Ironic Gaffe At State Of District Address

Scores of residents, local elected officials and other community leaders, along with police officers and firemen, came out in the bitter cold last night to hear New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte speak.

Bichotte, who represents the greater Flatbush area and delivered her state of the district address at Brooklyn College Thursday night, offered an assessment of her first year in the State Assembly and a preview of what lies ahead.

Bichotte also made a humorous gaffe that stunned her audience for a moment. The Assemblywoman declared that she strongly “condoned” political corruption, and the same words flashed across a screen where a slide show was on view. An audience member called out to Bichotte that she probably meant to say “condemn.” Bichotte’s chief of staff, Rhona Taylor, said today that it was simply a typo.

[The Bichotte team previously dismissed another slightly more egregious misstep as a typo, in which they claimed that Bichotte had received an endorsement from Council Member Jumaane Williams when she was running for State Assembly, but she had not.]

The State Assembly was certainly overshadowed by the specter of corruption during Bichotte’s first year there.

The Assembly’s long-time speaker, Sheldon Silver, was convicted on seven counts of corruption in November, and removed from office. And New York State received a D- in a recent assessment of state government accountability and transparency conducted by the Center for Public Integrity. Not surprisingly, voter turnout in the 2014 mid-term elections was only 29 percent, the Center reports.

Bichotte’s job in such an environment is daunting, a number of her supporters said last night.

The Assemblywoman stressed that she supports an activist government, one which addresses “gaps” in society — in terms of pay rates between men and women, access to quality health care and education, and beyond.

Bichotte stated that she is focused on three core issues — education, economic development, and ethics reform. Without a properly functioning Albany, Bichotte said, it will be almost impossible to make real progress on anything else.

Restoring Albany’s credibility will require measures like taking away state pensions from legislators convicted of crimes, better disclosure of legislators’  outside income, and campaign finance reform, Bichotte said.

Bichotte became most animated when she spoke about funding for New York’s public schools. Bichotte, who said she once worked as a math teacher in a public school in Buffalo, is pushing back with other Assemblymembers against Governor Cuomo’s proposed $266 million allocation for New York City’s public schools this year.

Bichotte referenced the 2006 New York State Court of Appeals ruling, which found that the state was failing to provide students with the resources necessary to receive the “sound basic education” or “meaningful high school education” that was their constitutional right.

Well over $2 billion in state funding is retroactively owed to New York City’s public schools, Bichotte said, adding, “children shouldn’t have to fight to learn.”

Bichotte also spoke at length about finding ways to expand business ownership among minority groups and women, saying that this was a critical way for her constituents to “access the American dream.”

Bichotte is oversight chair of the Assembly’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) Subcommittee. She introduced a bill last year, which was subsequently signed into law, enabling disabled veterans to claim MWBE status when competing for state contracts.

Other issues that Bichotte is tackling with her colleagues in the Assembly include closing gun purchase “loopholes,” fighting vacancy decontrol of rent stabilized apartments, increasing access to education for undocumented immigrants, and pushing for immediate implementation of a $15 per hour state minimum wage.

We’ve included some very basic descriptions of the bills that Assemblymember Bichotte has introduced so far in this legislative session. Click on the bill number to get a lot more information.

• A8194 — Establishes a fund for emergency repairs for renters;

• A8217 — Mandates properly installed and functioning detection (including fire) systems for all residences;

• A9122 — Directs the Empire State Development Corporation to conduct a feasibility study for a minority and women-owned business capacity enterprise mentorship program;

• A8700 — Requires municipalities who receive a grant or appropriation of money from the state for the purchase of goods and services to be in compliance with minority and women-owned business participation goals.

• A8208 — Expands requirements for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in public schools.

• A8206 — Expands the definition of STEM education to include design skills and computer science.

• A8187 — Adjusts state education assessment standards to further support STEM education.

• A9254 — Establishes and makes an appropriation for the New York State Promise program, which would make the first two years of community college, or the first year of technical school, free for eligible students.