State Senator Jessica Ramos on a farm in upstate New York.
Queens pol’s farm bill
earns stars’ support
BY BILL PARRY
A freshman lawmaker
from Jackson Heights is
joining a 35-year veteran
representative of Western
Queens in the fight to win
equal rights for farmworkers
in New York State.
State Senator Jessica
Ramos, who is more
accustomed to the bustle
of the Roosevelt Avenue
business corridor, got her
hands dirty planting onions
in the planting fields of
upstate Genesee County
in an effort to advance the
Farmworkers Fair Labor
Practices Act.
As chair of the Senate
Labor Committee, Ramos is
preparing to open the first
hearings on the legislation
in more than a decade in an
effort to pass it before the end
of the session in June.
Senate Republicans have
blocked the bill championed
by Assemblywoman
Catherine Nolan for years,
measures that would establish
an eight-hour workday for
farmworkers with a day of
rest each week, employers
would provide workers
compensation benefits to
farmworkers injured on
the job and unemployment
for those laid off and it
would allow farmworkers to
vote for a union and
negotiate collectively.
The legislation would also
require that housing facilities
set aside for farmworkers
meet basic standards of the
Sanitary Code.
“Our Assembly majority
has a proud history of
passing worker rights
legislation; including the
right to clean drinking water
for farmworkers,” Nolan,
who was first elected to the
Assembly in 1984, said. “This
is a fundamental human
rights issue. For that reason
and many more, it is time
to correct this injustice and
proclaim that farmworkers
should be afforded the
same rights and privileges
that all other workers
currently receive.”
This week, the
Farmworkers Fair Labor
Practices Act got a boost from
Broadway star Lin-Manuel
Miranda when he penned
a Daily News op-ed with
celebrity chef José Andrés and
José Calderón, the president
of the Hispanic Federation.
“The condition of working
people in New York State is
much better, more just, and
safer today than it was a
century ago, but the plight
of the farmworkers calls out
for justice,” they wrote. “We
finally have a chance to treat
farmworkers with the dignity
and respect they deserve. We
urge our state Legislature
and the governor to pass into
law the Farmworkers Fair
Labor Practices Act before
the end of the 2019 legislative
session.”
Ramos, who is organizing
three hearings on the bill
that will all be held in farm
country outside of Albany
for the first time, was pleased
with the support.
“I am thrilled to have
Lin-Manuel Miranda, José
Andrés, and the Hispanic
Federation fighting for
farmworkers’ rights with
us,” Ramos said. “It’s time
to grant farmworkers parity
with all other workers,
including a day of rest a week,
overtime pay, unemployment
benefits, and collective
bargaining rights.”
Some post-Amazon hope
Hochul touts Queens’ potential at Bulova Center
Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul discussed items in the budget that will effect Queens at the Bulova
Center. Photo: Mark Hallum/TIMESLEDGER
BY MARK HALLUM
Though still smarting
from Amazon aborting
its mission to place a
headquarters in Long Island
City, city and state leaders
have a bright outlook when
it comes to the state 2020
budget and its investments
in Queens.
While stating the
sentiment that Queens still
has a commercial draw
despite Amazon backing
out, Lieutenant Governor
Kathy Hochul discussed
items which will directly
effect the borough including
infrastructure and the Jose
Peralta DREAM Act at the
Bulova Center on April 11.
“I think the epicenter
of infrastructure is in
Queens, when you look at
the two biggest projects
that are going on in the
state of New York,” Hochul
said in reference to the
improvements to LaGuardia
and JFK Airports.
Up to $100 billion is being
pumped into infrastructure
projects from the state,
more than what the federal
government is contributing
to state infrastructure
projects nationwide,
Hochul said.
The MTA will finally
get the funding it needs for
systemwide modernizations
through not only congestion
pricing, which will put
$15 billion in a lockbox for
the agency’s next five-year
capital plan, but a mansion
tax will also raise that
number by $5 billion.
“The majority of
commuters from this area do
take public transportation to
jobs in lower Manhattan, and
they won’t be as effected, but
we expect this to raise $15
billion. First in the nation
to have targeted tolling for
high congestion areas,”
Hochul said.
After the death of state
Senator Jose Peralta
in November the new
Democratic majority in
the Legislature passed the
DREAM Act in January, a
bill which makes financial
aid programs available to
undocumented residents.
Now known as the Jose
Peralta DREAM Act, Hochul
said she had worked with the
late politician in the early
stages of drafting the bill
and listened to the stories
of immigrant students who
hit a wall in education after
high school.
“Their stories would bring
you to tears. These were
kids who were brought here
by their parents who maybe
since kindergarten they had
been sitting in a classroom
with other students all the
way up until 12th grade,”
Hochul said. “And why can’t
they go to college? Because
financially their not eligible
for the same assistance their
classmates can because of
their citizenship status.”
Hochul was confident that
New York could accomplish
everything it had under other
federal administrations who
provided more funding, a
sentiment echoed by state
Assemblyman Michael
DenDekker.
“All the thing that were in
place to get Amazon to come
here are all still here in
even greater ways,” Queens
Chamber of Commerce
President Tom Grech added.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at
mhallum@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4564.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM APR. 19-25, 2019 3
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