin said in a Post Op-Ed column, citing record inflation as hurting already struggling New Yorkers.

“As if it wasn’t bad enough that this Hochul Hike would raise another $1 billion a year on the backs of hardworking New Yorkers, with no changes that would force the MTA to spend this taxpayer money more efficiently or effectively, the kicker is, historically, congestion pricing has failed spectacularly at its stated goals,” he added.

It costs the MTA far more per square mile to build a new subway track than anywhere in the world, reports reveal, blamed in part on lax union work rules. 

Zeldin has claimed congestion pricing has been a bust in London and critics worry diverting traffic away from Manhattan will just send it to poor, already traffic-choked areas of The Bronx and elsewhere.

The toll plan has also emerged as a major issue in state legislative races, particularly on Long Island, where Republican candidate Jack Martins faces off against Democratic incumbent Sen. Anna Kaplan in Nassau County’s 7th District.

“Congestion pricing will hurt middle class families here on Long Island. These are the men and women, police officers, firefighters, construction  office and service workers who will be forced to pay this tax, having had little say in how the program was enacted, designed and implemented,” said Martins, a former three-term state senator.

“It’s not only bad for their own family budgets, already stretched by inflation, but also damaging for our region’s economy and growth. These impacts must be recognized and addressed.”

Kaplan, who voted for congestion pricing as part of the state budget in 2019, defended her stance during a recent MTA hearing on the plan, calling the program one that “stands to be a huge win for our region — $1 billion invested annually in our mass transit and our subway.”

Kaplan also noted $100 million or 10% of the revenues will be earmarked for the Long Island Rail Road, and claimed the program will prevent fare hikes for LIRR commuters.

“When we set out to enact congestion pricing in 2019, we were trying to address chronic problems impacting — traffic and the lack of investment in our public transit.,” she said. “Unfortunately, the pandemic has only made these problems worse, straining finances at the MTA and putting new investment at the Long Island Rail Road at risk.”

She did say any carve-outs or exemptions should be done fairly by region.

Asked about Martins’ criticism of the plan, a Kaplan spokesman said, “Either Jack Martins doesn’t believe Long Islanders deserve new trains or he’d rather enact a real commuter tax by raising ticket prices for LIRR riders to pay for them.”

Congestion pricing also has become fodder in races for Congress.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who represents Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, recently held a press conference with New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer to denounce the plan.

“The fact that the City, State, and MTA are proposing a congestion tax to make up for lost revenue after they’ve received billions in federal assistance and opportunities to apply for matching grants through the federal infrastructure bill is absurd and goes to show how mismanaged the authority is,” Malliotakis said.

“Go after toll evaders, turnstile jumpers, and make New York City’s transit safe so more residents and tourists ride, but stop treating New Yorkers and American taxpayers like ATMs. The MTA is a notorious blackhole and the Inspector General should audit every federal dollar the MTA has received. Enough is enough.”

GOP candidate Michael Lawler, a member of the state Assembly who’s running against Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in Hudson Valley’s 17th Congressional District, also is beating the drum against the toll.

“A congestion pricing tax will divert truck traffic into areas with some of the highest asthma rates in the country,” Lawler said in an Aug. 25 statement.

Revealing how politically fraught the issue is, even some Democratic candidates are distancing themselves and outright opposing the Midtown toll plan approved by fellow Democrats.

While Lawler has attacked Maloney on the issue, the incumbent Dem told The Post on Sunday he too opposes the current plan.

“I strongly oppose any congestion pricing proposal that would unfairly penalize commuters from the Hudson Valley who play a vital role in our state’s economy,” he said. 

Max Rose, the former Democratic congressman in a rematch against Malliotakis in the 11th Congressional District, also slammed the plan as cooked up by “idiotic bureaucrats.” Malliotakis defeated him in 2020.

“Congestion pricing masquerades as a climate initiative but it is actually a thinly veiled effort designed by idiotic bureaucrats to generate revenue on the backs of outer borough residents who have no access to public transit. The state must do everything in its power to stop it in its tracks,” said Rose.

Transit advocates said the tolling plan will become popular following implementation, despite the doomsday statements from “pandering politicians.”

“Everywhere it’s been implemented, congestion pricing has been less popular before it starts than afterwards. The fact that we’ve had an exceptionally long and windy road to implementation means it’s no surprise that pandering politicians of all stripes have come out against the one policy that will fix the subway, speed emergency response times, and make it easier to breathe in New York,” said Riders Alliance spokesman Danny Pearlstein.

“Jack Martins spent years fighting against a third track to relieve train congestion and end car traffic backups at grade crossings on Long Island. He left office and the project got built. That was in his own neighborhood, so it’s not surprising he doesn’t care about congestion and air quality in Manhattan either.”

