New digital ad campaign tells the story of the six-year -old, third conference that gets results
In a three-and-a-half minute digital media campaign that launched on Monday, Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein speaks about six years of steady success of his third, separate conference.
Klein kicks off with the founding of the IDC, borne out of the severe dysfunction of a Democratic Majority in the Senate — a majority that he worked hard to achieve.
“We accomplished a Democratic Majority, but the finger pointing among Democrats, and between Democrats and Republicans, had paralyzed our state. New York became the most dysfunctional legislature in the country,” Klein says.
“It was then that I made a decision that there had to be a new model for how to serve the people of this state. A new way of governing,” he adds.
IDC leader Klein makes clear that the members of the IDC have always put policy before politics, and the needs of their constituents first. The IDC began with four members and has since grown to eight members, who come from upstate to downstate.
“Our legislative agenda has been clear: reach out to our middle class, working families, and those most vulnerable. Our initiatives have to help homeowners with an onerous tax burden as well as the working poor who cannot make enough to make ends meet. We must help families that find it difficult to cover tuition for their college kids as well as tenants who need legal representation when facing eviction,” Klein says.
Among the IDC’s achievements are fighting side-by-side with Mayor Bill de Blasio to secure funding for universal pre-K, and with Governor Cuomo on the minimum wage and Paid Family Leave.
“And this year, we would not give up, working with the Democratic Assembly, until the Senate agreed to raise the age of criminal responsibility, which has been generally accepted would not have happened had it not been for the untiring work of the IDC members,” Klein continues.
“The IDC refused to stand idle as we witness Trumps’ frontal attack on our immigrant community. Our work resulted in the largest budget allocation in New York State history to help immigrants – from those who need legal assistance while they face deportation hearings to those who need information to fulfill their dream to become US citizens.”
“If you don’t know of our work at the IDC – you should know that while members of the Republican and Democratic legislative conferences in Albany have a divergent set of positions on the most controversial issues, the IDC is the only legislative conference that is unanimously in support of the Dream Act, a woman’s right to choose and upholding the rights of LGBT New Yorkers,” Klein says.
“The IDC’s philosophy is clear – we will work with those who are ready to move forward a progressive agenda that lift New Yorkers economically and socially. But we will not allow for the legislative dysfunctionality of the past to prevail. Our commitment is only to our constituents who sent us to Albany to get the people’s work done, to fight for them and to bring resources to our neighborhoods. Our goal is to serve you because you put your trust in us.”
