Luke Henry

Male

October 31, 1974

Liberal

I'm Luke Henry. I am running for State Assembly against the Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver. The election is in September, and I hope you will help me.

I am an attorney by training and enjoy helping others through the practice of law, but I am also a student of our state government, local politics, and our current legislative system.

It is not always apparent, but our state government and state legislature have great control over our lives here in the city. The State taxes us, regulates us, and spends our money and city revenues to support state programs. It controls rent laws, provides funding for essential city services, charters public authorities (such as the MTA and the School Construction Authority), and controls how we vote and elect representatives.

In this Assembly District, many residents are struggling to find affordable housing, to make sure their children receive a good education, and to see that their families obtain quality health care. Seniors, long-time residents, and others are being priced-out. At the same time, the environment gets inadequate attention, we have fallen behind other states on many social issues, and serious policy issues are not being adequately addressed.

With the talent in New York, with the tradition of significant accomplishments by our local politicians, with an abundance of resources and a rich local history to guide and inspire us, why aren't things better?

It's Time For A Change

I believe the issues at stake in the 64th Assembly District are symptoms of a larger problem that exists in Albany, our state capitol, and that has been in large part created and maintained by the incumbent democratic Assemblyman, Sheldon Silver. Silver has been at the forefront of a crisis of leadership, transparency, and accountability. He controls a legislative process that is, by all accounts, ineffective and inefficient.

The Assembly is one of the two legislative houses in New York. Good legislatures are supposed to deliberate bills, create good policy, be accountable and accessible to the public, oversee our government, and safeguard precious public funds and taxpayer dollars; however, this is not how our State Legislature in Albany operates. The Legislature is plagued with bad bills and bad ideas, is more accountable to lobbyists and party leaders than to you or me, and controls giant slush funds and elections but neglects basic oversight responsibilities. I wish this were untrue, or that I was exaggerating, or that there wasn't ample evidence to support these claims. These several weaknesses severely impact our legislation, our budget and fiscal policies, our Court system and, fundamentally, deprive us of a representative government in our great state. These legislative deficiencies are the single greatest obstacles toward addressing basic needs in education, housing and healthcare for the residents of this District. Without transparency, without prioritizing serious issues over politics, without accountability, without checks on the influence of money, without legislative oversight, without modern fiscal practices, there is no wonder the problem in Albany has become a problem at home.

I am running for State Assembly against the incumbent because I know that things can be much better, and I can help make them better. I also know that we can win. We are going to run a campaign founded on the same principles that we are going to help put in place once elected.

It will take a candidate who is hard-working and tough to fight a powerful incumbent. Mostly though, it will take your help. With it, change and success are possible.

(212) 542 0185

New York, NY, 10002