The bench: City Council District 49 race

With Rep. McMahon vacating his city council seat for an office in Congress its now time to take another look at our Democratic bench in the district. The special election to fill this seat will take place February 24, 2009. Here is a list of contenders so far;

in alphabetical order with party affiliation where known;

Tony Baker (Democrat)
Tom Curitore
Rajiv Gowda
Ken Mitchell (Democrat)
Donald Pagano caution music!
Debi Rose (Democrat)
Paul Saryian (Independence Party)

This race is non partisan so party affiliation will not be presented on the ballot. That said anyone know what Curitore and Pagano are registered as?

Who are you supporting and why?

McMahon co-sponsors SCHIP bill

via press release;

Rep. Michael E. McMahon joined with over sixty-five percent of the House in voting today to pass the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) bill. S-CHIP is critical legislation for New York, which is one of the five states with the largest number of uninsured children. The bill will provided eleven million eligible children with health insurance, including many in the Congressman’s district of Staten Island and Brooklyn, as well as New York City as a whole.

S-CHIP, created in 1997, originally provided health insurance to seven million children in families that did not qualify for Medicaid, but could not afford private health insurance. The bipartisan legislation, which the House voted to reauthorize, renews and improves the original bill by providing health care to an additional four million eligible children. The S-CHIP bill was approved today by a vote of 289 to 139.

Speaking on the floor this morning, Rep. McMahon, a cosponsor of the bill, stated: “Today millions of children from modest income families are not regularly seeing a doctor because they are not enrolled in a children’s health insurance program, even though they are eligible. Today this Congress has an opportunity to change that by passing legislation that will expand the program to four million additional kids.” Noting the need for this legislation as the rate of unemployment rises in the country, Rep. McMahon continued that the bill is “especially important for my home state of New York, which has 402,000 uninsured kids… nearly ten percent of the national total.”

You may recall Fossella previously had voted against SCHIP. Isn't it nice to Rep. McMahon in Washington.

Recent legislative votes; McMahon Edition

Ah how nice. Since I was always having to highlight how ridiculous Fossella was and everything he voted against here is what it is like to have Rep. McMahon in Washington;

Paycheck Fairness Act HR 12
Vote Passed (256-163, 14 Not Voting)

On Friday, the House passed this bill to allow gender-based pay discrimination victims to sue for more money and require employers to meet a higher standard to justify pay disparities.

Rep. Mike McMahon voted YES
Rep. McMahon was a co-sponsor of this bill


Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 HR 11
Vote Passed (247-171, 15 Not Voting)

The House passed this employee pay discrimination measure that would allow courts to consider each new paycheck as a new instance of discrimination.

Rep. Mike McMahon voted YES
Rep. McMahon was a co-sponsor of this bill

NRCC already targeting McMahon

The NRCC is not wasting much time realizing they screwed up in 2008 by losing this seat. via Congress Matters we see McMahon is on a lengthy list of targeted seats. Brownsox over at dailykos calls it the "shotgun" approach as they have put 51 Democrats on that list. After being trounced for two elections now you can't say they are setting their sights too low with this announcement. Joining McMahon on this list from New York are Reps. Arcuri, Gillibrand, Massa, and Maffei. Also on that list are members the NRCC has unsuccessfully been trying to pick off for years so take the whole thing with a grain of salt. It might be a shot over the bow of Democrats but they are using nerf toys.

Representative McMahon

McMahon lands Transportation Committee seat

via McMahon press release (PDF);

"I am proud that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic Leadership chose me to serve on this powerful and important Committee. Staten Island and Brooklyn residents have some of the longest commutes in the United States, and our infrastructure has failed to keep up with growing populations in both boroughs. As a Member of this Committee, I will put New York City first to ensure that we have the Federal resources needed to improve our highways, expand public transportation, revitalize our waterways and create better transportation to lessen our dependence on cars and overcrowded highways. Better transportation in our area means a better quality of life for Staten Islanders and residents of Brooklyn," said Congressman McMahon.

McMahon had been trying to get on this committee so this should be seen as good news for him. This position will help him with the district's transportation issues likely including ferry service, 86th subway station and other MTA needs and possibly a north shore rail line.

Fossella's last day

Today is the official last day of Vito's term in Congress;

GOP Rep. Vito Fossella's term doesn't officially end until Friday, but his offices in Washington, D.C., and on Staten Island have been methodically stripped -- down to the phones and furniture -- over the last month, in accordance with House guidelines.

Happy Friday!