POLICY AGENDA
A vision for Assembly District 69 and all of New York powered by care and compassion for all.
Health
Today’s national Republican Party has declared war on women: on our daughters, on our wives, and on our mothers. The NYS legislature needs to become a bulwark against the degenerate clamor to turn back the progress we’ve made. I will advocate for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment statewide this November.
A woman’s right to reproductive healthcare should be universal, and not only will I fight to preserve the right of choice for women in our district and state, but also support the right of women in the rest of the country to have safe and easy access to the procedures they need, as decided by them and their doctor. We must protect New York physicians from actions in other states which could jeopardize their licenses from offering women choice.
Access
Treat Mental Illness
Anyone who walks our streets or rides our subways sees the impact of untreated mental illness among New Yorkers and how many out there are left forgotten and degraded. These people are suffering, and their illnesses do not allow them to recognize that they are ill or in need of psychiatric assistance. Far too often, the safety of innocent people that happen to be nearby is jeopardized by this lack of treatment: this is due to an overbroad deinstitutionalization to save money, a lack of providers, and a lack of knowledge on behalf of our legislature to adequately address this problem.
As a licensed physician who trained in both public health and psychiatry, I am particularly pained when I see patients in need of help but not receiving care. I have the background and experience lacking among current legislators and other candidates (from having worked on locked psych units treating schizophrenia, mania, and depression) to propose specific changes to Title 9 of the Mental Hygiene Law, so that individuals in need of services no longer so easily slip through the cracks.
As a former training director, I would also spearhead working with the respective ACGME and AOA medical boards to plan and offer to primary care providers medical education on managing and treating psychiatric patients and illnesses, so we can broaden our number and pool of mental health providers.
Healthcare Consolidation
There’s been a wave of consolidation in the health care industry going on for the past decade. Giant corporate systems are being formed by large players buying smaller hospitals and physician practices, under the guise of forming systems for excellence and continuity of care.
What is really happening is anti-competitive behavior. When a system buys a practice, its prices for care go up even though the same services are being provided often by the same providers. And some hospitals and ERs have been closed and sold for luxury condos or their land. Private equity is becoming involved in health with a profit motive. This is a troubling practice that needs greater oversight.
The AG needs to monitor and follow these developments under the Sherman Act. The legislature needs to hold public hearings on these practices to ensure the people and public health care availability and cost are not adversely impacted.
Quality of Life
Congestion Pricing & Fighting Air/Noise Pollution
Congestion Pricing had the potential to turn the Assembly District into a giant “park and ride” lot, where commuters from further distances would park their cars to make an easy transfer to public transit to avoid paying congestion pricing fees. This would have made our already limited on-street parking for residents even more limited and raised the already high garage prices even higher. We could have experienced more air pollution and noise from cars roaming our streets searching for open parking spots in the district.
Now we are faced with an indefinite hold having been placed on congestion pricing. However, the state and the MTA have already spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for congestion pricing infrastructure, such as cameras and electronic EZ pass readers, which will now be unused. Contracts for future years which were entered into may be breached, resulting in damages to the vendors plus legal fees.
It is important that the hardworking taxpayers of the 69th Assembly District are not charged for the infrastructure buildout and subsequent change of direction, especially when congestion pricing would not have been of benefit for our district. The MTA cannot be trusted with huge amounts of taxpayer funds.
Controlling Bikes & Mopeds
Today, pedestrians are more at risk from being hit by a bike or moped than a car. One problem is that most bikes and mopeds bear no identification and sometimes drivers leave when they hit someone, making finding, and following up with the driver difficult.
I support bicycles and mopeds being registered on some level with the DMV or police and bearing some marking connected with the owner. Businesses which own and lend these vehicles to their employees should be made to keep accurate records of who was in possession at times whenever it is in service. I support a three-hour mandatory safety and road rules class for all those driving bikes commercially, and mopeds in New York City with an id card given to those who complete it.
Education
Support Our Public Schools, Educators, and Parents
I worked for eight years as the supervising physician for school health for District 3, the upper west side of Manhattan. I was physically in the public schools three to four days a week.
Education is so important to eliminate social inequities, and we must provide our students and teachers with the resources needed to succeed. Also, our kids’ education obviously starts at home, and we must identify and work with parents who need help instead of shaming or ignoring them, thus leaving their kids behind academically and socially. I used to approve applications for home schooling and made home visits myself, and I can envision teachers, social workers and education professionals visiting homes when a student is struggling, to reach out and try to help.
I have never supported (nor lobbied for) charter schools as they draw precious resources away from our public schools.