Times Herald-Record

By John Meore

Assemblyman Mike Lawler on why he feels the GOP will flip the house to a Republican majority.

News 12

By Diane Caruso

Rockland officials are upset after the MTA released its new details on its long fought over congestion pricing plan on Wednesday.

“It is a terrible idea and nothing more than a tax on suburban residents,” said state Assembly Member Mike Lawler.

Lawler, who’s running for Congress this year, introduced legislation in 2021 to repeal the plan and urged more local state lawmakers to sign on. He argued the MTA needs to do more for riders in Rockland and to create a one-seat ride.

“With the funds, there has been no commitment to increase investment in Rockland County,” he added. “So why should Rockland residents, who already have a value gap, pay more and get less?”

New details say congestion pricing could cost motorists $9 to $23 to enter below 60th Street in Manhattan depending on which plan is chosen. The Traffic Mobility Review Board, which would decide the costs and exemptions, does not have a Rockland representative.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day wants there to be no charge or a discount for residents, many of whom he says work in the city as first responders.

The Journal News

By MaryEllen Odell

The Hudson Valley, New York State and the country are at a crossroads.

With inept leadership in Washington, D.C., and a party in power that is incapable of delivering real relief to the American people, it’s time for commonsense leaders who will work across the aisle to get things done.

Mike Lawler is that kind of leader. Just look at his record in the state Assembly. 

In the wake of the horrific Uvalde shooting, Lawler’s impassioned speech on the floor moved the majority to pass Alyssa’s Law, a measure that will protect schools and save the lives of children in the Hudson Valley.

When volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel from across the Hudson Valley expressed their concerns about the high cost-of-living, Lawler introduced and helped pass legislation that gave these brave first responders a 10% property tax exemption.

Amid the dramatic rise in inflation, soaring gas prices, and surging home energy costs, Lawler introduced legislation to suspend the gas tax, provide a tax credit to families hit with increased electrical bills and pushed for the state to suspend the sales tax on a number of everyday household items, to try and help folks get through these difficult economic times.

Lawlee also worked in a bipartisan fashion to address anti-Semitism in our state, passing legislation that will ensure every child in New York State receives a thorough education on the Holocaust, ensuring we never forget and never let it happen again.

Meanwhile, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney was voting with President Joe Biden 100% of the time.  But it’s worse than that.  Maloney didn’t just vote this disastrous economic agenda into reality — he was the person most singularly responsible for pushing Biden’s agenda through the Congress.  An agenda that has crushed working families, seniors, small businesses and young people just starting out.

See, at home, Maloney pretends to be a moderate, but the reality is that Maloney is an unbending partisan who cares more about catering to wealthy special interests and radical fringe groups within his own party.

Make no mistake, Maloney’s radical record goes beyond economics. In fact, it was Maloney who led the charge for cashless bail and amplified voices in his party calling to defund the police and, worse, attack police. No wonder police morale and recruitment are at historic lows and crime is soaring.

That’s not the leadership folks in the Hudson Valley need or deserve. 

We need Lawler in D.C. to get this record inflation and spending under control, to stand up to Russia and China, to secure our border and crack down on the drug cartels that are driving the opioid crisis, to get the SALT tax cap repealed and to advocate for commonsense policies on crime, where victims receive justice and criminals get punished.

Lawler was recently endorsed by Pete King, the popular, no-nonsense, former congressman from Long Island.  Pete was a model of bipartisan public service and someone who always delivered results.  

That’s the kind of congressman Lawler will strive to be.  As a new father to his little girl, Julianna, Lawler knows the stakes are high.  America is at a crossroads and is dangerously heading down the wrong path.

It’s time for a positive change. It’s time to elect Lawler to Congress.

MaryEllen Odell is the Putnam County Executive.

New York Post

By Carl Campanile

Republicans have a shot at stealing a New York congressional seat from Democrats — and knocking out their chief national campaign strategist to boot, a new poll shows.

Republican state Assemblyman Mike Lawler garners 46% support to 44% for incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman — a  statistical dead heat — in the survey conducted for Lawler by McLaughlin & Associates.

The poll comes in the court-ordered redrawn 17th congressional district that takes in New York City’s northern suburbs.

Lawler also is ahead of Bronx state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi — a progressive who is challenging the more moderate Maloney from the left and has the backing of socialist Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Aug. 23 primary — 47% to 41%, in a hypothetical general election matchup.

The district includes Rockland County and parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties in the Hudson Valley.

“Mike Lawler is well positioned to beat both Sean Patrick Maloney and Alessandra Biaggi in the race for Congress. In 2020, Mike Lawler defeated an incumbent Democrat in a State Assembly district with a 2-to-1 Democrat enrollment advantage,” said pollster Jim McLaughlin.

“Mike is already winning 16% of Democrats and is beating both Maloney and Biaggi among independent voters.”

