COVER STORY: Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz

COVER STORY CRUZ PUTS RECOVERY AS TOP PRIORITY

BY BENJAMIN FANG

Not only are small businesses more creative and more forceful to sponsored many of the bills in the struggling from the pandemic, but ensure we have a surplus, not just package. The Queens lawmaker

For a legislator who is unabash- the state is facing a $15 billion bud- fill the gap.” noted that during the pandemic, the edly progressive, Assemblywoman get gap. Cuomo warned in his State Legalizing marijuana will bring wealthy “got even more rich” and Catalina Cruz has been highly sup- of the State Address that without a “good amount of revenue,” Cruz have benefitted from the current portive of the business community, federal funding, he would be forced said. She noted that state lawmak- tax system. particularly small mom-and- “It’s only fair,” she said. pop shops and street ven- “Pay a little extra to help dors in her diverse Queens the rest of the state.” district. As the legislative ses-

The second-term law- sion in Albany continues, maker, who represents Coro- Cruz is focused on not na, Elmhurst and Jackson just helping small busiHeights, says understand- nesses and closing the ing small business owners’ budget gap, but also finddreams, hopes and pitfalls, ing creative solutions to is key to helping them, espe- address food insecurity in cially as the COVID-19 pan- her district. demic and economic crisis Last summer, the assemcontinue to ravage stores blywoman turned her disacross the city. trict office into a food pan-

“These small businesses try, providing food to a give many families a job and long line of constituents an opportunity to survive,” amid the pandemic. Cruz she said. “Especially in my said she noticed that their district, many people who provider and other food used to work in low-wage pantries like La Jornada jobs save up their whole lives were struggling to access to open up a shop.” PHOTO: ALEXANDRA OWENS even simply necessities

In Albany, Cruz has pro- Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz speaks to a business owner in Jackson Heights as Queens like milk. posed and helped pass legis- Chamber CEO and President Thomas Grech looks on. In the early fall, Cruz lation to provide support for decided to join an upstate struggling small businesses. to raise revenue and cut important ers were close to passing the pro- Republican colleague in the

In mid-January, the state legisla- services that would “cause pain for posal last year, which would have Assembly on a tour of his district’s ture passed the COVID-19 Emer- New Yorkers.” provided important revenue for the farms. There, she learned that durgency Protect Our Small Business The governor has called on the state. ing the pandemic, many farms had Act, which protects restaurants federal government to provide As for sports betting, Cruz said as nowhere to sell their produce, milk from eviction and foreclosure, New York with $15 billion to not the state gets through the recovery and meat. She heard stories of restricts third-party delivery fees, only fill the budget hole, but also process, the sports scene, includ- farmers pouring milk down the freezes unemployment insurance make investments in infrastructure, ing eventually bringing fans into drain and even changing what they rates and establishes a partial- sustainability projects, rent relief, venues, will become even more were farming to survive. unemployment system. pandemic recovery, school aid and robust, which will lead to increased To address the dual issues of

Governor Andrew Cuomo also more. revenue. struggling farmers and hungry rolled out a $130 million proposal Among the governor’s proposals “It can only help with that gap,” families, Cuomo implemented the to provide tax credits to small busi- to raise revenue is the legalization she said. Nourish New York initiative, which nesses, including restaurants, that of marijuana, which would gener- Another way to increase revenue allows emergency food providers have been impacted by COVID-19 ate an estimated $300 million in for the state is to raise taxes on the to purchase surplus products from to hire additional workers through tax revenue, and legalizing mobile wealthy, which a set of lawmakers farmers and dairy manufacturers. 2021. That proposal, Cruz said, sports betting, which is expected to have proposed through the Invest The governor allocated $35 million is similar to a bill she introduced raise another $500 million. in Our New York Act, a package for the program to fund it through last year to provide incentives for In response to Cuomo’s State of six bills that legislators say will the end of 2020. businesses to hire local community of the State, Cruz said while the raise $50 billion annually. The pro- Cruz noted that Nourish New members. proposals would get the state “on posal includes establishing a pro- York is not a permanent program,

“If we don’t help small busi- the road to be in a good place,” gressive income tax, capital gains and that much of its funding came nesses, if people can’t get back to they would not be enough without tax, heirs’ tax, billionaires’ tax, from federal emergency money. work, if we still have expenses that federal help. Wall Street tax and the repeal of the Cruz teamed up with Republican are going to increase because of the “We need to apply force to our Trump tax cuts. State Senator George Borrello on pandemic,” she said, “the need is federal colleagues to do their fair Cruz said she’s supportive of only going to get bigger.” share,” she said. “We have to get the legislation, and has already co- CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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The investments will initially focus on 12 U.S. metropolitan areas and their surrounding regions: Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

In partnership with community leaders, Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and other impact-focused financial

institutions, the fund will help provide access to capital intended to support small businesses and neighborhood projects, including those addressing the inequitable impacts of climate change. As part of the initiative, Starbucks will work with partners like the Opportunity Finance Network to allocate funds to local CDFIs that will provide borrowers with access to capital, ongoing mentorship and technical assistance. “Starbucks is investing in the survival of small business by COVER STORY

working with CDFIs in key cities across America. CDFIs deliver affordable credit as well as training on disaster recovery and rebuilding, and that is exactly what small businesses need right now to withstand ongoing economic and climate changes,” said OFN President and CEO, Lisa Mensah. “With partners like Starbucks and CDFIs, these small businesses will have a fighting chance to recover, rebuild, hire workers and serve their local economy.”

CRUZ WORKING ON SOLVING FOOD INSECURITY

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legislation to make the initiative permanent and work out its kinks.

Last month, Cruz invited Borrello to her district to introduce their legislation and to visit La Jornada’s food pantry at the Queens Museum. The lawmaker noted that La Jornada went from serving 1,000 families a week pre-pandemic to 10,000 families a week.

“This was amazing,” she said. “An upstate senator representing farmland and a downstate assembly member representing our food insecurity crisis partnering together to help both sides.”

This year, Cruz was appointed by Speaker Carl Heastie as chair of the Assembly’s Task Force on New Americans. The assemblywoman said she will focus largely on education and advocacy, and is in the process of developing a civic engagement initiative with organizations like the New York Immigration Coalition, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and other groups that represent new Americans.

“The idea is to make sure people understand how their government works,” she said, “and how to better their own neighborhoods, from volunteering to helping them go through the process of becoming permanent residents, citizens and voting.”

The task force will launch the new initiative in a few months, Cruz said. They will also take a look at key legislation, hold hearings and meetings and support the state’s Office for New Americans.

“I’ll use the tools of the task force to push for the recovery bills that will help all New York families,” Cruz said, “but are even more impactful for new American families.”

PHOTO: NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY

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