Dear Friends,

A new legislative session is upon us and we anticipate it to be one for the books! 2018 was a year filled with blessings and some positive changes, but it is time that we look towards the future with equal optimism and positivity.

It will come to no surprise that our legislative session has already been an exciting one. With a clear majority in the legislature, our first in years, we are expecting a slew of dynamic legislation to be passed and implemented. Partisan politics will no longer hold our state back from moving forward. I am proud to have helped pass these bills and will continue to support those that will best serve our communities.

I want to keep you all updated what’s going on in the district and the legislature. As such, I am launching an online newsletter with updates on legislation passed, events around the area, and news updates. In order to subscribe to the newsletter, please go to https://tinyurl.com/yczxkahk and fill out the respective form. If you have limited access to a computer, please call our office to be added to the list. This is going to be an amazing year. I hope you are just as

excited as I am and will join along for the ride.

Best,

Assemblywoman Nathalia FernandezNew York State Assembly Member80th Assembly District

SO FAR IN SESSION

District Office: 2018 Williamsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10461• 718-409-0109Albany Office: Room 530 LOB, Albany, NY 12248 • 518-455-5844 • Email: fernandezn@nyassembly.gov

Upcoming EventsLook out for events in the district!

See page 3 for details.

Assemblywoman

Nathalia Fernandez

LEGISLATION

Voter Reform Last year’s elections showed us that New York needed mas-sive voter reform. As such, the State Legislature has passed numerous bills to make voting more seamless than ever. Changes include combining State and Federal non-presiden-tial primaries to the same date (A779, Lavine), expanding absentee voting (A778, Vanel), establishing a nine-day early voting period (A780, Lavine), and increasing civic engage-ment among young voters (A774, Lavine).

Ban Conversion Therapy Conversion Therapy is a heinous infringement on someone’s right to self-identity. The Assembly has passed legislation prohibiting mental health professionals from engaging in such efforts to change the sexual orientation of a minor (A576, Glick).

DREAM Act All Americans have a right to an education. The DREAM Act (A782, De La Rosa) allows undocumented children of immigrants who are economically disadvantaged to apply for scholarships and grants for college. Undocumented children are given the opportunity to study and not worry about the cost of college, allowing them an opportunity to continue their studies, while also making a pathway towards citizenship as many of them have lived in America the majority of their lives.

GENDA No one should be discriminated against based on their gender identity. As such, the State passed GENDA to protect indi-viduals against gender identity-based discrimination under the Human Rights Law (A747, Gottfried).

Women’s Reproductive Rights A woman’s right to choose is valued in this state. No one has a right to someone’s body other than themselves. As

such, we are proud to have passed the Reproductive Health Act (A21, Glick) that recognizes a woman’s right to a safe, legal abortion and the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act (A585A, Cahill), which requires all health insurers under the ACA to provide cost-free contraceptive coverage as part of their insurance policies.

Teacher Evaluation Our teachers, the first in line to help our youth, are often under-valued. They are judged by test scores instead of the impact they leave on our children. Therefore, the legislature passed a bill to eliminate the use of mandatory state assessments in teacher and principal evaluations (A783, Benedetto). There is more to an education than standardized testing.

Gun Reform A never ending topic of discussion in this country is gun reform. After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, New York passed the SAFE Act with overwhelming support, and this state as seen better days because of it. In the same vein of protecting our citizens, we have passed more common-sense gun reform. This gun reform package includes measures to prohibit school administrations from arming teachers or other school employees of K-12 schools (A1715A, Griffin), allow individuals to report and turn in ille-gal firearms without fear of repercussions (A2685, Rosenthal), and in-state comprehensive background checks for gun owners (A2690, Paulin/A1213, Hunter).

For more information about this legislation, please contact our office at (718) 409-0109, or visit www.nyassembly.gov. Thank you!

LEGISLATION

EducationOne of our main focuses moving forward is working to improve our education system and expanding higher education so that it is more inclusive and beneficial for everyone in our commu-nities. Our new initiative, NY Teach (A3055), promotes more students to pursue a career in teaching by aiding in tuition for their higher education at a qualifying public college. Education should not be limited to the privileged few, but rather accessible to the whole of our community. We’ve also introduced legislation to help students with mental health illnesses by requiring two qualified psychiatrists to be employed to each school district (A5475) and require mental health first aid training for teachers and administrators (A5481).

Mental HealthThis is an age where mental health issues are on the rise. More and more of our communities are faced with crippling mental health issues, especially our youth. As such, I have introduced legislation that will establish a Latina suicide prevention task force (A2761) to find out the causes of suicide within one of our largest communities and how we can prevent them in the future. We’ve also introduced legislation that will raise the maximum age an adolescent can stay at a youth shelter (A2762), that way our young adults can continue receiving the proper care without moving to an adult shelter that could exacerbate their health.

Legislative Topics and What We’ve Introduced

Tobacco FreeSmoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths a year, including over 41,000 deaths from secondhand smoke. We’ve introduced a bill that would make it illegal for a store front, that is not a traditional tobacco store, to advertise tobacco or

Look out for these events we’ll have in the district!

More information to follow, please sign up for our newsletter for the most updated information on these events at https://tinyurl.com/yczxkahk.

UPCOMING EVENTS

April

Assembly Budget Town HallApril 4th, 6:00–8:00pm North Central Bronx Hospital

Immigrant Know Your Rights ForumApril 23rd, 6:00–8:00pm Location: TBA

May

Veterans Day Mental Health EventMay 18th, 10:00–12:00pm Location: TBA

June

Bronx Day in Albany June 11th Location: TBA

End of Session Town HallJune 26th, 6:00–8:00pmLocation: Bronx House

August

Allerton Food FestivalAugust 18th Allerton Avenue (between Wallace Ave. and Boston Rd.)

Please call our office at (718) 409-0109 for more information.

smoking paraphernalia (A2763) within 500 feet of a school. We should be doing everything we can to keep tobacco out of our children’s hands.

Assemblywoman

NathaliaFernandezSO FAR IN SESSION

PRSRT STD.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDAlbany, New York

Permit No. 75

New York State Assembly, Albany, New York 12248

Legislative Topics and What We’ve Introduced (continued)

Criminal JusticeI am committed to reforming the criminal justice system and undoing all the wrongs that have been committed against our disenfranchised demographics. My bill, the Andrew Kearse Act (A3056), will hold officers, whose failure to provide medical attention led to the death or injury of an individual in custody, responsible for their negligence. Our office is also establishing the Department of Civilian Justice, a separate entity that will investigate corruption and misconduct within a public safety position.

Assemblywoman Fernandez speaks in support of bill A4204 (Weprin), that combats discrimination in the workplace due to religious attire.

Assemblywoman Fernandez celebrated her Inauguration with other local elected officials.