40th State Senate District: Terrence Murphy
Before being elected two years ago to the State Senate in the 40th District, Terrence Murphy had heard about the problems with state government in Albany, but it wasn’t until he was chosen by voters to succeed Greg Ball and continue the 102-year Republican dominance in the district that he discovered how many changes needed to be made.
“It’s been quite the eye-opening experience,” Murphy said. “In Albany, you have professional politicians. That is a big part of the problem. You have people who have never worked a day in their life setting the table. As a freshman senator you’re supposed to be seen and not heard. I believe I have represented the district well. In two years I think we have done an excellent job.”
Murphy, 50, grew up next to Wilkens Fruit Farm in Yorktown. He decided to study nutrition after graduating from Yorktown High School. He went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and a doctorate of chiropractic from Life University College of Chiropractic. In 1999, he opened the Yorktown Health and Wellness Center on Commerce Street in Yorktown. He has also had a business interest in the family-owned Murphy’s Restaurant in downtown Yorktown.
He was elected to the Yorktown Town Board in 2009 and reelected in 2013. His Senate District serves approximately 325,000 residents in Peekskill, Cortlandt, Somers, Yorktown, Croton-on-Hudson, Buchanan and other municipalities in Westchester, along with parts of Putnam and Dutchess counties.
“It has been an absolute honor and privilege. It’s awesome,” Murphy said of his first term in office. “We do a lot of constituent work, quality of life work that affects people on a daily basis. I will get as much money as I can for the 40th District.”
Murphy stressed he was particularly proud of his efforts in trying to combat the heroin and prescription opioid crisis. The father of three was appointed co-chairman of the Senate’s Task Force Against Heroin & Opioid Addiction. Murphy later introduced a legislative package with a four-prong approach to tackling the problem through prevention, treatment, recovery and enforcement.
“We crafted some of the most comprehensive legislation in the nation. We’ve done some good stuff,” Murphy said. “It is an enormous step forward for New York State. It’s a moving target all the time. The enforcement part is not where I want it to be.”
The son of a Navy veteran of the Korean War, Murphy said he has also achieved a lot for veterans and sponsored legislation to hold elected officials accountable for their actions. His five-point accountability plan calls for term limits (no more than three terms) and pension forfeiture.
Despite claims from his opponent, Alison Boak, that his environmental voting record hasn’t been “consistent,” Murphy said he has been in the forefront of the fight to prevent the U.S. Coast Guard from anchoring barges in the Hudson River, secured $500,000 for meadow restoration at Croton Point Park and partnered with Somers and the Westchester Land Trust to get $1.8 million to preserve Stuart’s Fruit Farm in Granite Springs. He was also endorsed by the New York League of Conservation Voters.
A strong opponent of changing the Common Core standards, Murphy said he sponsored an “opt out” bill allowing students not to have to take state tests.
“I caught a lot of flak for that, but when you see something that’s wrong you try to fix it,” he said. “We all want high standards for our kids. It’s how we achieve that. It wasn’t about the welfare of our kids and teachers had to teach to the test.”
Responding to criticism from Boak about his family’s restaurant’s tax woes, which escalated to more than $146,000 in arrears before being paid off recently, Murphy explained the eatery fell on tough economic times and a few of his siblings that run it on a daily basis decided it was better to fall behind on paying town and school taxes instead of laying off employees.
“I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth like she was,” Murphy said. “My investment has been the land. I will stand by family. All of our taxes are paid. End of story.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
