Legislative & political action
CSEA’s Legislative & Political Action Department analyzes proposed legislation for its impact on members, advocates for beneficial laws, opposes harmful ones, and partners with members and activists to support the campaigns of elected officials who share our values.
Federal Action Center
CSEA is ramping up its campaign against $2.5 trillion in proposed federal budget cuts that would have devastating effects on members across New York. As the budget process moves forward, CSEA urges all members to take action and help protect the essential services our communities rely on.
Stop billionaire tax breaks – save public services
Congress wants to slash $2 trillion in funding for public services to pay for a tax cut for billionaires. We cannot sit back while politicians and billionaires play games with our future! We have provided a flyer to spread this message and recruit others to join our fight against federal tax cuts.
Protect what keeps us strong
As the House of Representatives is about to vote on a resolution that will jump start their attempts to cut $2.5 trillion in funding for public services like education, Medicaid, SNAP, child care, and Social Security, we need to act. These services support the most vulnerable among us—and they rely on public workers to deliver them every day. Tell your member of Congress to put people first and invest in the services that keep our country running.
Oppose Medicaid funding cuts
CSEA is deeply concerned about proposed Medicaid cuts and their devastating impact on services. Medicaid provides essential health care to millions of New Yorkers, including seniors, people with disabilities and working families. CSEA Members Provide Essential Medicaid Services! Our union members work in public hospitals, OPWDD, mental health services, and local government programs that rely on Medicaid funding. Without adequate support, these services will collapse, leaving the most vulnerable without care.
Flyers to spread the message
Advocating in New York State
Legislative Action Center
Each legislative session, our union reviews more than 20,000 bills introduced in the New York State Legislature. Over 40% of which directly affect the jobs and lives of CSEA members. Thanks to the activism of union members, we’ve achieved key legislative successes. Read below to learn more about those victories and the issues we’re continuing to fight for to improve members’ live.
OUR UNION’S SUCCESSES
The following successes are due to the activism of CSEA members.
This session delivered several important victories for CSEA. We led the charge to regulate how artificial intelligence (AI) is used by local governments, school districts, community colleges, and SUNY, ensuring workers aren’t replaced by these new technologies. We were also successful in getting bills done to improve recruitment and retention in the public sector, improve conditions for home-based child care providers and much more.
- Legislative Victories: Local Governments
- Legislative Victories: Civil Service
- Legislative Victories: Health care
- Legislative Victories: K-12
- Legislative Victories: SUNY
- Legislative Victories: OMH & OPWDD
- Legislative Victories: Child care
- Legislative Victories: Work Zone Speed Cameras
- Legislative Victories: DMNA Firefighters 25-Year Retirement
CSEA is celebrating the inclusion of reforms to the Tier 6 pension plan in the FY 2025 State Budget.
The enacted state budget includes a change to how pensions are calculated. Under the new law, a Tier 6 employee’s pension will be based on their top three years of earnings instead of five years. This change will increase retirement security for Tier 6 employees and make Tier 6 look more like earlier pension tiers.
The 2024 New York State legislative session was a successful one for CSEA. In addition to achieving a significant reform to Tier 6 and new investments in the state and local government workforce in the FY2025 state budget, we also achieved several legislative successes prior to the Senate and Assembly’s adjournment for the year.
WHAT CSEA IS WORKING ON
This Week in Albany
This Week in Albany is CSEA weekly political action newsletter intended to keep members updated on recent developments in politics and legislature.
PEOPLE: Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality
PEOPLE
Learn about PEOPLE, a voluntary CSEA and AFSCME program where participating members contribute funds which are then used to advance CSEA’s agenda.
Election information
2025 Local Government Elections
2025 is a local government election year. Many mayors, town council members, county legislators and school board members are up for election. Stay tuned to this page for updates from CSEA on races, important election dates and how you can get involved. Take advantage of the voter registration links available on this page. If needed, contact your region’s political action coordinator.
CSEA LOCAL GOVERNMENT PRIMARIES
CSEA made no endorsements in any races. However, the region was watching the outcomes of two races for Supervisor in towns where we represent the workforce. In both Smithtown and Huntington, both incumbents won and will be the respective Republican nominees in November.
The Region PAC made four endorsements:
New York City Comptroller (Democratic Primary)
CSEA-endorsed candidate Mark Levine won the nomination by 48% of the vote over Justin Brannan.
Manhattan Borough President (Democratic Primary)
CSEA-endorsed State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal received 49% of the vote and will be the Democratic candidate in November.
