Reichlin-Melnick Looks to Use Varied Experience to Pave Path to Albany

Elijah Reichlin-Melnick is running for the 38^th state Senate District to work as part of a Democratic majority and to continue his efforts as legislative director to state Sen. James Skoufis.

He is pitted against Republican Bill Weber to replace David Carlucci, who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the 17^th Congressional District. The Senate district includes Ossining in Westchester and most of Rockland County.

“The Democratic majority made great progress with civil rights, LGBTQ rights, reproductive health and gun safety,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “I want the opportunity to be part of making New York work better for regular people.”

Reichlin-Melnick, 36, earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, was an elementary school teacher at an inner-city school in New Haven, Conn. and is currently serving his second term as a Nyack village trustee. He worked as a regional planner and was an aide to Rep. Nita Lowey and other elected officials.

One way of dealing with the state’s roughly $14 billion deficit is to increase taxes on those earning over $5 million or more, Reichlin-Melnick said.

“We need a mix of cuts and ways to raise revenue,” he said.

Taxed items could include a surcharge applied to people owning property not living in New York, such as those owning luxury condos or second homes.  Raising state revenue could also be accomplished by legalizing marijuana. “Neighboring states have already legalized marijuana; it is becoming untenable for New York to be the holdout,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “We have legalized tobacco and alcohol, which have serious health impacts and people still use them.”

Reichlin-Melnick supports using marijuana revenues for public health programs and treatment options addressing the opioid epidemic.

“Marijuana is not a gateway drug to opioids; they are two different things,” he said.

The state’s plight of nursing homes during the pandemic when countless numbers of residents and staff died should prompt an investigation of the industry, and the state should solicit feedback from regulators. He said there was a lack of policies and procedures in place to safely protect nursing home workers and residents.

One of the biggest failures was the lack of personal protection equipment for nursing homes, Reichlin-Melnick said.

A bigger investment is needed to improve school buildings, he said.

“Ventilation is a major factor that could help prevent the spread of the virus in an older building where the windows can’t open,” Reichlin-Melnick said.

He would support more aid for additional cleaning staff and other personnel.

The school district foundation aid formula is convoluted and out of date, according to Reichlin-Melnick.

“State funding was supposed to equalize huge disparities between the wealthier and poor districts,” he said.

Reichlin-Melnick cited Ossining, which has seen growth over the last decade while the number of English as a Second Language classes have increased, but the district’s state aid has failed to be maintained.

Sharing services with neighboring villages is a must to ease taxpayers’ property burdens.

“We have many districts overlapping where a consolidation of services can save large amounts of money for small local governments who can’t front those costs and have to impose property taxes,” Reichlin-Melnick said.

He supports the NY Health Act and would like to see every New Yorker receive universal health care.

“One doesn’t have to go bankrupt to pay for prescription drugs and NY Health is a way to get there,” he said.

Reichlin-Melnick also wants to help the independent pharmacist who is being squeezed out of business.

“Drug companies have a huge role in setting pricing which has forced smaller pharmacies to close,” he said. “Other programs require consumers to get their drugs by mail. We need more pricing transparency, which the insurance companies seem to object to.”

Monitoring the 2019 bail reform is essential, Reichlin-Melnick.

“We need to continue to see how it’s working and look at the discovery process and how long prosecutors turn over evidence,” Reichlin-Melnick said.

He also supports New York gun laws as well as the Second Amendment right to own guns.

“I’m proud that New York has a tough gun law, but we need to do a better job,” he said. “We need to get the guns out of the hands of people with a history of domestic violence or who have a violent history.”

Shorter winters, a growing frequency in hurricanes and storms signal the impact of climate change, which was the impetus for the state’s green referendum. The $3 billion referendum has been postponed until at least next November.

“I support the green referendum,” said Reichlin-Melnick. “We have to invest in our future and invest in green energy, sustainable industries and shift from fossil-powered cars (to) other sustainable sources for cleaner air.”