Schimel touts ‘go-to-girl’ in Assembly status

Dan Glaun

It does not take 16th District state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel long to make the case for her re-election.

“I’m a go-to girl in the assembly. People who want to get things done come to me,” Schimel said. “I’m a fighter.”

In an interview with Blank Slate Media, Schimel repeatedly turned to her legislative record, arguing that she possesses clout in Albany that allows her to pass bills while being a strong voice for Nassau County.

Schimel, who is opposed in her re-election bid by Port Washington lawyer Richard Stiek, cited her opposition to the natural gas extraction technique hydrofracking, her support of changes to the state tax code,  a successful petition for greater Port Washington LIRR service and her position on the agenda-setting steering committee as evidence of a record of accomplishment.

“This was my most satisfying legislative year,” she said. “I actually felt I had my most muscle.”

Schimel pointed to her support for 2011 tax changes that cut rates for middle-income earners and included a temporary hike for households making over $2 million per year.

“If you’re making net $20,000 a week, you can afford a little pain when I have people calling me who are unemployed and underemployed,” she said.

Schimel’s strong but sometimes conflictual relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Schimel said, allows her to work for Long Island interests that are ignored by city representatives.

Schimel discussed two issues – education reform and voting – on which she said she had fought to protect local communities from state mandates.

Albany’s Annual Professional Perfomance Review, a newly implemented standard for teacher evaluation, has drawn harsh criticism from local school administrators who say its testing requirements are burdensome and unnecessary for their already high-perfoming schools.

Schimel said that while the Assembly “had a gun to our heads” to support the bill to obtain federal education funding, she is working to alleviate its impact on local schools. She introduced a bill in May that would exempt school districts with track records of high graduation rates from some of performance review requirements and pair high and low-performing districts in a ‘mentorship’ program.

“The fact that you are outstanding in your demographic… you get a waiver,” she said.

A law that allows villages and school districts to avoid a mandated switch-over to electronic voting machines was the result of Schimel’s collaboration with Republican 7th District state Sen. Jack Martins. The pair were honored last month by the Nassau County Village Official’s Association for their joint advocacy for local issues.

“Jack and I are on some issues very different,” said Schimel, citing her vocal support for micro-stamping – a gun control measure opposed by Martins. “We are both believers in local government.”

Schimel described her governing philosophy as one of pragmatic bipartisanship.

“If there is anything you can possible agree on, take and run with it and get things done,” she said.

On the partisan flashpoint issue of hydrofracking, however, Schimel took a strong stance.

Schimel has been an outspoken critic of fracking, which environmental advocates say runs the risk of drinking water contamination. Advocates for the drilling argue that it is safe and would provide a much-needed economic boost to New York.

The state assemblywoman cosponsored a bill that requires an in-depth health impact study of fracking, which passed the Assembly but died in the Senate. The assessment is a hot button issue that Schimel said has won her no love from the oil and gas lobbies; the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced in September that it will conduct an internal review of fracking’s health effects, a measure that falls short of the initial calls for an independent inquiry and was cautiously welcomed by environmental advocates.

“I was very loud about fracking,” said Schimel. “I put forth for a health-impact assessment and the governor’s doing it.”

Schimel said that current fracking proposals lacked plans for dealing with waste water and contingency plans in the case of environmental damage. She said that if health and waste issues were addressed, and if drilling companies were willing to assume the cost of potential cleanups, she could reconsider her position.

“The jury is still out… but I have to vote with what’s in front of me. The proposal in front of me, I’m opposed to,” she said. 

Schimel was particularly critical of the absence of a proposal for wastewater treatment 

How do you vote on something you don’t have a solution for?” she added.

Schimel is running for re-election in a newly reconfigured 16th Assembly District, which now consists of Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington, Herricks, Mineola and East Williston.

The state Democratic party has been rocked by sexual harassment allegations against state Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D), who stepped down as chair of the Brooklyn Democrat Party in the wake of the scandal. Schimel, who said that she “never got along” with Lopez, has called for his resignation, but has also faced pressure from her Stiek to call for the resignation of Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) – the Assembly speaker who approved a secret settlement with the woman who reported being harassed by Lopez.

Schimel said that the Joint Commission on Public Ethics investigation should run its course, and did not advocate for Silver to resign.

“I support the process,” she said. “Let me see what the investigation is.”

She said she continued to condemn sexual harassment and said that she was not sure if she would support Silver for re-election.

Schimel is competing for recognition in a newly configured 16th Assembly District, which now consists of Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington, Herricks, Mineola and East Williston.

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