Phil Steck is the current representative of New York’s 110th Assembly District, where he was raised. He graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude before earning a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He had served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York and Rensselaer Counties from 1987 to 1989 before joining Cooper, Erving and Savage LLP in 1990, where he focuses on civil rights and employment law. In 1999, Steck was elected to the Albany County Legislature from a district centered in Menands, serving four terms before winning both the primary and general elections in 2012 to represent the 110th Assembly District.
Property Taxes and Cost of Living
• What specific policies would you advocate to balance the need for essential public services with keeping property taxes affordable?
We have been doing that through the STAR program, the 2% property tax cap (which is a calculated number actually less than 2%), and by increasing State aid to public education so that funds do not have to be raised through local property taxes. With respect to the County property tax, 95% of that goes to pay Medicaid. To reduce that, we would need either to exclusively fund Medicaid with state revenue or to adopt Single Payer Health Insurance (Medicare for All) to replace Medicaid. We did cap County spending on Medicaid.
• How do you plan to address the rising cost of living in your district?
The rising cost of living is due to government policies which have encouraged corporate consolidation reducing competition in markets. We need to enforce antitrust law since monopolization allows larger companies with significant market share to increase prices with little concern for losing business. I also support a windfall profits tax to discourage larger companies from raising prices. Not all taxes are bad. Some are needed to remedy imperfections in the market due to anticompetitive conditions like monopolization and stock buybacks.
Affordable Housing
• How do you propose to expand access to affordable housing in your area?
I am a believer in programs like Mitchell-Lama which allow people middle and lower income people to form housing cooperatives and later obtain ownership. My grandparents lived in the first Mitchell-Lama project in the State. The housing quality was excellent and the cost reasonable. I also support the establishment of non-profit corporations which build affordable housing. Further, we have passed State legislation designed to stop unusual increases in rent, but implementation is up to localities if they feel a local need.
• What is your stance on rent control or other measures to ensure that housing remains attainable for low- and middle-income families?
I responded in the previous paragraph. I support allowing localities to decide whether or not to implement rent control based on their unique needs which is the current state of the law.
Public Safety and Policing
What is your vision for public safety?
The 110th Assembly District is one of the safest in the nation. We continue to support our quality police forces with grant money for better training facilities and communications. We have funded new ambulances and equipment to allow EMS to provide even better service. The vast number of Fire Departments in the 110th makes it difficult to find programs to benefit all we have funded improvements and even replacement of outdated training facilities.
• Bail Reform and Raise the Age are “dinner table” talking points for your constituents. Is this recent legislation working or do you see room for improvement?
Both are widely misunderstood and blamed for things these programs have nothing to do with because it is a convenient political tactic to scare people. To begin with, bail reform addresses non-violent crimes. Violent crimes remain subject to bail just as before. I voted against bail reform because, in my opinion, not enough crimes were classified as violent. I personally led the successful effort to add Burglary in the Third Degree (burglary when no one is home) to the list of violent crimes because it is an invasion of privacy. I also have legislation pending that allows bail to be set for those with repeat non-violent petty offense conviction. The law has been improved in many ways. For example, persons who commit a non-violent petty offense and commit another while on release are subject to bail. With respect to Raise the Age, it is untrue to say that violent juveniles must be released. Bail reform does not apply to juvenile offenders. Further, Raise the Age, which makes New York the same as 49 other states, does not say juvenile offenders should not be incarcerated. It simply provides for their incarceration must be in juvenile facilities. I once represented prison guards who were accused of using an illegal physical restraint on juvenile offenders, so I toured a juvenile prison. These facilities are not insufficiently punitive.
Education and School Funding
• What are your priorities for K-12 education?
We need to continue fully funding Foundation Aid, which is a formula whereby the state makes sure that all local school districts are fully funded in accordance with State constitutional requirements. While Foundation Aid primarily targets poorer districts, all of the school districts in the 110th benefit from Foundation Aid. We need to keep it that way. People move into the 110th Assembly District primarily because of the high quality of our public schools.
• What plans do you have for addressing mental health services and school safety?
We have introduced legislation to fund mental health clinics in schools.
Job Creation and Economic Development
• How do you plan to stimulate job creation, particularly in high-growth sectors like technology and green energy?
I am not a supporter of direct corporate subsidies, like $400 million to Hollywood producers to make films in New York. The crews are here for a limited time and spend some money here but that is not long-term economic development. I also voted against almost $1 billion in subsidies to the Buffalo Bills for a new stadium. The owner of the Bills is a billionaire so that project can be funded privately. I support increased funding for infrastructure, including green infrastructure. That is how Ireland kickstarted its economy (the so-called Celtic Tiger). Better infrastructure creates jobs during its construction and attracts new business.
• What role should local government play in attracting new businesses and supporting small businesses?
The County of Schenectady, which I have represented for some time, took a portion of its sales tax revenue and dedicated it to supporting small business. The program, called Metroplex, has been extremely successful. From time to time, we pass legislation to renew this program, which in large part is why Schenectady has moved forward.
Health Care Access
• What initiatives would you support to improve access to quality health care, particularly in underserved areas?
