The From the Lobby podcast features a behind-the-scenes look at politics and government from New York State to Washington, DC with Jack O’Donnell, an Albany insider and Managing Partner of O’Donnell and Associates, a top lobbying firm that helps clients all over the country cut through government red tape.
Don’t be stuck on the sidelines. Get a front-row seat to what’s happening in politics with Jack! From the issues that affect taxpayers and business owners to the history of the budget process in New York, Jack has the knowledge and depth of experience to cut through the rhetoric and tell you what’s really going on.
Summary of this Episode
Guests
- Elijah Reichlin Melnick: Former New York State Senator for the 38th District
- Alec Lewis: Vice President and Director of Campaigns at O’Donnell and Associates
- Joanne Pasceri: Director of Communications at O’Donnell and Associates
Major Topics Covered
• Elijah Reichlin-Melnick discusses his background as a teacher and how it informs his approach to politics and public service.
• He highlights his accomplishments during his first term as State Senator, including tax cuts and education funding.
• Reichlin-Melnick outlines his priorities for Rockland County, including addressing tax burdens and healthcare costs.
• He emphasizes the importance of taking a long-term view in politics, especially after becoming a father, to build a sustainable future.
Full Transcript of the Episode
Note: This is a generated transcript. Please excuse any typos.
Joanna Pasceri 00:06
Hi everyone. Welcome to From the Lobby with Jack O’Donnell. A podcast that gives listeners an inside look at state and federal politics with Jack, managing partner of O’Donnell and Associates, a top New York lobbying and public affairs firm. I’m Joanna Pasceri, Director of Communications at O’Donnell and Associates. We continue our focus on the 2024 elections with Alec Lewis, Vice President and Director of campaigns here at O’Donnell and Associates. Alec is a campaign veteran, having spent the past decade with New York Senate Democrats and as a key player in campaigns that led the party to consecutive super majorities in the Senate. Alec’s special guest is Elijah Reichlin Melnick, former New York State Senator for the 38th district, which now comprises most of Rockland County. And they are talking about Elijah’s reelection campaign for state senate, and how he plans to bring his proven leadership back to Albany. Hi, Alec and Elijah, welcome to the podcast.
Elijah Reichlin Melnick 01:08
It’s great to be with you. Good morning.
Alec Lewis 01:09
Elijah, it’s great to be with you this morning, and thank you for joining us from the Lobby. Now before we get into the current reelection campaign, I want to start by highlighting your story. You were born and raised in Nyack and have actually called Rockland County your home for nearly your entire life. So, Elijah, when we met in 2019, you had just become the legislative director for State Senator James Goofus. Now prior to your work as a staffer for elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels, you actually began your career as an elementary school teacher. What was that experience like being a teacher? And how was it informed your perspective on the issues facing New York State?
Elijah Reichlin Melnick 01:46
Well, thanks. Yeah, it was really a remarkable experience. I grew up in Rockland County, as you said, in a middle-class suburban area. And I felt like I got an excellent education through the local public school district, Nyack Public Schools that I attended. But it was important to me that kids everywhere, people don’t choose who their parents are, they don’t choose what city or zip code they’re born into. All children deserve to have that kind of a great education that I was fortunate to receive. And so, I became a teacher and taught for two years in the New Haven Public Schools, which is a struggling inner-city school system, where a lot of the children are coming from families that didn’t have the opportunities that I had growing up. And so, I don’t want to say eye-opening, because that’s sort of a cliche and gets misused. But it was somewhat of an eye-opening experience. Because you know, these are children who were coming into my first-grade class already trailing significantly behind where they should have been in terms of reading level, in terms of, you know, math level. I mean, typically, by the time you start first grade, you know, your ABCs, you might even know a few words. And these were kids coming in who really didn’t even know the basics of the alphabet. And so, we knew there was a lot of work to do, and giving them that start in life, where they have hopefully, then the skills to go out and build themselves up further in the years to come. It was an amazing opportunity and it just sort of showed the power of why we need, in my mind, why we need government. The government can help in many ways by providing the foundation through good education and health care and things like that, to give people the opportunities to succeed. And to me, teaching is one of the most noble callings you can have. And I was proud to be able to start my career helping folks in that way.
Alec Lewis 03:29
Well, it’s a great origin story to why you personally have always been drawn to public service. And that public service journey led you to being elected to the State Senate in 2020. And then your first term, you were really successful in a number of different policy areas, including cutting taxes for middle-class and working-class families, providing record education funding for local schools, investing in infrastructure, as well as protecting choice and reproductive freedom in New York. So, when you look back at your accomplishments in that period, what are you looking to achieve moving forward now, for Rockland County?