New York City Council – 2nd District (Democratic Primary)
Harvey Epstein, the CSEA-endorsed candidate, received 39% of first choice votes.
New York City Council – 8th District (Democratic Primary)
CSEA-endorsed candidate Elsie Encanarcion is currently in the lead.
We are waiting for all ranked choice votes to be counted before we have official results for all of these races.
New York City Mayor (Democratic Primary)
Democratic Socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani will be the Democratic nominee for New York City Mayor. He received 44% of the first-place votes in the ranked choice voting system with Andrew Cuomo receiving 35%. It is being rumored that Cuomo will run on an independent line, Fight and Deliver Party, for the General Election, along with Eric Adams as an independent and Curtis Sliwa on the Republican line. CSEA made no endorsement in this race.
The Region 3 PAC made two endorsements:
Westchester County – Legislative District 5
Jenn Puja, the CSEA endorsed candidate, won 58% – 42%.
Orange County – Legislative District 6
CSEA-endorsed candidate Kevindaryan Lujan lost 64% – 36%
The Region 4 PAC made two endorsements:
City of Glens Falls – City Council – Ward 1 (Democratic Primary)
Edward Donahue, the incumbent, beat Kevin Stephenson, the CSEA-endorsed candidate, 62%-37%. Councilmember Donahue passed away in late May but still appeared on the ballot.
Town of Johnsburg Supervisor (Republican Primary)
Kevin Bean, the incumbent, beat the CSEA-endorsed candidate Mark Smith 59% – 40%.
City of Albany
While no endorsements were made for races in the City of Albany, CSEA Region 4 paid close attention to the Democratic primary for Mayor. City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs beat businessman Dan Cerutti, 55% – 28%. Common Council President Corey Ellis and Albany County Legislator Carolyn McLaughlin each got single digit percentages of the vote.
Albany County Legislator Sam Fein won the City Auditor race with just over 50 percent of the vote. Fein has received the CSEA endorsement in the past during his county legislative campaigns.
The Region PAC made one endorsement:
Onondaga County Legislature District 8 (Democratic Primary)
The endorsed candidate Chad Ryan defeated his opponent 57% – 43%.
The Region PAC made several endorsements in primary elections:
City of Buffalo Mayor (Democratic Primary)
State Senator Sean Ryan defeated CSEA-endorsed candidate Mayor Chris Scanlon, 46% – 35%, with remaining votes going to other candidates. It is possible that Scanlon will run on an independent ballot line for the November election.
Hamburg Town Clerk (Democratic Primary)
The current Town Clerk and former CSEA member, Brad Rybczynski, lost in the Democratic Primary. Rybczynski was endorsed by CSEA. However, Rybczynski will be on the Republican line this November for a rematch.
Town of Orchard Park Supervisor (Republican Primary)
Current Town Supervisor Gene Majchrzak, who has had a great relationship with the CSEA workforce in the town and was our endorsed candidate, lost his race to Joseph Liberti.
City of Rochester Mayor (Democratic Primary)
Malik Evans, the CSEA-endorsed candidate, easily won his primary with 57% of the vote.
Republican Primary:
Erie County:
Gene Majchrzak: Orchard Park Town Supervisor
Have you registered to vote?
Your vote is your voice. For more information, call 1-800-FOR-VOTE (1-800-367-8683)
Learn about CSEA’s member driven endorsement process
CSEA’S POLITICAL ACTION STAFF
Legislative and Political Action Office, Albany
(518) 436 – 8622
Joshua Terry
Director of Legislative and Political Action
Davin Carroll
Assistant to the Director
Alex George
Legislative Representative
Kim Wallace-Russo
Statewide PEOPLE Coordinator
Bob Hawley
Systems Specialist
Libbie Miller
PEOPLE Program Assistant/Secretary
Deanna Brady
Secretary
Sue Castle, Coordinator
(631) 462 – 0030
sue.castle@cseainc.org
Matthew D’Amico, Coordinator
(212) 406 – 2156
matt.damico@cseainc.org
Chris Ludlow, Coordinator
(845) 831 – 1000
chris.ludlow@cseainc.org
Bryan Gorman, Coordinator
(518) 782 – 4400
bryan.gorman@cseainc.org
Josh Schick, Coordinator
(315) 433 – 0050
josh.schick@cseainc.org
Chris Rackl, Coordinator
(716) 691 – 6555
chris.rackl@cseainc.org