Policy Platform

A Platform Of Radical Compassion

Patrick Bobilin's ten-point platform has one basic foundation: radical compassion.

If we’ve learned one thing from the pandemic, it’s that public health, our economy, and our individual comforts are tied up with the well-being of our neighbors.

For me, legislating with “radical compassion” means putting kindness and community first, over individual gain or corporate interests. Radical compassion is only as radical as love is radical. I have five small ideas and five big ideas that will enact radical compassion

Hover over each big idea for a related small idea*

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Pass the New York Health Act

While the pandemic is less frightening for some than it was in 2020, many are still living with the fear of getting sick, the impacts of long COVID, or the fear of having a pre-existing condition worsened by an unexpected bout of illness. One-third of all pandemic fatalities could have been prevented with universal healthcare.
I will work to earn the support of unions and to organize with my colleagues to earmark funding for universal healthcare for all New Yorkers with revenue from corporate taxes, marijuana taxes, and taxes on the top 1% of income earners

For decades, New York City residents have seen growing piles of trash taking over the streets, an endless rat problem we're told is being managed, and increasingly powerful storms that halt trash pickup or ravage the streets.

It's a public health and quality of life issue.

It's time to fund and implement containerized trash in New York City and anywhere in the state where it's necessary by increasing corporate taxes on companies like Amazon and Uber who have contributed to the amount of packaging that we must contend with now.

Containerized Trash

Universal Rent Control

For decades, every candidate for office has promised "affordable housing" which has lead to all kinds of tax breaks for developoers and corporate landlords, while an increasing number of New Yorkers are housing insecure.

We will roll back handouts to developers and use the revenue we earn to fund vouchers for low-income seniors, students, and parents. We will also fight for an end to the violence of evictions.

If we ever want to get control over our relationship with fossil fuels and improve our quality of life for New Yorkers, we need to create a fare-free transit system for all residents.

A fully-funded system would improve safety, encouraging more people to ride. A robustly funded system across our state, connecting all of our cities would lower emissions, lower traffic violence, improve our quality of life, and end the unnecessary run-ins with law enforcement caused for people who can't afford the fare.

With the help of a universal housing guarantee, we could also end the use of the MTA as a shadow shelter system.,

Fully-Accessible, Fare-Free Transit

Funding Childcare

Having been raised in a single-parent household, where my mom simply couldn't afford childcare after her separation, I had to care for myself at the age of 8 after school.

Today's millennials are deciding whether or not to have kids based on their income. Two-parent households will forestall one parent's career and forego an income because the cost of childcare would make it untenable.

I believe childcare is important work deserving of fair pay. Parents who stay home should be paid. Parents who work should receive assistance for the high costs of childcare. Also, childcare professionals should be paid a living wage for the vital work they do.

I also believe we should support families by offering childcare and housing vouchers to every parent enrolled in school full-time.

One of the most basic challenges that New Yorkers of all ages face is simply where to find a bathroom.

While many modern cities have accessible, clean, and easy-to-find public restrooms, New York City does not.

I support the changing of the plumbing code to allow everyone to have access to business restrooms, but it's a matter of public health, sanitation, and basic human kindness for every single assembly district to have several public restrooms.

Accessible Public Restrooms

Ending the Sub-minimum Wage

While it was once possible to support a family or pay for school with a minimum wage job, that's no longer the case. The case is even worse for the class of workers that's legally allowed to be paid a sub-minimum wage: not just restaurant servers and bartenders, but also people with disabilities.

This inhumane wage standard will end with the help of other legislators with radical compassion.

Small businesses like bars and restaurants have been devastated by the pandemic and the reluctance of some to return to indoor dining as it was.

I support allowing all bars and restaurants to sell to-go drinks. I also support repealing open container laws to keep New Yorkers who support our bars, restaurants, and bodegas from unnecessary run-ins with law enforcement. Given 87% of open container violations are given to black and brown New Yorkers, the law serves no valuable purpose.

It's time to assume our neighbors capable of respectful consumption.

To-Go Drinks, Repeal Open Container Laws

Fund Public Education

Our public education system is one of our greatest social achievements, the best way to distribute opportunities, and our greatest public safety measure.

A society with opportunity creates the foundation for a compassionate citizenry. Fully funding Pre-K through 12th grade as well as our SUNY/CUNY system is vital to achieving equity. A fare-free university system is also an investment in the future of our economy by eliminating student debt.

I will work to ensure all students have childcare needs met and housing vouchers provided. Students should not content with poverty just to avoid a lifetime of debt.

One of the things we learned from the pandemic was that everyone has a different working style. While some need the structure of an office to perform, others find it challenging or even rife with potential harms.

Despite our efforts to create a just society, many office situations were less than ideal for people with disability or for black and brown workers who face unequal amounts of surveillance, control, and discrimination.

Implementing and supporting permanent hybrid offices and allowing workers and students to permanently work and learn from home if they choose will ensure everyone has access to education and work.

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