Elijah Reichlin Melnick 04:03
There are many folks who go up whether to Albany or to Washington, and they mostly want to hear the sound of their voice, and they want to make speeches and pound the table and get on TV, but it’s so important that we’ve got legislators that are willing to put the work in, that are willing to, you know, maybe do some of the less glamorous stuff to take the meetings with different interest groups and constituents and, you know, power brokers in Albany and make sure that we’re able to get the bills through that are going to make an impact in people’s lives. And so as we look to hopefully go back up there after next year’s election. I’m going to continue to focus, as I did in my first term, on two big priorities, and number one is making New York a state that works for everybody, not just for those who have money, not just for those who are well connected, but for all New Yorkers middle and working-class families in particular. And that does mean many of the things you mentioned, it means being attentive to the tax burden that people face. You know, a lot of folks want to say that talking about taxes is only a Republican issue, and I strongly disagree with that. Democrats have to realize, and I think most suburban Democrats do, that the tax burden that people face whether it’s a property tax burden that you pay directly as a homeowner, or if you’re a renter, you’re paying high rents, because your landlords are paying a lot in property taxes. This doesn’t impact folks who have a ton of money as severely as it does folks who are still struggling to make ends meet and who are middle class. So we need to get serious about the tax issue, we need to make sure that people aren’t being crushed by high healthcare premiums, and that’s one of the major priorities I was proud to be a sponsor on efforts to really reform our healthcare system in New York and make sure that nobody is going bankrupt because they can’t afford insurance and that the care is there when they need it. That’s the sort of work that we want to do. And then I will tell you that you know, representing Rockland County, we often feel like we get a little bit overlooked in the state. We’re not in the city, we are not other larger suburbs, like Long Island and Westchester. And being on the west side of the Hudson River with transit service is not as robust. I have to tell you that many people in Rockland feel like we often get the short end of the stick and nobody’s paying attention to our issues. So, I continue and will continue to fight very vigorously on behalf of Rockland and make sure that the unique things that we deal with, get the attention they need from the state government. Whether it’s transit issues, whether it’s finding ways to address some of the costs of housin, that are impacting Rockland, or even just, and this is something that gets overlooked a lot, but bringing back money to our district. I’m proud that in the first two years of my time up there, I was able to bring back nearly $10 million in grant funding to municipalities, nonprofit organizations, fire departments, ambulance companies, etc. throughout Rockland County and I look forward to being able to do that again.
Alec Lewis 06:59
Well, you have done a great job in demonstrating your whys of why you’re running for office and knowing your why is always really important for anything in your life. So when you think of the future, you and your wife, Shelly continue to live in Nyack with your daughter, Sophie, who was actually born during your 2022 campaign in June. So I am curious, how does being a father inform your perspective now on the future that you are looking to help shape, for not only your own family, but other families in Rockland County and in the Hudson Valley?
Elijah Reichlin Melnick 07:28
Well I mean, I think anybody that’s become a parent will tell you the same thing, it does totally and again, it is a cliche, but it’s absolutely true, it changes your perspective on things. It means that you’re now considering, not that of course, I wasn’t thinking about the future before being a dad, but it makes it concrete in a way that perhaps it wasn’t before. You know, I’ve got a beautiful daughter now who’s 18 months old as of a couple of weeks ago. And, you know, thinking about the kind of world I want to leave for her and the other children of her age, who are just coming up, you know, just coming into this world, it reiterates, and I always have thought that it’s important for politics, for government to take the long view. Yes, it’s important that we do things that are going to make life better for people in the here and the now, but we have to tackle problems like climate change. We have to tackle problems, you know, that are going to impact society way after I exit the political scene, and other folks my age do as well. And so leaving people, a, you know, a world that is clean and healthy, leaving people you know, a planet that is going to continue to sustain that we’re not going to be dealing with these escalating crises of flooding and fires all over the world and sea level rise. That’s the kind of work that I think is important. And there are folks I’d say particularly on the other side of the aisle, who often take very, you know, me first approach to politics, I just want to, you know, look at look at Washington, what’s some of the top Republican priorities down there, let’s cut taxes for rich people, let’s give those that are already doing very well a little bit more to help them do even better. That is not going to help us build the kind of future that we need, whether it’s for my daughter, or anybody else’s children and grandchildren as we move forward.
Alec Lewis 09:15
Well, Elijah, I appreciate immensely you joining us today and talking about your vision for Rockland County, in the Hudson Valley, and New York State. And once again, Elijah, thank you for joining us from the Lobby. And I’ll transition now to Joanna to close out our program.
Elijah Reichlin Melnick 09:30
Thanks. It’s been great to be with you.
Joanna Pasceri 09:32
Thank you, Alec and Elijah, for some great insight there on government and for sharing your story. You can stay updated with Elijah’s campaign at elijahforsenate.com as well as on Facebook, X, and Instagram. And for the latest on what’s happening in politics from New York to DC, sign up for our Monday morning memo sent right to your inbox. Subscribe on our website at odonnellsolutions.com. And for daily updates follow on Instagram, Threads, X, and LinkedIn at O’Donnell and Associates. Thanks for listening everyone we’ll be back, from the lobby, with Jack O’Donnell.
