WASHINGTON, DC—Representatives Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) and Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) introduced the Virtual Community Support Act to strengthen community-based and peer support services virtually both during and after the pandemic. Specifically, it would create a new program at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide training and development to increase… Read more »
WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko voted last night to pass H.R. 1280: the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This life-saving legislation takes steps—including ending the use of all chokeholds—to put community safety and justice for all at the heart of policing culture in America. The bill takes unprecedented and needed steps to curb police brutality, end racial profiling, eliminate… Read more »
WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko voted to advance H.R. 1, the For the People Act today, legislation that advances historic ethics and good government reforms including funding to upgrade election security systems, simplify and expand voters’ access to the ballot and confront the outsized influence of big money in politics.
“This legislation heeds the warnings of America’s top… Read more »
WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul Tonko announced today that Albany International Airport will receive a combined $5,412,267 to support COVID pandemic response at the facility. Tonko helped advance the funding as part of the Coronavirus Relief and Response Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act of 2020, passed by Congress last year. The funding includes economic relief for struggling airport… Read more »
Washington, DC—Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul D. Tonko (D-NY), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) today introduced the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act, ambitious new climate legislation that ensures the United States acts… Read more »
WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul Tonko cheered passage of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan in the House this morning, legislation that delivers a lifeline to struggling American workers, families and communities, provides resources to schools to support safe in-person learning, and for the first time enacts a comprehensive nationwide vaccination plan.
“For nearly a year, this COVID… Read more »
WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY) has issued the following statement responding to the Senate Parliamentarian ruling that a $15 minimum wage will not be considered under the budget reconciliation procedures being used to advance the current COVID rescue package.
“While I respect the Senate Parliamentarian, her offices high in the Capitol may be too far removed from the lives and… Read more »
WASHINGTON—Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and David McKinley (R-WV) cheered House passage of their National Heritage Areas Act, H.R. 1316, today as part of H.R. 803, the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act. This bipartisan legislation streamlines the existing patchwork system for U.S. Heritage Areas by providing formal guidance to the local partnerships that… Read more »
WASHINGTON—Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and Michael Turner (R-OH) and Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced the reintroduction of their Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, legislation that would vastly increase access to life-saving addiction medicine by eliminating a duplicative bureaucratic hurdle—colloquially known as the… Read more »
WASHINGTON—As millions of American struggle with mental health and substance use disorder challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and David Trone (D-MD) along with Representatives Tom Emmer (R-MN), Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) announced today that they introduced the Behavioral Health Coordination and Communication Act of 2021,… Read more »
