Galef Gets Voter Input On Education, Minimum Wage In Questionnaire

Galef's annual questionnaire allows her to hear her constituents' input which assists her in making decisions on which bills to support or oppose.

Galef's survey tallied a total of 69 percent who opposed teachers' evaluations being based on student test scores. After negotiations, Galef and her fellow Assembly members referred the decision about teacher evaluation standards to the state Board of Regents and the State Education Department.

Sixty-one percent of her constituents' replies supported the idea of pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, who will be 18 by the time of a general election. 

Galef is cosponsoring Assemblyman Michael Cusick's bill A.504, which will allow those who will be 18 by the time of a presidential election to pre-register as voters, to vote in the primary election at the age of 17. 

Asking if local town and village elections should be in November, 77 percent voted in favor of having all elections in November.

Results from the questionnaire indicated that 83 percent of respondents supported a ban on polystyrene and 76 percent supported a ban on plastic bags. 

Galef has recently sponsored Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh's bill, A.5743, which seeks to reduce the usage of food service ware made from plastic foam and calls for conducting an impact study on the effects of a statewide ban on Styrofoam ware. 

Seventy-eight percent of the constituent responses support having an independent office that would represent the interests of residential utility consumers. Galef sponsors and supports A.180, introduced by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, that will push this new office forward. 

On increasing the minimum wage, 76 percent of the responses supported this issue. As of Dec. 31, 2015 the minimum wage will be raised to $9 an hour. 

When asking about raising the number of charter schools in New York, those who opposed raising the number of charter schools had a slight lead with 54 percent over those in favor of raising the number of them.

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