Our Vision
Every fight on this page has a face behind it — a worker who was cheated, a family getting priced out, a neighborhood being written off by people who've never lived in it. Fifty-two laws chaptered. Over 100 bills passed. Here's what Jessica has delivered for Queens — and what she's going back to finish.
Secure, Affordable Housing
What we’ve won: When I replaced a member of the IDC in 2019, the NY State Senate was able to pass historic tenant protections. When the pandemic hit, the State Legislature fought to keep people safe and in their homes while the worst of the pandemic raged on.
What we’re fighting for: New York is an amazing city because it is a city of working people. We keep it that way by building on our rent laws and passing Good Cause Eviction. We’re going to ensure everyone has access to safe, affordable housing by legalizing basement apartments, securing a Green New Deal for Public Housing, and increasing our affordable housing stock without turning to privatization.
21st Century Transit & Infrastructure
What we've delivered:
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Killed the $2 billion LaGuardia AirTrain — a corrupt vanity project that would have served almost no one in Queens
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Passed the MTA Capital Dashboard Open Data Law — bringing real transparency to how transit dollars get spent
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Fought for a transit agenda built around Queens' actual needs, after generations of neglect by planners who never lived here
What we're going back to finish: New York has nearly $10 billion in federal infrastructure funding on the table. That money needs to work for Queens — extending existing lines, building new service on freight corridors connecting Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and creating a real protected network for cyclists, pedestrians, and e-bikes. Queens has been a transit desert for too long. That changes now.
Excluded No More
What we've delivered:
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Championed the $2.1 billion Excluded Workers Fund — over 150,000 New Yorkers received help with rent, food, and medical debt
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Over 99% of recipients had paid New York State taxes — they earned every dollar they received
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One of the first and largest programs of its kind anywhere in the country
What we're going back to finish: Extend relief to workers the first round didn't reach. Fix the structural failures in our unemployment insurance and safety net so no worker is ever again excluded from the relief their own tax dollars fund. Every worker in New York contributes. Every worker deserves protection.
A Green New Deal for New York
What we've delivered:
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Stopped the NRG fracked gas peaker plant in Astoria — Queens organized and won
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Secured prevailing wage protections in the Environmental Bond Act and on solar projects — the green economy must create union jobs, not just talking points
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Helped found the Cornell Climate Jobs Institute
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Helped neighbors repair their homes after Hurricane Ida
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Secured drainage infrastructure in East Elmhurst to reduce future flooding
What we're going back to finish: No new fossil fuel plants in New York — period. A real Green New Deal means good union jobs, resilience infrastructure for frontline communities, and a just transition that doesn't leave workers or neighborhoods behind. The climate crisis isn't abstract in Corona or East Elmhurst. It shows up in flooded basements and children's asthma inhalers. We're fighting like it.
Championing Working Families
What we've delivered:
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Passed the Child Poverty Reduction Act — a targeted agenda to cut child poverty in half
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Won the full $4 billion in foundation aid owed to New York public schools
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Expanded child care subsidy eligibility from 275% to 400% of the federal poverty level — more Queens families can now actually access help
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Secured funding to expand UPK statewide
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Required correctional facilities to provide halal and kosher food options
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Opened a food pantry in the district and kept neighbors fed during the pandemic
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Restored funding for the Langston Hughes Library
What we're going back to finish: Universal child care. The Early Learning Child Care Act would cover 93% of New York families, raise wages for child care workers, and build the infrastructure parents actually need. There's no such thing as someone else's child. Jessica is going back to Albany to finish this fight.
A Strong Labor Agenda
What we've delivered:
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Raised the minimum wage and indexed it to inflation — wage increases are now automatic, not political
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Passed the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Standards Act — basic rights for farmworkers, long overdue
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Recognized domestic workers under the NY Human Rights Law
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Passed the Construction Wage Theft Bill — contractors who steal from workers face real consequences
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Championed the $2.1 billion Excluded Workers Fund — one of the first programs of its kind in the nation, delivering relief to immigrant and gig workers left out of federal pandemic aid
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Passed the Captive Audience Ban — bosses cannot force workers to attend anti-union meetings on company time
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Passed the Statewide Salary Disclosure Law — workers have the right to know what a job pays before they take it
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Passed the Retail Worker Safety Act and Warehouse Worker Protection Act — protecting New Yorkers in some of the state's most dangerous jobs
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Ended mandatory overtime for nurses
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Passed AI performer protections — your voice and likeness belong to you, not an algorithm
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Passed the NLRB Trigger Law — if the federal government dismantles the NLRB, New York's labor protections kick in automatically. Right now, that matters more than ever.
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Brokered the meeting between Minor League players and Steve Cohen that paved the way for minor leaguers joining the MLBPA
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Secured tens of millions in apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship funding
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Passed Temporary Disability Insurance reform, warehouse injury reduction protections, language access in workers' compensation, and dozens more
What we're going back to finish:
Fix worker misclassification so gig and app-based workers get the rights they've earned. Protect the right to organize as Washington dismantles federal labor enforcement. Keep pushing wages up. The labor movement built this country's middle class — Jessica is in Albany every day to defend it and build on it.