Lupardo fights for her community, workers BINGHAMTON — It was after her former teaching position at Binghamton University got cut that State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo recognized the power Albany politicians held over the field of higher education. “That was a real awakening,” she said. It was her next job, however, working for 15 years in community mental health and seeing the role that state elected officials had in making decisions about mental health service delivery and treatment that forced her off the sidelines, spurring her to run for public office. “I was grappling with the effects of deinstitutionalization,” Lupardo said. “I saw first hand how badly things can go when the proper resources do not follow people into the community. I wanted to make sure those same mistakes weren't made again.” So in 1999, Lupardo was elected to the Broome County Legislature, serving a two-year term. She successfully ran for her Assembly office in 2004, and is now serving her sixth term in the State Legislature, representing the 123rd Assembly District, including the City of Binghamton, the Town of Vestal and the Town of Union, where she lives. Fighting for her community For Lupardo, public service is an opportunity to keep advocating, not only in the fields of higher education and mental health that she remains passionate about, but for the entire region she represents. “I’m passionate about the Southern Tier,” she said. “One of the reasons I ran was to help this community reinvent itself after experiencing the loss of our manufacturing base.” To Lupardo, that reinvention includes better positioning Binghamton University, opening up new markets in agriculture, supporting environmental issues, and making sure that the state operates responsibly in providing services. One of the first bills she passed was the union-supported Contract Disclosure Act, requiring state agencies to report how much they are paying for contracted services. She is currently co-sponsoring a follow-up bill that would require a cost-benefit analysis to see if those expenditures make sense. Lupardo serves as chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Children and Families and was just elected chair of the bipartisan Legislative Women’s Caucus. She co-chairs the New York Legislative Aviation Caucus and serves on the following Assembly Committees: Economic Development, Environmental Conservation, Higher Education and Transportation. Standing with workers Lupardo said she has always been an advocate for working people and feels strong ties to the labor movement. She belonged to United University Professions when she taught at Binghamton University, and her father belonged to labor unions all his life. “One of the things he always told me was that I should respect the unions because they represent hardworking people,” she said. In 2013, she worked with CSEA and other community stakeholders to successfully fight the closure of state mental health services in Binghamton and Elmira under the governor’s “Centers of Excellence” plan. “I organized a regional advocacy strategy opposing the state’s mental health facility closure plan which would have left no mental health inpatient services in the entire Southern Tier," Lupardo said. Her involvement was key in getting the governor to back off his facility closure plan, said CSEA Greater Binghamton Health Center Local President Jon Englert. “Without Assemblywoman Lupardo’s bringing all the community stakeholders together Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo addresses a large CSEA crowd gathered in June 2014 outside the Binghamton State Office Building to rally against the state’s misguided plan to close Broome Developmental Center. in a true coalition to support the mental health needs of the Southern Tier, we wouldn’t have been successful in our opposition to the governor’s cuts,” Englert said. “She was key in fighting alongside us to keep those services here.” Lupardo said one of the current challenges she is focusing on is protecting services for individuals living with developmental disabilities and the state workers providing their care, given the state’s planned closure of the Broome Developmental Center. At CSEA’s request, she is co-sponsoring a bill to provide for their continuity of care. CSEA Central Region President Colleen Wheaton praised Lupardo’s advocacy on behalf of CSEA members. “Whenever we need her help, we know we can count on Assemblywoman Lupardo,” Wheaton said. “She has always been there for us.” — Mark M. Kotzin Bright is PEOPLE Recruiter of the Month Karen Bright of the Madison County Local in the Central Region is the PEOPLE Recruiter of the Month for February. She recruited 40 new PEOPLE members. “I believe in the PEOPLE program,” Bright said. “Unions are under attack in this country and if we are not willing to fight for ourselves, as union members, who do we think is going to fight for us? I know the PEOPLE program fights for jobs, job safety, a secure pension, along with worker-friendly legislation. I also know how important it is to fight back when you’re being attacked, and that’s why we need every CSEA brother and sister to join the fight by joining PEOPLE.” CSEA’s PEOPLE program protects and improves our jobs, benefits and pensions in Washington, Albany and in Bright your community. Your support and participation in PEOPLE strengthens CSEA’s clout in the workplace, in the legislature, in your community and in the labor movement. — Mark M. Kotzin 14 The Work Force July-August 2015
Work_Force_July-August_2015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above