Shelley In The News
“Education funding is one of the largest sources of state spending and this year is no different. Fresh off a marathon budget hearing on propped education funding is the chair of the Senate Education Committee, Yonkers Democratic state Sen. Shelley Mayer, who joined Capital Tonight on Friday.”
Feb. 2, 2024
“State Sen. Shelley Mayer chairs the Education Committee, which involves ensuring that New York schools are adequately funded and children get a quality education – and that educators are fairly compensated as well. Mayer spoke with City & State about reversing proposed education cuts, boosting career and technical education and the expanding role public schools play in combating poverty.”
March 4, 2024
“The centerpiece of this legislative odyssey is the establishment of an Office of Flood Prevention and Mitigation, a brainchild of State Sen. Shelley Mayer. This office is envisioned as the state’s bastion against the surging tides, coordinating flood prevention initiatives and honing the state’s response to flooding incidents. This move acknowledges the intricate dance between human habitation and the natural world, seeking to choreograph a harmony where currently there exists a discord.”
Feb. 21, 2024
“The first thing is that we want: Foundation aid to be fully funded with the inflationary factor, because schools are facing a potential drop-off of federal funds. There is a significant inflationary factor, and it’s going to be expensive. I’ve just finished a tour of about 11 school districts throughout the state. Urban, rural, suburban schools are doing very innovative and creative things to address social emotional health and academic learning loss — and to ensure that students graduate really prepared. But those things all cost money. So we have to have the full funding of foundation aid.”
Jan. 9, 2024
“Sens. Shelley Mayer and Pete Harckham on Thursday announced they’re promoting a bill that would designate regional state offices to address climate change effects. The announcement was made at the site of the former community resource center in Mamaroneck, which was destroyed in Hurricane Ida. If the bill is passed, the Office of Flooding Prevention and Mitigation and the Office of Equity for Energy and Climate Change would help residents address severe flood damage and its financial burdens.”
Dec. 15, 2023
“Mayer said that after the fall of Roe v. Wade, many blue states passed shield laws protecting women who received an abortion in-state, but substantial obstacles still faced people living out of state, especially poor people and people of color.
‘No way would they have the money, the time, the child care, and lose everything in order to go to another state,’ Mayer said. ‘We have to do everything we can for these women who, just by fortune, live in another state that has Republican state legislature.’
Mayer emphasized the importance of voter action, explaining that the majority of impactful legislation is created at the local and state levels. She said she believes it is crucial to appeal to women who don’t traditionally vote.
‘We have to organize in order to educate and inform that they’re going to lose their rights if they don’t fight back at the state level, Mayer said.”
Nov. 28, 2023
“State Senate Education Committee Chair Shelley Mayer is always in the thick of perennial school funding battles, and this year passed legislation on school voter registration and pre-registration programs.”
Nov. 13, 2023
“NYS Senator Shelley Mayer and Assemblyman Steve Otis took an opportunity to show off firsthand how new legislation they co-sponsored might change the way municipalities and property owners think about managing New York’s shoreline.
The lawmakers hosted a press conference on Tuesday to celebrate the ‘Living Shorelines’ legislation being signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The new law will require the Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to encourage the use of nature-based solutions as the preferred approach for stabilizing tidal shorelines in the oversight and regulatory decisions of the agency.
‘After Hurricane Ida, many constituents reached out to me for assistance with flood damage. I was happy my office could help individuals but the systemic impact of climate change requires much more. As the community rebuilds once again following the devastating storm this past week, we need to be proactive about increasing resilience and protecting against future flooding. This legislation will empower DEC to encourage the use of nature-based solutions, strengthening our shorelines and communities.’ – Mayer”
Oct. 4, 2023
“Participation in student government is a direct, hands-on way for young people to experience and learn the value of representational democracy,” said State Senator Shelley Mayer (D, Westchester). “I am pleased every high school student in New York State will have the opportunity to participate in student government and learn that their voices are important, and that they have the right — and the obligation — to participate directly in our democracy.”
Sept. 10, 2023
“Sen. Shelley Mayer, a Westchester Democrat who chairs the Senate Education Committee, sponsors legislation that would require AEDs at camps and youth sports games and practices and told Capital Tonight that legislation like this is designed to ‘give parents confidence that when their child plays on one of these teams, that someone is there watching over them and ensuring that if something bad happens an AED will be available.’”
July 28, 2023
“Mayer traveled to Washington D.C. this past week to join the White House Panel on Reproductive Health. WAMC’s Lucas Willard spoke to Mayer about her legislation and her thoughts on other high-profile bills in the 2023 legislative session.”
June 18, 2023