Howie Hawkins, who won the Green Party nod to run for Governor on Saturday, will be in the Capital District Tuesday May 20.

At 11 AM, he will join with Dr. Alice Green and the Center for Law and Justice to deliver signatures from 10,000 New Yorkers calling on Governor Cuomo to establish a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission.

Howie Hawkins Statement on Cuomo's Call to Finish the Job on Campaign Finance Reform

Governor Cuomo's statement today to New Yorkers on public campaign finance reform admits defeat as he claims to champion reform: "We may not be able to shut off the spigot of money into the system."

The Governor should be calling call for full public campaign financing and an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to permit effective public regulation of election financing.

Announcement: Brian Jones will seek Nomination from Green Party to be candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York 

New York City --  Brian Jones is a New York City-based teacher, activist, and socialist. He will seek the Green Party nomination to be their candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York. The Green Party of New York will select gubernatorial candidates at their May 17th convention in Troy, NY.

In response to comments made by Senator Chuck Schumer on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show on Monday, May 5 in support of hydrofracking, Howie Hawkins issued the following statement:

Hawkins Welcomes Assembly Committee Passage of GMO Labeling Bill

(Albany, NY) Howie Hawkins, who is seeking the Green Party nomination for Governor, congratulated consumer advocates on having the GMO labeling legislation (A3525 – Rosenthal) pass out of the Consumers Affairs Committee today for the first time.

New York City -- Speaking today at the Cannabis Parade in Union Square Park in NYC, Howie Hawkins said that the Green Party supports an end to the war on drugs, starting with the legalization of marijuana.

“The Green Party calls for the immediate legalization of the growth, sale and possession of cannabis and hemp under NY State law, and for legal opposition to Federal prosecutions for the same. Prohibition and the resulting 'drug war' have unjustly incarcerated countless individuals and scarred communities, often along racial and class lines, while draining resources from society. In addition to criminalizing personal drug use, cannabis prohibition deprives society of the industrial benefits of hemp at a time when we must make use of every ecologically responsible resource to provide materials and energy in the face of looming environmental crises,” said Hawkins, who is seeking the Green Party nomination for Governor. Hawkins finished 3 in the 2010 Gubernatorial election.

Hawkins slammed Cuomo for refusing for more than a year to convene a minimum wage board to provide a wage hike to tip workers despite this being part of the wage agreement last year with the legislature. State labor law allows the Governor to administratively raise the minimum wage without the need for legislative approval.

Hawkins called for more progressive state taxes and revenue sharing to pay for unfunded mandates on local governments. He said his progressive tax reforms would also fund “A Green New Deal for New York” featuring full employment, living wages, single-payer health care, fully-funded public schools, affordable housing and mass transit, and a 100 percent clean energy system by 2030.

Hawkins will focus on his plan for progressive tax reform and revenue sharing to pay for state mandates, relieve property taxes, and fund schools and municipal services.