McLaughlin’s analysis finds that the national and state political environment is hurting Democratic candidates in this district, and President Biden in particular is an albatross for their election prospects.

“Voters are clearly dissatisfied with the Democrats and their failed policies which makes this district ripe for a Republican victory in November,” said McLaughlin, whose firm also does polling for GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin, the Long Island congressman.

The internal GOP poll finds that 59% of all voters in the district disapprove of the job that Joe Biden is doing. 

Half of voters also have an unfavorable view of Hochul while 42% have a favorable impression.

An overwhelming 81% of voters say that the U.S. is off on the wrong track, only 12% say it’s heading in the right direction.

Meanwhile, 53% of voters prefer a Republican in Congress who will act as a check and balance against President Biden, compared to 41% who support the agenda of Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Maloney has been in the middle of the redistricting controversy.

The courts tossed out the congressional redistricting maps crafted by him and other Democrats who control New York state government as partisan gerrymandering. Critics called it the “Hochulmander” because Gov. Kathy Hochul approved the defective redistricting plan, which sought to favor Democrats over Republicans.

But the replacement maps drawn up by the courts created ill will because it potentially pitted Maloney against first-term Rep. Mondaire Jones. Instead of facing off against Maloney in a primary, Jones instead is running in the 10th Congressional district that takes in lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn — far from areas he now represents.

This poll of 400 likely general election voters in New York Congressional District 17 was conducted from July 19-21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

The Washington Times

By Kerry Picket

New York Assemblyman Mike Lawler’s bid to join Congress by taking down the head of the House Democrats’ campaign organization has gotten a nod from Republican leaders.

National Republican Congressional Committee recently announced that Mr. Lawler was added to their “On the Radar” slate of candidates, the first rung of the GOP’s Young Guns fundraising program.

The Young Guns program, which is spearheaded by House Minority Kevin McCarthy of California, gives up-and-coming Republican candidates with a proven ability to raise money access to a national fundraising apparatus and direct fundraising support from Mr. McCarthy to further boost their campaigns.

“There’s a record-breaking class of Republican House candidates running this fall because Americans are fed up with Democrats’ agenda that has led to 40-year high inflation, sky-high gas prices, a crisis at our southern border, and rampant violent crime,” Mr. McCarthy said in announcing the new additions to the program. “Democrats have failed the American people and done nothing but create crisis after crisis.”

Mr. Lawler was among 14 new “On the Radar” candidates in the Young Guns program.

The Examiner News

By Martin Wilbur

Two Hudson Valley elected officials seeking higher office this fall have proposed a 2 percent state spending cap to curb what they characterize as runaway spending in Albany and make New York more affordable.

Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater, the Republican nominee in the 94^th Assembly District, and Assemblyman Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River), one of five GOP hopefuls in this year’s 17^th Congressional District race, chided the Democratic-dominated state government for increasing spending by about $40 billion since 2018.

They cited a report released this week by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli calling the pace of spending “difficult to sustain” in the long term. The current fiscal year’s budget is about $220 billion while New York State has debt of about $290 billion.

“We really do need a state spending cap,” Slater said in front of Yorktown Pharmacy, one week after it was robbed in broad daylight and criticizing Democrats for the statewide uptick in crime.

“This has been an issue that’s been on the plate, on the agenda up in Albany for a number of years now, and under one-party rule they have failed to take any action,” Slater said of the Democrats. “The state spending cap would ensure responsible fiscal government, like we have done in the Town of Yorktown.”

A spending cap would work similarly to what municipalities and school districts have had to follow for the past decade, said Slater, who led a petition drive in May to urge lawmakers to enact a spending cap. Meanwhile, the state has refused to adhere to a tax cap that they can’t or won’t abide by, he said.

Lawler, attempting to tie congressional Democrats to the fiscal issue as well, said the state has irresponsibly spent money it has received from Washington, some of which has come for relief from COVID-19. The assemblyman said the Democrats’ fiscal policies at the federal and state levels have largely caused the financial pain families are experiencing in New York. The state, for example, appropriated more than $2 billion for the Excluded Workers Fund for largely undocumented people but only $100 million to help small businesses.

“Over the past two years because of COVID, in large part, the federal government has printed obscene amounts of money, which has led to record levels of inflation,” Lawler said. “This is the highest levels of inflation in over 40 years and New York State took that money, and rather than get its fiscal house in order has spent it on $40 billion in new spending with no plans on moving forward to secure our fiscal future.”

He also took the opportunity to swipe Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Cold Spring) and the Democrats for failing to lift the $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions despite holding the White House and slim majorities in both houses of Congress.

Lawler said the state could be in trouble fiscally as soon as next year.

“New York State is going to face a reckoning next year because we have our leadership under one-party rule and that is why you need to restore balance at every level of government so that you can apply common-sense values and policies in dealing with our fiscal health,” Lawler said.

