Meet The Candidates: Kimberly Jean-Pierre For State Assembly

LONG ISLAND, NY — This November, Long Island residents will be hitting the polls to exercise their right to vote. While voters will be electing the president this Election Day, they will also be choosing their local representatives. In New York, state and federal races will also be on the ballot.

Democrat Kimberly Jean-Pierre, 36, of Wheatley Heights is running for re-election to represent New York's 11th Assembly District. She is being challenged by Republican Eugene Murray.

The district covers West Babylon, Wyandanch, Lindenhurst, Copiague, East Farmingdale, North Lindenhurst, Amityville, North Amityville, Wheatley Heights, and parts of North Babylon and Deer Park.

Jean-Pierre received her B.A. in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College and her M.S. in Public Policy from Stony Brook University.

The mother of a 4-year-old daughter has worked serving in the New York State Assembly since 2015.

In anticipation of the election, Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Check out the full Q&A below:

Why are you seeking elective office?

To continue fighting in Albany on behalf of Long Island working families.

The single most pressing issue facing our nation/state/community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has uprooted the daily lives not only for individuals and families in the 11th Assembly District, but throughout New York State and the United States, and I will continue fighting tirelessly to help protect New Yorkers during these difficult times. My office and I have worked around the clock to help get our constituents the resources they need, whether it's hand sanitizer, critical PPE, assistance with unemployment claims or streamlining access to local food banks. At the beginning of the pandemic, my colleagues and I helped earmark $40 million in emergency funding to help combat the spread of COVID-19 by purchasing medical equipment and supplies and hiring and training additional health care workers. I've also introduced several pieces of legislation to help mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19, including the COVID-19 Injured Workers' Protection Act to ensure that all workers directly impacted by the novel coronavirus receive the medical care and lost wage benefits they deserve, as well as legislation extending disability and death benefits for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers exposed to COVID-19. I also introduced legislation exempting the purchase of cloth face coverings from sales tax and I passed legislation to help ensure that contact tracers adequately represent the cultural and linguistic diversity of the communities they serve to allow for better communication and protection of public health. I will continue to make myself as accessible as possible to the 11th District constituents who need help navigating these difficult times.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Experience and a bipartisan record of delivering real results for our local communities, including record funding aid for our schools, millions of dollars in capital grants for local entities like our fire departments, police departments, not-for-profit organizations and local municipalities which helps these entities deliver resources while easing the tax burden on local property owners. I also have a firm grasp on how antiquated New York's criminal justice system was and the disastrous consequences it had for New Yorkers of lower-income backgrounds, who would languish behind bars awaiting their day in court because of the discriminatory system of cash bail we had, while their wealthier counterparts could be immediately released for being accused of committing the same offenses, so long as they had the financial resources to make bail. Bail is set based on flight risk, nothing more, nothing less, and the purpose of bail is and has always been to ensure those accused will return to court, not to preemptively lock up poor, non-violent individuals before they even have the chance to be found guilty or not guilty. This is a sensitive process and requires balancing, which is why my colleagues and I have ensured that the element of judicial discretion still applies in certain cases and judges can still impose non-monetary conditions like electronic monitoring or travel restrictions to help ensure accused individuals return to court. It's important to have a firm grasp on these facts instead of relying on sound bytes and misleading headlines to fear monger about the progress we've made in the area of criminal justice reform.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Making life more affordable for Long Islanders, fully funding public education, protecting New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic, fostering greater access to healthcare, ensuring a fairer criminal justice system and fighting housing discrimination on Long Island and throughout New York.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I've spearheaded countless efforts to make life better for everyday New Yorkers, including specific legislation as well as critical funding priorities in the New York State Budget. Since being elected, I have introduced and passed legislation to strengthen New York's boating safety laws, to increase access to life-saving mammogram screenings, to provide property tax relief to Superstorm Sandy victims, to root out discriminatory housing practices within the real estate industry, to provide more transparency for ratepayers regarding utility payments, to enhance data collection to better combat the opioid epidemic, and to bolster contact tracing efforts to better mitigate the spread of COVID-19. I've also mobilized dozens of my Assembly colleagues to fight for increased state funding for childcare programs, for gun violence prevention efforts, for expansion of prekindergarten slots statewide, for capital funding for Farmingdale State College, for increased STOA funding for Suffolk's public transportation system, and for the restoration of funding to the State's Population Health Improvement Program (PHIP). I've also secured millions of dollars in discretionary capital grant funding for a variety of local entities including the East Farmingdale Fire Company, the West Babylon Fire Department, the Copiague Fire Department, Farmingdale State College, the Amityville Police Department, the Copiague School District, the Lindenhurst School District, the Villages of Amityville and Lindenhurst, the Town of Babylon, the Wyandanch School District, the North Lindenhurst Fire Department and several other organizations who deliver critical services for our local communities. I believe these accomplishments underscore my continued fitness for this position.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Be patient and persistent, and luck comes when hard work, talent and timing intersect.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

It's been the honor of a lifetime representing the 11th District in the New York State Assembly and I look forward to earning the trust of the voters to continue serving in this role for another two years.