Assembly District 99 candidates share their policy priorities

Residents in NYS Assembly District 99, which includes portions of Monroe, Harriman, Kyras Joel and Woodbury, will have two candidates to choose from this election: incumbent Christopher Eachus (Democrat, Working Families) and challenger Tom Lapolla (Conservative, Republican). Each candidate was asked to describe their top priorities after the election. Their responses are below.

Christopher Eachus

Detail the first one to three bills you hope to have signed into law once you’re elected:

1) In my first term as assemblymember, I successfully passed a bill that sets extreme high temperatures in the classrooms of NYS (A9011). This bill will protect our children and teachers, and is currently waiting for the governor to sign. Should she veto it, I will be dedicated to ensuring it passes again.

2) I currently have a bill which would create permits for toll exemptions for all emergency response vehicles, including ambulances and fire vehicles (A6136). I have heard many complaints from our brave first responders of being unfairly tolled for responding to emergencies. It unfortunately did not pass in both houses, and I will work even harder to make sure it passes and is signed into law.

3) I have a bill that would eliminate the MTA payroll tax for Orange and Rockland counties (A9937). Our region pays an unacceptable amount in taxes to the MTA without reliable service to NYC. This needs to be fixed with us being removed from this unfair tax on our residents.

What existing state law would you work to reform?

Before I was elected into the Assembly, the Legislature passed bail reform laws that have since had negative consequences for the state and our residents. While I pushed for much needed changes in my first term, more needs to be done. Primarily, we need to add what’s known as a “dangerousness clause” that will allow judges to use their expertise in the cases of violent and repeat offenders to make sure they are not put back on our streets.

How will you increase the quality of life for constituents in your District?

Healthcare, affordability, and protecting our environment are key areas of life for our residents here in the Hudson Valley. That’s why as your assemblymember I will fight for:

• Full property tax exemptions for veterans who are 100% disabled.

• Funding for expanded mental health care options, in particular streamlining the CDPAP program for efficiency and affordability.

• Increase wages for direct support professionals.

• Strengthen environmental regulations to protect our environment and preventing pollution of our waterways.

• Creating more affordable “workforce housing” and continue to pass laws that will allow seniors to age in place.

Tom Lapolla

Detail the first one to three bills you hope to have signed into law once you’re elected:

1) Laken’s Law: This bill would require state and local law enforcement agencies to notify the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency when they arrest someone who is not an American citizen. The bill is named after Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant who, after being arrested in NYC and then subsequently released, fled to Georgia where he committed this heinous crime.

2) A 9196/S7466: A bi-partisan bill which would rehire NYC police officers, firefighters and other city workers who bravely worked throughout the pandemic, who were terminated from their positions after refusing to comply with an unjust vaccine mandate, most of whom refused to comply based on their strongly held religious convictions.

What existing state law would you work to reform?

Cashless bail needs to be addressed immediately. While both sides of the political aisle have a difference of opinion on the impact of this policy, considering a spike in violent crimes and the murder of police officer Jonathan Diller in NYC by a career criminal, it is certainly reasonable to take a good hard look at this policy, and if necessary, not only reform it, but repeal it as well.

How will you increase the quality of life for constituents in your District?

I believe NYS is one of the most beautiful states in our nation. Unfortunately, overdevelopment is a concern for not only our community, but the entire state as well. Unless state and local municipalities begin to work together to curtail this “quality of life” issue, we will see a dramatic negative impact on our infrastructure, namely water, sewer and roadways, as well as threatening the scenic landscape for which the Hudson Valley is well known for, and which brought many of us up here to raise our families.