Citizen Action protests Senate change
Legislative Gazette
Albany, NY
http://www.legislativegazette.com/day_item.php?item=972
Approximately one hundred protesters affiliated with Citizens Action New York gathered outside the office of Democratic Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., who decided yesterday, along with Sen. Hiram Monserrate, to vote and caucus with Republican senators, taking control away, at least temporarily, from Democrats.
“We will not let our agenda be silenced by a power grab by Pedro Espada, Hiram Monserrate, billionaire Tom Golisano and the Republican minority in the Senate,” said Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action of New York. “Yesterday’s coup d’etat was not about reform, but the blocking of the people’s agenda in the last two weeks of the legislative session … We need the Legislature to get back to the business of addressing the most urgent needs of the state.”
The group, carrying signs stating “Pass Public Financing of Elections” and “I need a living wage job,” were demanding the Legislature move to act on priorities such as public financing of elections, reigning in health insurance rates and high drug prices and providing affordable housing.
The quiet protest quickly erupted into bedlam when Tom Golisano walked up to Espada’s office and was quickly ushered in as protesters yelled, “Our vote, we’re taking it back” and “Voters, not donors” at the former gubernatorial candidate and New York billionaire who played a part in organizing yesterday’s Senate turnover.
The events were co-sponsored by Citizen Action of New York, Housing Here and Now, the Metropolitan Council on Housing, the Real Rent Reform Campaign and the Tenants Political Action Committee. The groups plan on meeting with legislators today to discuss goals for the rest of the session.