Summary

About

Money

Source: Open Secrets

Predictions

Predictions[edit]

Web Links

• Molinaro onAir Post
• Molinaro Campaign Site
• Molinaro Government Site
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• Riley Campaign Site
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Marc Molinaro

Josh Riley

Issues

Marc Molinaro

Source: Campaign page

Josh Riley

Source: Campaign site

AGRICULTURE

Upstate New York’s farmers are hanging on by a thread.  We should throw them a lifeline.  Josh knows that our agricultural industry is vital to both Upstate New York and the country.   Among other things, Josh supports policies that:

• Break up Big Ag monopolies that are crushing small family farms and squeezing consumers and prohibit them from using corporate PACs to buy influence with politicians;
• Stop foreign adversaries like China from buying up American farmland–because food security is national security and our Heartland is not for sale to those who wish us harm;
• Improve access to markets for Upstate New York’s farmers, including through local and regional food hubs, renegotiating bad trade deals, and putting more local foods in local schools;
• Put Upstate New York’s farmers on a level playing field by increasing the federal minimum wage to match New York’s;
• Invest in innovation, research, and development, including through Cornell’s cooperative extension;
• Address the suicide and mental health crisis facing small farms today, including through federal support for programs like New York FarmNet;
• Reward farmers who protect the environment, including by reauthorizing the Farm Bill to increase reimbursement rates for cover crops and other sustainability practices; and

Fix our broken immigration system to ensure small farms have access to the labor they need.   

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

Our campaign finance system is a cesspool.  Let’s drain it.  Josh believes the corrupting influence of corporate money and dark money is the root of all evil in our politics.  Special interests buy seats for politicians who then vote for the special interests’ bottom lines, not yours.

As counsel in the U.S. Senate, Josh worked on a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the disastrous Supreme Court case that opened the floodgates to dark money in our politics.  As an attorney in private practice, Josh filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court to strengthen campaign finance laws.

Josh not only has been a vocal advocate for campaign finance reform, he has been leading by example.  Josh has never taken any corporate PAC money, relying on grassroots support instead.  For the 2022 election, over 90% of contributions to Josh’s campaign were $100 or less and over 70% were $25 or less.

Josh has received support from End Citizens United, which recognized Josh’s commitment to refusing corporate PACs and reforming our campaign finance system.

DISABILITIES

Everyone deserves an opportunity to live a fulfilling life and reach their full potential, regardless of their abilities.  In his first case out of law school, Josh represented children, many of whom had special needs, in civil rights litigation, and as a Policy Analyst at the U.S. Department of Labor, Josh worked on issues relating to employment opportunities for people with disabilities.  In Congress, Josh will support proposals that:

• Provide community-based support for people with disabilities;
• Invest in disaster preparedness focused on the elderly and people with disabilities;
• Increase employment opportunities, including through support for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy;
• Address provider shortages in the home-based and community-based care economy.

ECONOMY

Big corporations are enjoying record profits even while working families are struggling to make ends meet.  That’s not fair.  As an attorney, Josh represented consumers, workers, and small businesses who were being ripped off by big corporations.  In Congress, Josh will work to lower costs, including by supporting policies that:

• Crack down on price gouging so corporations can’t profit on artificially increased prices;
• End cartels in the prescription drug industry by banning anticompetitive pay-for-delay deals;
• Cap the cost of critical drugs and allow Medicare greater authority to negotiate drug prices.

EDUCATION

Josh is a proud product of Upstate New York’s public schools, and he wants every child to have the great education and opportunities he had.  Josh supports policies that:

• Fully fund public education, supporting our students, teachers, and communities;
• Support programs in music and the arts so kids can explore their passions and creativity;
• Invest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) curricula so America’s students are prepared to compete in the global economy;
• Give kids the support they need to learn, including healthy meals, school-based healthcare, and counseling.
• Promote CTE (career and technical education) diplomas–because a four-year degree should not be the price of admission to the Middle Class.

Josh has received support from New York State United Teachers, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of Teachers.

ENVIRONMENT

We are facing existential threats to our environment.  They require bold action.  As a dad, Josh is especially concerned about the state of the planet we’re leaving to future generations.  Josh supports policies that:

• Hold polluters accountable for harm they cause to the environment and stop them from causing that harm in the first place;
• Ensure clean drinking water in every community, including through updates to the Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Preserve our natural treasures, including the Catskills and the Finger Lakes
• Create good jobs building the American-made products we need to fight climate change.
• Establish energy independence, including by ending our reliance on fossil fuels.
• Restore the Environmental Protection Administration’s ability to fight climate change.

Josh has been endorsed by leading environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.

EQUALITY

Love is love.  At a time when constitutional freedoms are threatened, we cannot take for granted the progress we have made in the civil rights movement. That is why Josh supports policies that:

• Guarantee marriage equality, including the Respect for Marriage Act.
• Prohibit discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, including through the Equality Act.
• Ban dangerous conversion therapies.

Josh has received support from the Human Rights Campaign.

GUN VIOLENCE

We can keep vulnerable populations safe from gun violence while honoring law-abiding gun owners’ Second Amendment rights.  Josh served as counsel on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and he worked on common-sense legislation to keep communities safe. Among other things, Josh supports:

• Stronger background checks to keep weapons out of the hands of folks who are a danger to themselves or others;
• Keeping weapons of war out of schools and off the streets through appropriately tailored and constitutionally permissible legislation; and
• Protecting survivors of domestic violence by prohibiting domestic abusers from accessing weapons.

Josh has received support from Giffords PAC and Brady PAC.

HEALTHCARE

Healthcare should be a civil right in America, not something that bankrupts so many American families.  Josh believes that our healthcare system should put patients over profits.  He has litigated in federal courts to improve children’s access to healthcare services, and he worked as counsel in the U.S. Senate to advance legislation to improve access to addiction treatment and mental health care.  He supports policies that:

• Lower the cost of prescription drugs, including by ending pay-for-delay deals that jack up prices by reducing competition;
• Prohibit corporate PACS controlled by insurance and drug companies from buying influence with politicians;
• Improve access to healthcare in rural communities, including through improvements to broadband access to fully realize the potential of telehealth and by providing more healthcare services in schools;
• Address provider shortages that leave patients underserved and providers overworked;
• Create parity between mental and physical healthcare;
• Strengthen Medicare to cover hearing, dental, and vision services;
• Create a public option so that anyone who wants it can use it;
• Increase the Medical Loss Ratio so more of your premiums go to your care, not insurance companies’ profits;
• Protect women’s right to make their own healthcare decisions;
• Invest in our public health system so we can be prepared for future pandemics;

Josh has received support from the New York State Nurses Association and 1199 SEIU.

IMMIGRATION

Our immigration system is completely broken, and it needs to be fixed in a way that upholds both the law and our values.  Josh’s wife is the daughter of immigrants from India and Ecuador who came to America legally to pursue the American Dream.  As an attorney, Josh advocated in the U.S. Supreme Court against immigration policies that discriminate based on religion, and as counsel in the U.S. Senate, he helped draft a bipartisan and comprehensive immigration reform proposal.  Josh supports policies that:

• Secure the border to stop and deter illegal immigration;
• Update visa programs to ensure our farmers and trades unions have access to labor; and
• Reflect America’s values, including our tradition as a nation of immigrants and our identity as a nation of laws.

JOBS