Senate Chair of Committee on Children & Families to Retire in November

January 12, 2020

There is a growing list of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have indicated their plans to retire in November (= will not be running for re-election).   The list includes but is not limited to Senator George Amedore, Jr. (ranking member of the Senate Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities and a member of the Senate Joint Task Force on Opioids, Addiction and Overdose Prevention) and now Senator Velmanette Montgomery, long standing chair of the Senate’s Committee on Children and Families (think ‘Raise the Age’) who recently co-signed a letter to Governor Cuomo calling for a moratorium on all cuts to the children’s behavioral health system.  Implications of these retirements will be significant for those of us who have relied on these lawmakers who have been in their jobs for some time and who demonstrate a significant understanding of our issues.

Montgomery officially announces plans to retire

By Bill Mahoney, Politico

01/11/2020 06:13 PM EST

State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (D-Brooklyn) officially announced plans to retire at the end of her current term at a news conference in her district today.

Montgomery, first elected in 1984, is the dean of her chamber’s Democratic conference. She was one of the first African-American women elected to New York’s upper house, and holds the distinction of being the first senator in state history to give birth while in office.

Since Democrats assumed the majority a year ago, she has chaired the chamber’s Children and Families Committee.

Montgomery “has been a personal inspiration to me, and to thousands of New York women,” Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “[S]he has served with distinction and has truly become a Senate institution. She has been a leader on so many issues, but has shined as a passionate advocate for the children and families of this great state.”

Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright, who was featured at Montgomery’s news conference, will be seeking the seat.

There’s a good chance, however, that there will be a primary for the Democratic nomination. Teacher Jabari Brisport was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America in the fall, when there already was an expectation that Montgomery would retire. Former Montgomery staffer Jason Salmon has also been campaigning for her seat.

The district includes parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene and Red Hook. With 188,000 Democrats and 7,000 Republicans, it has no chance of being competitive in November.