PHOTOS: Empire State Voices Launches NY-22 Effort Holding Rep. Williams Accountable
The Organization Expands to NY-22 as Williams Fails to Make Life More Affordable for Working New Yorkers
CAZENOVIA, NEW YORK — Last night, Empire State Voices (ESV) launched its advocacy effort in New York’s 22nd Congressional District by hosting a community conversation with local activists, advocacy organizations, elected leaders, and residents. The evening uplifted a number of local voices as community leaders, residents, and members of the ESV team discussed the ways in which Congressman Brandon Williams is out of step with the people who live in the district he’s supposed to represent.
Sarah Reeske, New York Organizing Manager for Indivisible | Credit: AXEL MARK / ESV
In the eight months since taking office, Rep. Brandon Williams has:
Voted to give big oil and gas corporations a $6 billion tax break
Voted to make it harder for seniors to access their Social Security and Medicare benefits
Voted to increase education, child care, and housing costs for New York families
Failed to come out in support of raising the federal minimum wage
Failed to fulfill his promise to voters and move to the district he represents
…and is expected to support the upcoming GOP Tax Scam
“Our organization is dedicated to fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for New Yorkers,” said Maria Martinez, Executive Director of Empire State Voices, “We’re here tonight to hold our members of Congress accountable because a lot of them were put into office to fight for our families and yet now they’re opposing pieces of legislation that would greatly benefit our families and our kids.”
“We’re here to fight for New York working families by holding our Congressional Representatives accountable, and in New York 22, that’s Representative Brandon Williams,” said Prerna Deer, NY-22 Regional Organizing Director for Empire State Voices. “While we struggle to pay the high costs of healthcare, prescription drugs, housing, and utilities we need to get by, our representatives are choosing to side with big corporations and the ultra-wealthy. That’s where we come in. We hear you, and together, we will be heard.”
“There is a reason why in this area we’re so persistent, and it’s because we love it here so much,” said Sarah Reeske, New York Organizing Manager for Indivisible. “Whether it's because we have a business here, we’re raising our family here, we’ve moved back to the area—we know the best of it. It matters a lot to us. We deserve the best representation possible and we are not getting that.”
“There are a lot of dangers facing us right now because of the fact that the federal budget is coming up, the Republicans don’t seem to want to compromise on anything, and the members in the far-right part of that conference are going to hold everybody hostage,” said New York State Assemblymember Al Stirpe (AD-127). “The problem with [Republicans trying to repeal] the Inflation Reduction Act and the environmental stuff is we’ve run out of time to do these things. We don’t have time to waste.”
“Republican lawmakers sided with pharmaceutical companies by unanimously voting to maintain the status quo. Apparently, they wanted to keep healthcare costs high, energy costs high, and deprive us of new, clean energy jobs. This includes our sitting Congressman, Brandon Williams,” said Manlius Town Councilor Katelyn Kriesel. “We all deserve better. We deserve a representative who understands that the climate crisis and the healthcare affordability crisis are not only of the utmost importance, but that these issues are tied directly to economic development.”
“Representative Brandon Williams in NY-22 is not aligning with the residents of his district, so it’s important that we talk about these issues,” said Jay Brandon, Statewide Organizing Director for Empire State Voices. “Just last week, [Representative Williams] and the House Speaker were at an event where they were hyping up progress, achievements, and benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act—legislation that both of them opposed. Why? Because they know that it's supporting these communities.”
“As a local representative, being a member of the community, showing up in the community, having conversations with the community is how we act as effective leaders,” said Manlius Town Supervisor John Deer. “When I and the folks that I serve with decided we were going to get involved, we didn’t sit around and think about what we wanted. We sat around and thought about what our community wanted. We thought about: ‘What can we be doing to serve our community members?’ Not to serve us, not to serve our donors who live in a different state and have different interests. And I think that’s something that Brandon Williams doesn't understand.”
Manlius Town Supervisor John Deer | Credit: AXEL MARK / ESV
To learn more about the campaign, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
