Voters Guide: NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY, District 22: Michaelle C. Solages

MICHAELLE C. SOLAGES

DEMOCRAT

BACKGROUND:

• Solages, 37, of Elmont, seeks her sixth term, with the backing of the Working Families Party. 
• She is the Assembly deputy majority leader and chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus.
• Her bachelor’s degree in health and human services is from Hofstra University, where she worked as a library supervisor of access services.

ISSUES:

• She would press for equality in education, including increasing universal pre-K slots for Long Island and diversity among teachers to reflect the population’s makeup.
• She would add funds for the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) and expand income eligibility to reflect the “regional nuances” in cost of living. 
• She would restore energy efficiency incentives that have lapsed; and increased oversight of industrial development agencies, especially when major tax breaks to big business leave taxpayers with burdens.
• Solages said she helped negotiate $20 million to redesign Southern State Parkway’s unsafe Exit 13 and in expanding income eligibility for property tax exemptions for seniors and the disabled, from under $30,000 to $58,000.