Latest / MyRye.com Conversations with Doug French / State Sen Shelley Mayer on Rye
Transcript
- MyRye.com, Doug French: Welcome to the MyRye.com podcast, Conversations with Doug French. I'm your host, Doug French, former mayor of the City of Rye, and this podcast is about the people and the issues that inform Rye and our local region. Our aim is to inform so you can engage on the matters that are most important to you. And we are here each week, so stay tuned each week for another topic. But it this week's topic in conversation is New York State. Senate solutions. What is our state government working on? What specifically impacts Rye in the Sound Shore region? And how local residents can have a say and influence on these issues. Joining me is the New York State Senator, Shelly Mayer. Senator, welcome to MyRye.com NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Thank you, Doug. It really is a pleasure. I'm so glad you're doing this. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well thank you. And as I say in my intro, this podcast is about the people and issues that impact Rye and the surrounding region. And that would be you. So it's a pleasure to have you. Thank you for being here. And I will interchange if it's okay with you, referring to you as Senator and Shelley, since we know each other. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Shelley. Shelley is good. MyRye.com, Doug French: Okay. before we get to the legislative policies and actions, I did want to touch on the human side of public service in balancing all of the demands. you've held many leadership roles and continue to do so. You have many responsibilities. So if you could just share with us with us your thoughts. After a long day, you're home and you get yet another call about taking on a new assignment or tackling a big big issue. Can you take us into that moment? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Well, one is I love the job. So I you know, I do it because I really think I can make a difference. So and I s I have a lot of energy and passion for it, which I try to show so that people aren't cynical about what it's like. I mean, my job is to serve people and so you gotta like it and you gotta like people and not be intimidated by difference of opinion. So I start with that frame, and I'm a very optimistic person, even in the face of many challenges that everyone has. personal policy, the world. I start with a very positive view every day. But at the end of the day, yes, I'm tired. I give a lot of, I say a lot of calories out. And if I'm sitting down with my husband, having a glass of wine dinner and then like the governor's office calls, yes, my heart sinks, like she's gonna veto my bill, which sometimes they call it like eleven o'clock at night and tell you with no chance to fix it, which I always say, why didn't you call me earlier? I would have fixed it with you. Or the majority leader calls and there's, something happened that is unfortunate that requires thoughtful consideration. So I try to balance the best I can, like everyone else. You know, I have a wonderful family, I have five grandchildren, three kids, all married, complications of personal life. I'm very, very fortunate that I have been able to sort of pull it all together and not fall apart. at anything. And you know, in this in the scheme of things, I'm just a very fortunate person, in what I have and what I get to do. And so I have not been thrown by those calls late at night, but sometimes your your heart does sink. There's no question about it. MyRye.com, Doug French: That that's great, yeah. And you have a great team just working and setting this up. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: I have a fantastic team. MyRye.com, Doug French: we just our first grandchild was coming up on a year now has totally changed our lives. Nothing like nothing like grandchildren. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yeah. It's very it's very fulfilling. MyRye.com, Doug French: so let's talk about the areas that you're you're specifically focused on, education. When when people talk about education That's one of the core reasons why people move to Rye. So you're the education chair. So if you could walk through some of the accomplishments and what's happened from this past session as well as some unfinished business. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Well, I'm gonna go back a little before this past session. So when you know, I ran after George Latimer became county executive, he had been the senator for this district. And of course I grew up here, I knew the sound shore well, but not as well as when I had the opportunity to represent it. so as education chair when we got into the majority in twenty nineteen, our first priority was to get the amount of foundation aid which the state owes every school district in the state fully paid. It will it was just completely ignored for many years. Governor Cuomo disagreed that it was owed, even though the court said it was owed. And it took us a few years. So we were finally able to get every school district, including Rye, what they owed. Then fast forward, even if you get what you owed and it's based somewhat on property wealth, Districts like Rye don't get as much as districts like Porchester, for example, next door. So Rye doesn't always have enough money to do the things it needs to do to be such an exemplary school district, which I've had the opportunity to go in every school and and see and meet with the superintendent. And and they got into the little back and forth with the City of Rye about the Playland issue, and one year were short. I was able to get additional money to sort of bridge that gap. That wasn't