Messages left for Maloney’s campaign office to respond to Lawler’s comments regarding the SALT deduction were not returned on Thursday and Friday.

DiNapoli’s report, which was released on Wednesday, said the state projects fiscal stability for the next five years, but the effective administration of federal money and the need to bolster rainy day funds are critical.

However, a series of risks, including uncertainties regarding climate change and COVID-19 and federal policy and funding changes, could potentially be problematic for New York.

“Over the longer term, the elevated level of General Fund spending may be difficult to sustain as temporary resources are depleted or expire,” DiNapoli wrote. “Notably, the American Rescue Plan included $12.7 billion for New York State that may be used for a wide range of purposes, including to cover loss of revenues due to the economic impacts of COVID-19.”

While not addressing Slater and Lawler directly, Assemblyman Chris Burdick (D-Bedford) said most of the new spending since the pandemic has centered on initiatives that his constituents in the 93^rd Assembly District and around the state wanted to see, including investment to fix crumbling roads and bridges and fully funding local school districts, much of it funded through the federal Build Back Better legislation approved last year.

“Our responsibility is to ensure the quality of life and the health and safety of our residents,” Burdick said.

New York Post

By Bernadette Hogan

Republican Mike Lawler — contesting the newly created 17th Congressional District against DCCC Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and lefty state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi – is furious that Rockland County Democrats have targeted his wife as part of the ongoing debate over abortion.

“I was having an end of quarter fundraiser yesterday at Rockland Country Club and the Rockland Country Democrats organized a protest outside my fundraiser and invoked my wife’s name into the debate — which is really disgusting and vile and has no place in politics,” Lawler, 35, told The Post Friday. 

Photos show members of the Rockland Democrats showing up to protest the freshman GOP Assemblyman-turned-congressional candidate’s stance on abortion – with one man wearing a sign on his back that reads: “Doina’s Life?” 

Lawler told The Post he believes the Dems were criticizing his wife, Doina Lawler, for being fortunate enough to have the choice to give birth to their baby girl, Julianna, two months ago.

“Their whole argument is that people will die if they don’t have a choice and my wife had a choice in having a baby,” he said.

In 2020, @rcdcdems called my immigrant wife a “mail order bride”. Tonight they attacked her because she gave birth to a baby 2 month ago. Does @spmaloney or @Biaggi4NY think this is acceptable conduct by their party? Surely they would be upset if it was their spouse. @News12HV pic.twitter.com/hrJ65hLStG

— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) July 1, 2022

Speaking on his wife’s behalf, Lawler added that Doina “thinks it’s really unfortunate that once again the people who claim to be the most tolerant invoke family into a political campaign and that she’s being attacked for having a baby.”

Thursday night, the Rockland Dems’ Twitter account posted a photo of people cheering the protest – including the same man who wore the “Doina’s Life?” sign. The unidentified individual, dressed in an ill-fitting blue jumpsuit, tiny visor and sunglasses, was pictured wearing a sign on his front that read, “Mother’s Life?”

Day 4: No answer from @rocklandgop Congressional candidate @lawler4ny about his views on women’s lives or their right to bodily autonomy- so Dems went to ask Lawler outside his fundraiser. #WeWontGoBack #NY17 pic.twitter.com/gRudRRJWZm

— Rockland Democrats (@rcdcdems) July 1, 2022

Rockland County Democratic Committee Chair John Gromada fired back at Lawler in an email to The Post that called the GOPer a “radical, anti-choice Republican.” 

“If Lawler had his way, he would join House Republicans’ efforts to ban abortion nationwide and take away women’s reproductive rights here in New York and all across the country,” Gromada wrote. “It’s sad that he’s trying to play the victim here when the real victims will be the millions of women who will suffer the consequences of the policies Lawler promotes.”

Gromada organized the protest, according to a copy of the email invite obtained by The Post. He did not identify the man with the sign calling out Lawler’s wife when asked.

“Most New Yorkers believe in a reasonable time period for an abortion to occur,” said Lawler. “Personally, I’m pro-life. But I think most New Yorkers agree there’s a reasonable time period by which someone has an ability to get an abortion. I think most people fall in that first trimester.”

He also called on his opponents, Maloney and Biaggi, to condemn the demonstration.

“Could you imagine the outrage if this was the spouse of a Democrat, and [an] immigrant no less?” seethed Lawler, whose wife is from Moldova and gained US citizenship in December 2020.

New York codified the right to an abortion in 2019 under the Reproductive Health Act, which allows the procedure upon request before a fetus is viable, or in cases where the mother’s health is at stake.

The Democratic state Legislature is also poised to approve an “Equality Amendment” to the state constitution that further protects reproductive rights ahead of the July Fourth holiday. The proposal could go before voters for final approval as soon as next year.