Columbia University
With great landholdings and tax breaks comes great responsibility. Columbia must be responsive and accommodative to the community which surrounds it. We are now seeing a spillover of Columbia’s internal problems. Not only should we pushing for a community that can exist and communicate safely, but Columbia also needs to step up to financially contributing to much needed upgrades for the 116th street and 125th street subway stations as a start to being a good neighbor, as well as perhaps making some affordable housing available to the community in their buildings.
Housing
Affordable Housing
In the 1980s, the Manhattan rental building in which I was living was bought by a bad slumlord, who cut services and tried to push tenants like me out. We fought it by organizing a rent strike. After a few months, the managing agent was changed, and living conditions improved. I still remember that situation well and will stand by rental tenants in similar positions.
I support the Good Cause Eviction bill currently in the legislature. It would do a great deal to help protect tenants from greedy landlords and help ensure people can remain in their homes. Housing is a human right and we should treat it as such.
Improving NYCHA
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing authority in the United States, providing affordable housing to over 400,000 low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. Despite its important role, NYCHA faces significant challenges that impact the quality of life for its residents. Issues such as aging buildings, delayed repairs, and inconsistent funding have led to widespread problems, including mold, lead paint, heating failures, and pest infestations. Residents of NYCHA developments often bear the brunt of these systemic issues, living in substandard conditions that can affect their health and well-being.
The people who live in NYCHA deserve to live in a safe and clean environment. Besides the existing federal monitor, New York State should have its own monitor program observing and working to improve living conditions in NYCHA. NYCHA buildings need on-going renovations to maintain the quality of the properties, similar to private buildings. We need to work with our federal partners on better oversight of the caretakers that are there to safe keep and house some of our most vulnerable working class and middle-class residents.
As a physician, I am knowledgeable and concerned about lead paint and mold in the buildings. Children can take in lead paint chips or remants leading to systemic disease. Mold can lead to cold-like symptoms and asthma-like symptoms. If I am elected, I will propose an accelerated program to identify and remove lead paint from all NYCHA buildings to prevent lead poisoning in children. I will also propose a comprehensive mold remediation program to improve indoor air quality and reduce respiratory illnesses among residents.
Tenant Advocate
Dr. Jack will hire a housing expert and tenant advocate when staffing his district office. This person will be available to constituents to advise on landlord-tenant matters including overcharges, harassment, and habitability issues. Dr. Jack also plans establishing an externship program with local law schools to bring senior law students into the district office to help, too.
Supporting Seniors
New York and cities and states across the country are pushing their civil service retirees into Medicare Advantage plans as a cost saving measure. These Medicare Advantage plans lead to smaller provider networks, prior authorization requirements, and denials of care.
I will introduce or support legislation which would guarantee retired NY City and State workers the health care they were promised as a condition of employment, requiring having traditional Medicare and a funded supplemental Medigap insurance option besides Medicare Advantage plans. It would require any NY governmental entity to offer Medicare-eligible retirees and their Medicare-eligible dependents at least one funded Medigap plan with benefits equivalent to those previously offered.
Medicare
New York Standard Tax Deduction for Seniors
The federal government gives senior citizens (65+) an enhanced standard deduction, yet New York does not. I will propose giving each New Yorker 65 years old and older an additional $1500 standard deduction for their state income tax, the same as the IRS does. Many seniors no longer work but live on fixed incomes, and this will put some more money in their pockets instead of sending it off to Albany.
Tax Reform
The last increase to the NY standard deduction was in 2017, when it was raised to $16,050 for a married couple and $8K for a single person. Since then, CPI inflation is up over 20% yet the NYS standard deduction has not been increased. Indeed, for 2006 it was at $15K for a couple; thus over 17 years it was only increased 7% in total.
I propose raising the standard deduction 25%: to $20,000/$10,000, plus indexing it to future inflation increases annually. While increasing the standard deduction would help all taxpayers, it would particularly help lower income folks keep a higher percentage of their income and wages to help make ends meet. This is especially important now, during times when the cost-of-living increases in ever-fluctuating ways.
New York Standard Tax Deduction Increase
Tax Exempt Clothing Cap Increase
New York State made clothing purchases of under $110 sales-tax-exempt in April 2006. Since then, total inflation has been over 50%. I will introduce legislation raising the threshold for the sales tax exemption for clothing and shoe purchases to $165, to catch up with inflation. This will help everybody, but especially families with children or on lower incomes.
Accountability
Term limits do not exist at the state legislature level, though they are favored by a majority of voters. Thus, I will voluntarily impose term limits on myself. I will serve no longer than 8 years in the Assembly, which is the current term limit for city council members and city elected officials.
Term Limits
No Cap Act
Dr. Jacks supports the No Cap Act, which would remove population based caps on the number of Supreme Court judges in a judicial district. Additional judges means faster justice and less court backlogs.
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