easy because Rye is not one of the state's most needy districts, but it's my district and I cared about it and I did not want services to be cut. And you're absolutely right, people. Doug, people move to Rye for the school district, and I know that, but they pay exorbitant property taxes, school taxes. And so my job is to get as much state money to every school district and then to fight to a fairer distribution, which is still on my list. For example, the costs of transportation, health insurance premiums, special ed in a district like Rye and many other middle class districts are tremendous burdens. And I'm very committed to working particularly on the health insurance premiums because this is a problem for a district like Rye, every district. Transportation, as I said, and the cost of special ed, which you know from your experience, the world has changed about special ed and it's much more expensive. And many more kids are in that bucket. So we have to do better, but we have made significant progress. We have changed what's called the regional cost index for Westchester, which was previously lumped with the rest of upstate New York. Last year we got that closer to the New York City regional cost index. That pushed more money into districts that were owed additional foundation aid. So we have continued work to do, but we have made really substantial progress. And then Although not every school district adopts it, universal free breakfast, free lunch for every school district in the state, and we're moving towards full day pre-K for four-year-olds by two years from now for every family that wants it. Again, not every district and Rye is going to have its challenges like others in having these things come to pass. But we are putting more state money and taking the burden off property taxpayers and at the same time enhancing the experience of students. One last thing. I'm not satisfied MyRye.com, Doug French: Sure. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: with the results of many of our schools, not Rye, which has excellent results, but we put a lot of money into education. We need better results from some of these other school districts, and I'm pushing for that. MyRye.com, Doug French: Okay, great, thank you, thank you. I've also heard about the education department changing the regions criteria and this portrait of a graduate. Can you explain a little bit about that? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Thank you for asking, because I don't think anybody really could ever understand unless they were in the weeds. So education policy is set by the New York State regents who are named by the legislature, the assembly, and the senate jointly. They don't report to the governor. So she can't tell them what to do as she would with any other agency like DOT, all the agencies you dealt with as mayor. So they have changed the requirements for graduation with a new thing called Portrait of a Graduate. Which is more of a holistic view of what you want graduates to know, including some things that I think we all agree were missing. Enough civics education, enough opportunity for kids who are not good test takers to excel in individual projects, for example, that can be judged for graduation and still have exams, maybe less requirement, but they're still there and they have moved toward this portrait of a graduate and they are implementing it. The legislature has a love-hate relationship with the Board of Regents. There's some things they don't like us telling them what to do, and sometimes we feel the need to tell them what to do. We pushed, for example, for financial literacy and climate education to be included as requirements, and they have now adopted those over the next two years. They'll be phased in at every grade level. That's a very important thing. We need kids who know how to checkbook if they still write checks or how to plan, how to buy insurance, how to understand how things cost. So we we push in as much as we can to change what the Board of Regents do. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well, I think people don't understand the compounding of money. And just getting that concept alone creates NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yes. MyRye.com, Doug French: wealth. So absolutely, personal finance. that's awesome. Thank you. And anything looking ahead that's unfinished business that you wanna need to tackle that's on your mind. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Well, certainly AI, the role of AI in education. I mean, I personally think you got sort of two pieces. You have it can't replace teachers and humans. And you have a grandchild, you know, this human interaction that creates personal growth and social growth and in many cases intellectual growth. But at the same time we need kids to understand how to use AI. It's not going anywhere, it's only gonna be more pervasive. So I think there's two pieces. We're struggling with how to encourage schools to adopt policies that include both those elements. I'm not a fan of all this technology in school districts. I think it's very I want human beings as much as possible. As imperfect as human beings are, they're they are different than having a robot. I mean, I just did a bill to prohibit the chat bot that they hired one school district. So MyRye.com, Doug French: I saw that. Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: AI will be a subject on the on there for next year and also use of technology generally in schools. I think there's other issues in the school space, less about Rye, but immigration activity within schools is something we we did legislate about this session that hasn't happened too much in Westchester in schools, but I think there's a great risk of that happening in some of our districts with a high proportion of immigrant kids. MyRye.com, Doug French: Okay, well thank you for that. not just in the news but everybody's feeling it in their own lives. The the issues of affordability and energy are key issues. I know you've led the charge about Con Ed rate rate hikes, any legislative fixes or what what's on the plate for that? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yes. So I I like the compliment I get when I go to a supermarket and they say you're Miss Con Ed. I think that's a very nice Yeah, I get that sometimes. MyRye.com, Doug French: I haven't heard that. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: but I didn't win all the battles, but we started a battle that we are going to win, which is changing the way rates are set in New York. And basically one of the key components of what I'm trying to do is change the current construct, which is Con Ed comes in with a return on equity. percentage that they want, maybe ten percent, which by the way, who's getting ten percent on anything they have? Nobody, at least not MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. Right. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: me. And then the Public Service Commission knocks them down to nine percent and then tells us, we did a great victory for you. But no, the nine percent on the delivery charge. So that's you could turn your thermostat to zero and your bill is still gonna be so high. And for seniors, fixed income, middle income people. This was the number one complaint I got for the last year. was the price of of Con Ed bills. So MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: we did get some victories in the budget and a credit to the people who really wrote the Public Service Commission organized. We we limited the ability to recover certain operating expenses, like we're being charged for their attorneys and their and their witnesses in rate proceedings. That should be their problem, not ours. MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. Right. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: they if they get more than their return on equity, Instead of giving it back to us as a rebate on our bill, they applied it to the next rate increase. That got knocked out. So that was another one of my bills that got included in the budget. And also reducing financial burdens on ratepayers. We did give more time because what was happening was the time was so short that at the end they retroactively went back and increased your rate for a longer period of time. We got some changes to that in the time. But what I want is a new methodology for how the rates are set. And I've had a bill that's passed the Senate every year, not the assembly. And I'm gonna continue to push for a complete overhaul. I think it's a broken system, too many utility insiders, nothing against people who own Con Ed stock, but at the end of the day they're gonna have to take more of the burden for infrastructure costs and less on people who pay the bills. And again, this is a middle class issue. MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: I don't like the word affordability 'cause I think people just say my bill I can't pay my bill. I turned my thermostat on in the winter and I still can't pay my bill. A thousand dollars in a house. You know, it was common. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, i exactly. And I I know in local government you have to sit down and look at these rate hikes and the math you gotta figure out, I think a a clean sweep of looking at how we do this more straightforward fashion like you suggest. Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Totally. And I would say I'm an intervener in another rate case. This is really and I'm a lawyer, I've been around a long time. It is so difficult to understand. It's a secret jargon intentionally. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yes. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: It's all insiders. Regular people ask regular questions and i they just shut you down. And what I was most upset about in Con Ed, we had thousands of people go to the public service commission and object, and they really minimized the opposition of ordinary people. And I raised this with the chair of the public service commission. I'm offended for my constituents. They MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: this is not a joke to them. This is really serious. And people who are, making eighty thousand dollars, ninety thousand dollars, they can't afford this at at at either. And then seniors and other people on real fixed incomes, let's say they inherited a house in Rye from their MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: parents or grandparents. it is a disgrace and we need to change it and I'm gonna not finish fighting about MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, well even higher incomes in Rye that I've talked to are still talk about it as well. It just it the rates. So keep at it. is there one factor that that's causing the the cost so high, or is it a multitude combination of things? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: It's a few things, but I don't think it is the states moving towards renewable energy because overall going forward we're gonna have to do that. Yes, we need alternative sources of energy. There's no question we don't have enough. and there are good efforts underway in the state to do that. But you know, frankly, the federal administration shut down the offshore wind activity, which was, you know, on the way to being built off the Long Island Sound, you would not see it. it would have produced a great deal of energy. They shut that down. we have not maximized solar at a big scale. There's an an energy storage, so there's more we could do, but in large part this is due to the rate setting methodology that New York uses. Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania has basically told his utility regulators, we're not gonna accept this anymore. And the governor of New Jersey imposed a moratorium. I think we should step up in a very activist way against these rates. MyRye.com, Doug French: So you really are, what does you say, Miss Con Ed? any other issues on affordability, th that that you want to mention that that you okay. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yeah. Well I think and anyone from Rye understands this. Okay, I had a co-op in the city and I want to have a backyard, a great school district, you know, a wonderful community. My kids tell me now, like, why didn't we go to Rye more often as kids? Because you you never showed us this little jewel of that little downtown. so people want them. They want to move there. And then both the property taxes are extremely high. Services are excellent, school district is excellent, but the cost of housing, the average cost over a million dollars in Westchester now, that really limits the ability to have truly middle class people or working class people like our, our firemen, people that work in our stores, live in our communities. And in a perfect world, Westchester would have middle class families and not only wealthy families. So I think the cost of housing is is a real big deal and We try to incentivize you know, affordable rental. I'm in favor of having multifamily that's like the new condominium type of thing where but Rye largely is single family homes, except with some exceptions, things that were built earlier and but I think the cost of housing is is a serious impediment to our growth as as a county and our community. And the beautiful city of Rye. MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. So you mentioned the the downtown. Let's let's focus on local Westchester and Sound Shore issues. flooding, you have not seen flooding until you see that little babbling brook roll through the center of Purchase Street. And I remember walking with Senator Gillibrand and she said, that little brook creates all this damage. And so what can the state do, or what is the state doing when it comes to flood mitigation? Not just Rye with the sound shore, because it is a regional approach. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: it is. And you know, really Steve Otis and I, after Ida, between Mamaroneck, Rye, which we were there the next day meeting with people and their basements were flooded. That that whole so much of Rye was deeply damaged by it. Mamaroneck, Port Chester, it it was really a crisis. And two people in my district died from Rye Brook in Ida. So after Ida, we really worked with DEC, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, to do these studies which would lend themselves to multi municipality requests for funding. And we have been able to get them to do the more studies and to work with the City of Rye, Mamaroneck New Rochelle. to apply for funding and to get funding to begin to address systemic things. One of the problems with communities didn't want all want to work together. That has improved some as well. we are trying very hard to get money out the door. in Rye and elsewhere to deal with the structural problems. These are like you said, this is not like a simple solution. But we can't risk this again and we're gonna face it again. And it's MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: not only the infrastructure of the like the downtown, it's also people's homes, access to power, everything else that got shut off. So The whole flooding, I have called for a state office of flooding that would be at a cabinet level officer. I did it after Ida. I pushed hard. My bill got vetoed once. I'm not finished with that. I think that a place like Rye should know exactly who to go to, how to get answers both short term, like during the crisis, and then going forward. How do we get money for pipe removal and pipe enhancement? How do we get money for actual Stuff going into the sound. Each of these things, you should have a place you can go instead of having to go to five agencies, some federal, some state. And that's not the way it should work. And by the way, we're not the first state to have floods. So we should use MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: the the knowledge that other states have and have a more sophisticated approach to preparation and mitigation. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well I try to just inform, not advocate, but I I could not agree more because I always said when I was in office that flooding is a regional problem and yet NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yes. MyRye.com, Doug French: each little municipality is looking at their own little pet project. It's not we need to mitigate it in a much larger coordinated fashion, so I think you're exactly right. I'm also part of the Business Council of Westchester, the Not For Profits Committee, and and one of the issues that keeps coming up are these not-for-profits that provide great services can't get paid. So can you update us on that? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: So I'm very frustrated by that. And you know why? And you will understand this, Doug. So you you have Rye ACT or or one or a group that in Rye. MyRye.com, Doug French: Exactly. Yep. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: They they do great work, they have a contract with the state. They've been through the vetting process. We're not starting it ground at the beginning here. They've been vetted, they've been approved, their finances. Then it takes a year to get the money. Meanwhile, they they employ people or they employ kids, and during that time they don't get the money. So last year or two years ago, Assemblywoman Paulin and I did a bill to fix it. The governor vetoed it. She made some objections. We have addressed her objections. We did two bills that passed both houses. And basically they say that within 30 days after an award, they gotta start paying. And if they're not going to pay, they gotta explain why and set a schedule. And then, you know, in a perfect world there'd be consequences to the state if they didn't pay. That's hard to get But we need a system, an actual system, so you know I'm hiring Shelley Mayer I'm gonna hire you thirty days from now because by then I will have the money to pay you. And we have after school programs, we have these great anti-drug programs in Rye and other programs that really bring value. It's not fair that you wait a year. And you're doing a service traditionally government would do, but no longer, you know, government doesn't do them all. So I am hopeful and we are working on the governor to try to get her to sign these bills. MyRye.com, Doug French: That's excellent. Any other local issues that you're working on in Westchester that you want to mention or I? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: well we you know, over the years that I've represented Rye since twenty eighteen, we've given funds for various things, the salt shed, not very sexy, but you know, things that where money was needed and the MyRye.com, Doug French: But needed. Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: city came to us. Now for that brook behind where the Y is, MyRye.com, Doug French: Yes. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: we are likely to be giving money towards the repair there of that stone wall. I mean that hits the library, that hits the Y. that brook is, you know, multi purpose, but the Y was very damaged in Ida and we want to be helpful to them. We've met with them and done a walking tour. anything I can do where I have allocated capital and the city of Rye comes with a request, I am trying to be as helpful as possible. We you know that's government's role to be helpful. MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. So how's the partnership going with the local officials, the school boards, the county officials? How's that going, the partnership? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: I think it goes very, very well. I mean, my style is I don't care about partisanship once we're elected. That's off the table. We work with everybody. our goal, our obligation is to serve everyone. It's a privilege to have this job. It's not up to me. It's not about me. So we work well with this mayor of Rye, this council now, the county executive, obviously, the county legislators. We really try to be on the same page, and I would say compared to some of the other localities in the state, we are much more. unified. Of course I work very closely with George who updates me on the Rye world every day of MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: what I missed in Rye and what I should have been at. he's MyRye.com, Doug French: And he's committed to this podcast, so we just have to nail down a date. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: good, good. But he he really I mean he really has Rye at his fingertips and he's been extremely helpful to me in making sure I understand at a granular level sort of what the issues are and I really appreciate his partnership and friendship. I rely on him. Although we disagree regularly. MyRye.com, Doug French: And and that's another podcast. We could do a full hour on that I guess. But if I'm a resident I and I like the when you're talking about I want to get involved. I mean what's the best way? Is it to reach out to your office? Is there a site? How do people get involved? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yes. Sure. So my office was in Port Chester much more convenient to Rye as George's was. but frankly you very hard to take a bus to Port Chester and I represent a diverse community from Yonkers to Pound Ridge. It really is a crazy length of district. And so it's important to me to have bus transportation available to my constituents. So And we have a very nice office. So now I'm on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains next to the fire station. And if you email my office, so it's S Mayer M-A-Y-E-R at NY Senate dot gov. Your email will get to me, get to my fantastic staff. I really do have an exceptional staff. And if it's something we can we try to get back if we can help and you live in the district, and even if we can't help, we try to tell you. So I think I have a pretty good reputation. Some things get dropped, there's no question about it. But I try to be present and to be responsive. That's my job to do as much as I can on for individuals. You know, some people say I wouldn't never think of reaching out to my senator for something like that. Well, if it's a problem you can't solve, you should feel free to reach out to your senator and your assemblymember. I work very closely with Steve. Obviously as a former Rye mayor, he really also has a feel for Rye. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well, I know I think Sophia may be out on vacation, but she was texting me even on on vacation. So yeah, your staff is terrific. So I'm gonna let you take a break and I'm just gonna let our remind our audience if you have a topic or a person you'd like to hear are on the MyRye.com podcast, Conversations with Doug French, simply email me at French at MyRye.com or just let me know around town. We are here once a week and you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, YouTube weekly. can also find us at MyRye.com with links to all of those formats. So please share, like, subscribe, and leave a comment. Our conversations are timeless. So listening to a past podcast on topics of interest really get you up to date with the experts on the local and regional issues that matter most to you. And now we've got a little bit of time left. We're gonna hit try to hit a couple of big blocks, so we'll just maybe keep the answers short. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: I'll be shorter. MyRye.com, Doug French: And then we'll go to the lightning round and then we'll we'll close it out. But this has been great insights. Really appreciate all NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Thank you. MyRye.com, Doug French: your efforts in participating today. so ethics, governance, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, you've got some new roles happening. Can you just tell us what's happening with those? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Well, I'm co chair of the committee on ethics and govern governance. I'm chair of that and then I'm also the co chair of the legislative ethics commission. And that is a bipartisan group of legislators and lay people who handle complaints under various provisions of the ethics law. I'm very impressed with how it works. It's a consensus driven, not partisan at all. my colleague in the Senate Republicans who is my counterpart there, we were Andrew Lanza from Staten Island, we work very closely together and think very similarly. I'm impressed. I have to say I was there in the legislature when as a staffer when ethics were really a problem and it is greatly improved now and we have people, I think the vast majority of them, whatever their party affiliation, understand their obligations and the rules of the road. And it's a much better place in many regards. So I have that and now I've been named as chair of the Democratic Senate campaign committee, which is to grow the Democratic majority in the state senate and make sure our incumbents get reelected and help new new members who want to join our conference. And it's a it's a big task. I'm happy to do it. I care about the whole state of New York and I think that we've made a difference as a democratic majority. MyRye.com, Doug French: And so how do you balance the needs of your district with the I guess the political aspect of of your new road? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: it's a little challenging right now during this election season, but you know, I I have a great staff that is only government. They don't do any politics. We don't discuss politics in the office, we have nothing to do with that. So I'm gonna do in politics, I'm sitting at home. And if I'm in government, I go in the office in White Plains or or out in the community. And it is a challenge to do them all, but I'm appreciative that the majority leader had faith in me and I have a great relationship with all my colleagues, really on both sides of the aisle. In fact, one of my Republican colleagues called to congratulate me and I have a great deal of respect for her. We're in a political world so we're competing, but at the end of the day, we all have a job to do. MyRye.com, Doug French: So just to close out on the ethics side, just a small world. George actually appointed me when he was as county executive to the Westchester County Board of yeah, I'm still serving. So small world. And finally, I just want to end with you know, how does the sausage actually get made? I saved this for last because that's probably the least exciting, but it really it's an art to get things legislation passed. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yeah. MyRye.com, Doug French: take us through the idea to committee to getting passage. How does that all work? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Well, how it works is it takes a long term view and you have to be a consensus builder. I mean it's there's a great advantage to not having sort of enemies in in this big legislative process. If you want to run the whole thing, run for governor. But otherwise it's a team sport. So I gotta get other people on board with my ideas like for example the banning cell phones in schools. It was the governor's idea. Some people, including myself, wanted some modifications along the way. we had to work with all of our colleagues. To get an agreement. and then we were ultimately able to get consensus among the Senate majority. I think most of the minority Republicans agree with it too, the Assembly as well. But and then if there's a roadblock, you have to think of a constructive way, and you know this, Doug, to sort of get around the roadblock. So maybe you have to modify your bill, you have to tone it down. Like when the governor vetoed my bills, I have to go back and draft them in a way that I think is gonna I don't want to do the same bill and get vetoed again. The point is to make change. Change is incremental, change is not overnight. If you believe in that kind of democracy, which we're extraordinarily fortunate to have, as imperfect as it is, the fact that We can make laws that change people's lives. It just takes persistence, it takes a pretty positive attitude, and it takes a willingness to compromise. So there's a number of things in this year's budget I did not like. at the end of the day, the increased school aid for every district, two percent instead of the one percent that the governor proposed, that was a win. There were other things in there that were a win, and there certainly were many other provisions that I liked. But the things that I didn't like, okay, I didn't like them. But they're part of a bigger budget bill. This is a compromise. And at the end of the day, we needed a balanced budget, so you vote I voted for it with no apologies. Maybe an explanation, but no apologies. MyRye.com, Doug French: Right, and really compromise. That's the difference between a bill that stalls and one that actually becomes law. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Exactly. MyRye.com, Doug French: and I think what people don't realize is it it really is the three branches of government at every level. It's not just the federal, but you have your assembly and your Senate and your executive branch. Yeah, go NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Exactly. And let me just add, MyRye.com, Doug French: ahead. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: I fight with the executive branch. People think, you're all one party. I fight with the Department of Transportation every week about not getting enough roads redone in Westchester. Not enough fixed. So, you know, our job is to fight for our district. And like you said, there's three branches. At the end of the day, we gotta do the best we can for our districts. And that I'm proud that I try to do that. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well Senator Gillibrand gave me the best advice. She said, Mr Mayor, plow the streets, repair the streets, and pick up the garbage. Everything will be NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: They'll be fine. MyRye.com, Doug French: All right, so lightning round, just you know, one word answers if you if you could. So what keeps you up at night? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Mistakes I might have I might have made. MyRye.com, Doug French: Your proudest accomplishment in the Senate so far? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Full funding of foundation aid for every public school in the state. MyRye.com, Doug French: the biggest challenge in your current roles. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Frankly, the impact of the federal administration's cuts on New York gonna be a huge challenge. MyRye.com, Doug French: So let's talk about a one word that describes working with Washington D C right now. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Not a functional relationship. MyRye.com, Doug French: what's the current state of the state of New York State Senate? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Good, good. You know, full of new voices with a goal towards consensus. MyRye.com, Doug French: W we do the students inside of Albany with the League of Women Voters. any advice for future legislative leaders? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Get involved. Get involved. Run run at a local level. Get on your library board. That's what I did. Didn't get on at first, but ultimately got on. Get involved in your community. That's where you can make a huge impact. You know this better than I MyRye.com, Doug French: what's the biggest kitchen table issue in the thirty seventh district? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Energy, food and housing. Sorry. MyRye.com, Doug French: Three would it's okay. one word of the current state of public education in New York. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Improved but inadequate. MyRye.com, Doug French: What's your favorite thing about the Sound Shore? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: The sound. The sound. What it what what an extraordinary resource. MyRye.com, Doug French: And it looks beautiful. It really does. Look looks great. Yeah. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: my gosh. That Rye Beach, you know, pretty fabulous. MyRye.com, Doug French: And then what's the one word that's gonna guide you in Albany this year? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Thinking of my district, really we're gonna have a very difficult year and I gotta do the best I can for for everyone in my district. MyRye.com, Doug French: So any final messages that you'd like to leave listeners with? NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Well again, thank thank you for the opportunity to serve, and the opportunity to give my voice on behalf of the people I serve. I really do consider it a privilege. I'm a true believer in this kind of democracy and we're lucky to have it. it's not an easy time to be in public life, but if you are willing to do it, you should do it. This we need new we need your voice. MyRye.com, Doug French: That's great. Well, I can't thank you enough, Senator. it was great to speak with you, get your insights and knowledge. thank you for your long term of public service and continued success with that. I want to tell our listeners you can find the full episode transcripts of this episode and others at the MyRye.com site, along with local news and more, and all the formats for this podcast. Please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcast and spread the word as we grow. Also, there is a new song and video out about Rye. It's called I'm in Rye and It's Alright. It's by it's NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Yeah. MyRye.com, Doug French: by Dogs on the Run. It's a great listen. we have our own theme song here at the MyRye.com podcast Conversation with Doug French, but it is a good listen. So thank you all again for listening to the MyRye.com podcast Conversations with Doug French. We are here weekly, so we will see you next week. Thank you. NY State Senator Shelley Mayer, District 37: Thanks so much.