For 50 years, healthcare providers have been consolidating. During that time, healthcare costs have gone up and quality of service has declined. Physicians are increasingly unable to manage their own practices due to the high costs of complying with the requirements of numerous private insurers. I support Single Payer Health Insurance (Medicare of All) that would greatly decrease the cost of opening a medical practice so that physicians could have success in underserved communities. We need more physicians and nurses as well. We have proposed legislation that would fund the training, hiring, and retention of nurses. That would make it possible to reduce the unconscionable wait times in our local emergency rooms.
• How would you address the mental health crisis and ensure that services are accessible and affordable?
To her credit, the Governor has increased support for both hospital mental health wards and community outpatient behavioral health centers. Unfortunately there has been no corresponding increase in funding for intermediate or transitional care which covers the period of time after a patient is released from the hospital but before he or she is ready for independent living with care through a behavioral health center. People lacking transitional care are prone to re-hospitalization or involvement with the criminal justice system. I have proposed funding for transitional/intermediate care.
Transportation and Infrastructure
• How do you plan to address transportation issues, including public transit options, road maintenance, and infrastructure upgrades?
50 years ago, a large portion of the money States used for funding in this area came from the Federal government. As the Federal government shifted more of its resources to other areas, like military, transportation aid to the States was reduced. The States had a choice: either raise taxes or invest less in infrastructure. Naturally most chose to invest less. Fortunately New York has a tried and true method of funding infrastructure. From 1905 to 1981, New York imposed a one-half penny per dollar tax on the sales of stock (with a maximum of $300 on huge trades). The proceeds of this tax, adopted by a Republican administration, were later diverted to bail New York City out of financial crisis. When the crisis ended, the tiny tax was eliminated, forgetting the entire state needed investment in transportation infrastructure. I have introduced legislation to reinstate the Stock Transfer Tax which is actually paid predominantly by non-New Yorkers who trade here in New York. I remember when Senator Tedisco and I introduced legislation to fund local water and sewer improvements. I asked him: “Well, how are you going to fund it?” The Senator replied: “We’ll put it in the budget,” as if the money would miraculously appear. There must be a plan to fund it. And I do – painlessly. The one-half of one penny Stock Tranfer Tax would nonetheless raise $14-16 billion per year for infrastructure of various kinds because 60% of all stock traded in the world is traded in New York. This tax raises revenue most efficiently with miniscule burden.
• What is your stance on building sustainable transportation options, such as bike lanes or electric vehicle infrastructure?
We have actually given grant money to fund repaving the Mohawk-Hudson bike path in both Colonie and Niskayuna. But as with all these things, the funding has to come from somewhere. The Stock Transfer Tax would enable us to invest in both bike lanes and electric vehicles, among other things. My electric vehicle (and our Colonie Supervisor also owns one) actually saves me money but we do need to make sure these green alternatives are affordable.
Environmental Concerns
• What actions will you take to combat climate change at the local level?
The Stock Transfer Tax legislation has an allocation to fund green energy initiatives including enabling more New Yorkers to afford energy-efficient equipment, such as electric vehicles.
• How do you plan to promote clean energy projects and ensure environmental justice in communities disproportionately affected by pollution or climate change?
We passed the Climate Superfund bill which charges the sources of fossil fuels for the cleanup costs, just as the original Superfund bill charged the chemical companies for environmental cleanup. Superfund did not increase costs to consumers.
Opioid Crisis and Addiction Services
• What policies would you implement to combat the opioid crisis?
As Chair of the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, we have funded the Matters New York program that provides first responders with aid at the scene of a mental health or substance abuse crisis, including access to treatment beds for the afflicted individuals. We have for the first time funded not-for-profit programs that serve people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (estimated at 50% of all persons with substance use disorder). Our Committee passed the Recovery Ready Workplace Act so employers can be certified as being supportive of hiring and retaining people in recovery. And the Committee passed a bill to expand the types of opioid antagonists available in New York. This will help people who unsuspectingly ingest fentanyl not knowing it was present in their environment.
• How would you improve access to addiction treatment and support services for affected individuals and their families?
This area has been underfunded for years. It was hoped that the Opioid Settlement Fund (settlement with opioid producers who sold products in a manner that promoted addiction) and the Opioid Stewardship Fund (a tax on producers of opioids) would provide funding for expanding service. But this funding has not been used for expansion but rather maintaining existing programs. Our Committee has passed legislation demanding transparency on how these funds are spent so we can push the resources to the places they were intended to go.
Equity and Social Justice
• How do you plan to promote equity and inclusion?
New York is a leader on equity and inclusion as seen in current Proposition One on the ballot. Those protections already exist in employment and public accommodations (and housing). However, an important point to note is that Proposition One applies only to the government. Constitutional provisions are not self-executing but require appropriate legislation to address areas where discrimination is occurring, as has been the case with housing and employment.
• What specific policies would you advocate for to address systemic inequalities in areas such as housing, education, and criminal justice?
Clear rules of law are important in criminal justice. The Federal government has adopted sentencing guidelines so that outcomes are determined by a person’s criminal history and the seriousness of a crime, rather than the personal views of judges. I support taking the same approach under state law. Discrimination in housing and education are covered under existing anti-discrimination laws. We have recently expanded the ability of private counsel to enforce those laws because the Attorney General and/or the New York State Division of Human Rights will never have sufficient resources to be the only enforcement options.
