Paloma Capanna for New York State Senate

Background:

I am an attorney, working for more than 15 years on family law issues. Approximately 20% of my billable time is given, pro bono, to victims of domestic violence. I have served on Boards of Crisis Nursery of Greater Rochester and Hope Hall School.

Goals:

I am running a race no Democrat has run for 16 years. It is a race as much about revitalizing the democratic process as taking this seat back for The People of this region. Albany has been dysfunctional for too long because it has been sold to big money and big business. I voluntarily took a campaign pledge to limit individual contributions to $1,000, down from a NY allowable of $15,500. We are taking our campaign to The People on issues, in person, and attracting grassroots support.

Issues:

Universal health insurance, available and affordable to all. America's Center for Energy, a regional green energy research and development program in the style of Kennedy's space race. Environmental protection, including natural water in the Finger Lakes and the Great Lakes, toxic remediation, and landfill reversal.

Grassroots Support:

Everything! We are out to shift the paradigm of what campaigns and elected officials have become. We kicked off our campaign with a 162-mile, 8-day "Walk & Talk", on foot, across our vast District, and we haven't stopped reaching out to people since. We've connected with multiple area college campuses, who were not connected with county Democrats. We're speaking at community groups. We're listening and we're responding with ideas.

DFA Values:

I strongly believe in a balanced budget, met with prioritized spending and economic growth. For example, public investment into alternative energy development would create not only economic growth for jobs, but also create a commodity with global market potential. The public investment should be linked to intellectual property rights, so that the investment today becomes the reduced energy cost for the taxpayers and the poor tomorrow. If we do not link public grants/loans to intellectual property ownership, we will only end up substituting one expensive commodity for another as private business morphs into the next profit margin. As another example, significant savings will be achieved when we shift to universal health insurance to remove private insurance company profits.