Press Releases

Assemblymember Shrestha, Ulster County Executive Metzger, and Allies Rally to Call for Special Session in Albany in Response to the Federal Cuts

Kingston, NY – Kingston, Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, County Executive Jen Metzger, alongside community allies and organizations, rallied in uptown Kingston yesterday morning to call for a special legislative session in Albany in response to the...

Assemblymember Shrestha, Ulster County Executive Metzger, and Allies Will Rally to Call for a Special Session in Albany in Response to the Federal Cuts

Kingston, NY – Earlier this month, the Trump administration enacted a $1.1 trillion cut to healthcare and raised the national debt by $3 trillion – all so that a $4.5 trillion tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy can be funded. Left...

Assemblymember Shrestha, Ulster County Executive Metzger, and Allies Will Rally to Call for a Special Session in Albany in Response to the Federal Cuts

Kingston, NY – Earlier this month, the Trump administration enacted a $1.1 trillion cut to healthcare and raised the national debt by $3 trillion—all so that a $4.5 trillion tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy can be funded. Left...

Assemblymember Shrestha, Ulster County Executive Metzger, and Allies Will Rally to Call for a Special Session in Albany in Response to the Federal Cuts

Kingston, NY – Earlier this month, the Trump administration enacted a $1.1 trillion cut to healthcare and raised the national debt by $3 trillion – all so that a $4.5 trillion tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy can be funded. Left...

Assemblymember Shrestha to Host an Emergency Call on Congress Tax and Spending Bill, Its Impacts on New York, and How the State Should Respond

New York, NY – The tax and spending bill recently signed into law by President Trump has been rightly described by author Astra Taylor as the Debt, Deportation, and Death bill. It makes significant cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, climate investments, and other...

Assemblymember Shrestha’s Comment on Central Hudson Power Outage That Affected 42,000 Customers

Kingston, NY – A storm on July 3rd disrupted Central Hudson’s power service for roughly 12% of its customers. Below is Assemblymember Shrestha’s comment: “First and foremost, I want to thank all the Central Hudson workers who’ve been working...

Assemblymember Condemns ICE’s Arrest of NYC Comptroller, and Responds to the Governor’s Comments

New York, NY – This morning, New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate, Brad Lander, was detained by masked ICE agents as Lander tried to escort a man from his court appearance in an immigration court building. The Governor joined NYC elected...

Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha Passes the Public Renewables Transparency Act, and Says She Will Continue to Fight for Accountability of Public Authorities

Kingston, NY – The Assembly unanimously passed AM Shrestha’s Public Renewables Transparency Act (S2462A/A7686) on Friday, which passed the Senate earlier in the week. The bill adds transparency and accountability measures to the New York Power Authority’s...

Assembly Follows Senate in Passing a Bill to End Passing the Cost of a New Gas Hookup to All Customers

Albany, NY – A bill co-sponsored by AM Shrestha (A8888) that prohibits utilities from passing the cost of a new gas hook up to all the customers has passed in the Assembly following passage in the Senate. The bill is a narrow version of the much more...

Assemblymember Shrestha Celebrates the Passage of the Medical Aid in Dying Act in Both Chambers and Urges the Governor to Sign It into Law

Kingston, NY – Following the passage of the Medical Aid in Dying Act in the Assembly in late April, the bill has passed in the Senate today. It must next be signed by the Governor.Typically, this happens closer to the end of the year. “A little over...

Assemblymember Shrestha Opposes the Joint Proposal on Central Hudson Rate Increases and Asks PSC to Analyze if Public Ownership of Energy Utilities Would Lower Rates

Kingston, NY – The Office of Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha announced today that she will not be signing onto the joint proposal reached through months of closed-door settlement negotiation between the Department of Public Service staff, intervening...

Shrestha Celebrates the Creation of the Housing Access Voucher Program in the Budget and Plans to Fight to Fund It Fully in the Coming Years

Kingston, NY – Despite initial reporting that the Housing Access Voucher Program was dead in state budget negotiations for the fourth year in a row under Governor Hochul, a push from the Assembly has succeeded in creating a four-year pilot program that...

Housing Access Voucher Program Included in State Budget

Albany, NY – After weeks of delays in negotiations, AM Shrestha along with colleagues and housing advocates, celebrated the inclusion of the Housing Access Voucher program in the State’s 2025-26 budget proposal. “I am thrilled that the Governor...

Kingston Housing Comment

Between 2020-2024, energy costs in New York increased by 30%, and housing costs by almost 20%, but it’s the housing cost that’s behind inflation in our state being higher than the national average. If the state were to invest $5 billion in increasing...

Ahead of the Common Council’s Vote to Support the State Bill, Assemblymember Shrestha Will Hold a Kingston Town Hall on a State Proposal to Build High Quality Not-For-Profit Homes

Kingston, NY – Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha will hold a town hall at the Ulster County Restorative Justice Center on Friday night, May 2nd, at 6:30 PM, to present and take questions on a state proposal to build high quality and permanently affordable...

Assemblymember Shrestha Urges the PSC to Conduct an Analysis on Whether Public Ownership of Central Hudson Will Lower its Rates, and to Lower the Authorized Rate of Return on Equity that Determines How Much Profit It Can Collect

Kingston, NY – While Assemblymember Shrestha is in session in Albany amidst budget negotiations, a representative of her office will submit the following comment on her behalf at today’s PSC hearing in Kingston: “We give investor-owned utilities...

Assemblymember Shrestha Will Host an Online Town Hall to Provide Updates on the Ongoing Central Hudson Rate Case

Kingston, NY – The Office of Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha is an intervening party to the ongoing Central Hudson rate case, which is undergoing confidential settlement negotiations. The Department of Public Service is expected to release a joint...

AM Shrestha Says Governor Hochul’s Time Would Be Better Spent Staying in Albany to Pass a Budget Than Coming to Ulster County for a Press Conference

Kingston, NY – Governor Hochul was in Kingston this afternoon to tout her proposed changes to the state’s discovery law, specifically Kalief’s law, a policy item with no fiscal implications that is holding up state budget negotiations. AM Shrestha...

AM Shrestha Commends the Ulster County Legislature for Withdrawing Res. No. 165, Says Its Passage Would Have Been an Endorsement of Torture

Kingston, NY – “I commend Ulster County legislators for reconsidering a vote on Res. No. 165, and the sponsor for withdrawing it altogether,” said Assemblymember Shrestha, “I’m cautiously optimistic that no other attempt to undo the HALT law...

Floor Speech on Assembly One-House Budget Bill

Despite the state having a higher GDP than entire nations like Sweden, New Yorkers have seen diminished spending power in recent years, owing to exceptional housing costs as the gap between wages and inflation widens. Meanwhile, as of 2022, the top 1.5%...