Photo Credit: Jewish Press

“As a community we’ve got to work harder, we’ve got to get more people engaged,” said Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D – Far Rockaway, Queens), who encouraged advocates to rally the troops.

“We’ve got to get more people involved,” Goldfeder said. “I’ve received 300 emails from Catholic school parents saying please support the tax credit. Do you know how many I got from Jewish parents? Three. We’ve got to do a better job getting people engaged.”

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As the frustration built at a meeting with top-level Assembly counsel Howard Vargas, Brooklyn resident Chuck Mamiye, chief executive officer of the teen fashion apparel brands firm Mamiye Brothers, came close to suggesting an illegal quid pro quo.

“We have not gotten any meaningful assistance for our children,” Mamiye said. “We expect that this will happen. We would show so much support for [the speaker]. He needs to know how supportive we would be to a speaker that is caring about us.”

After the meeting, Goldfeder, Simanowitz and Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D – Boro Park, Brooklyn) made a pact to vote against the budget bill pertaining to the EITC. Hikind went further and voted against the entire budget.

Assemblyman David Weprin (D – Hollis, Queens) did not join with his observant Jewish colleagues. Weprin told The Jewish Press, “It would have been irresponsible to vote against the budget bills because of what it did not contain. I vote for bills based on the merits,” he said.

In an impassioned speech on the Assembly floor, Hikind was flabbergasted by the vehement opposition this measure created.

“What do I tell the child in my community whose parents are poor, they have difficulty paying their bills and we could give them a scholarship?” Hikind asked. “We wouldn’t be paying their tuition. We’re talking about approximately $150 per child. We talk about no child left behind. We’ve left a lot of children behind this year. We are not helping all the children in the state of New York who deserve our help.”

Simanowitz said he has received personal assurances from Speaker Heastie that he “is keeping an open mind and wants to figure out a way to get this done.”

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Marc Gronich is the owner and news director of Statewide News Service. He has been covering government and politics for 44 years, since the administration of Hugh Carey. He is an award-winning journalist. His Albany Beat column appears monthly in The Jewish Press and his coverage about how Jewish life intersects with the happenings at the state Capitol appear weekly in the newspaper. You can reach Mr. Gronich at [email protected].