Search Howie's website and previous campaign archives here:
Hawkins: Nuclear power is unreliable, dangerous, costly
Syracuse Post-Standard, August 28, 2019
To the Editor:
The column by the Office of Nuclear Energy's Edwin McGinnis ("New York and the nation need nuclear," Post-Standard, Aug. 26, 2018) is more fake news from the Trump administration.
McGinnis calls Fitzpatrick "reliable baseload power ... 24/7, 365 days a year." But it's frequently down for refueling and repairs. Fitzpatrick had to reduce power 11 times in the first three months of 2014 because its aging cooling system kept springing leaks.
Clean energy? McGinnis ignores the nuclear waste piling up that is deadly for 250,000 years and how a meltdown accident could make our region uninhabitable for 20,000, years like Chernobyl.
McGinnis touts the $12 million in state and local taxes Fitzpatrick pays. With the Cuomo administration's $7.6 billion bailout to Exelon to keep Fitzpatrick and two other aging and financially failing nukes operating, we could replace those tax revenues for generations. We could also provide plant workers nearing retirement with generous pensions and maintain the income and benefits of younger workers until they find comparable work. We would still have several billion left to invest in truly clean solar, wind and geothermal energy.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign manager, Maggie Moran, is a lobbyist whose clients include Exelon. Both Trump and Cuomo support nuclear subsidies to keep a dying industry alive. As long as we have decision-makers like these in power, it's hard to be optimistic that our energy future will be determined by sound economic and environmental policy instead of corrupt pay-to-play politics.
Howie Hawkins
Syracuse
Hawkins is the Green Party candidate for governor of New York.
"Get over this Democrat-Republican baloney"
The Chief Leader, August 27, 2018
PEF Chief Steward Usher Piller’s exposure of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s anti-worker record is one of the best letters you’ve ever printed. But the only serious Democratic challenger to Cuomo is Cynthia Nixon, who already made her anti-worker sentiments clear when she called transit workers overpaid. So I will again vote for the Green Party candidate for Governor, Howie Hawkins, as I have done in the past two elections. Perhaps if people get over this Democrat-Republican baloney, we can exercise some real power.
To say you don’t know Hawkins, or in 2016, Green Party Presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein, is no excuse. You can Google them instead of falling victim to the mainstream media’s blackout of corporate-disapproved candidates.
Besides, in 1996 and 2000, the Green Party presidential candidate was Ralph Nader. Is there anybody who hasn’t heard of him?
Even when a good Democrat like Sal Albanese runs, people chose to re-elect a bum like Mayor Bill de Blasio.
So how about getting out of the bag of only voting for corporate-media approved candidates?
Hawkins to Visit State Fair on August 27
For immediate release: August 27, 2018
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party nominee for Governor, will brave yet another upstate heat wave to greet visitors to the state fair on Monday August 27 outside the main gate entrance at 4 PM.
Hawkins, who is running on a Green New Deal calling for increased action on climate change and securing the rights to a decent job, affordable housing, comprehensive health care, and a good education, will be available for media interviews.
He will discuss his ideas related to the development of the I-81 corridor, an issue raised by the County Executive during her visit last week to the State Fair with Governor Cuomo last week. Hawkins supports rebuilding the I-81 corridor as a community grid, with a mixed-income, mixed-use, walkable neighborhood that is serviced by public transportation.
He will also discuss his plan to tax the rich in order to pay for state mandates and increase state revenue sharing so fiscally stressed local governments like Syracuse can fully fund their services while cutting property taxes.
The state fair was plagued by mismanagement and corruption during the early part of Cuomo’s tenure. He has since pumped an estimated $100 million of state tax dollars into upgrades at the fair, while nearby Syracuse, with the most concentrated poverty for blacks and Latinos of any city in the nation, has received no state aid from the Cuomo administration to address its poverty and crumbling infrastructure.
Hawkins, who is running on a Green New Deal calling for increased action on climate change and securing the rights to a decent job, affordable housing, comprehensive health care, and a good education, will be available for media interviews.
He will discuss his ideas related to the development of the I-81 corridor, an issue raised by the County Executive during her visit last week to the State Fair with Governor Cuomo last week. Hawkins supports rebuilding the I-81 corridor as a community grid, with a mixed-income, mixed-use, walkable neighborhood that is serviced by public transportation.
He will also discuss his plan to tax the rich in order to pay for state mandates and increase state revenue sharing so fiscally stressed local governments like Syracuse can fully fund their services while cutting property taxes.
The state fair was plagued by mismanagement and corruption during the early part of Cuomo’s tenure. He has since pumped an estimated $100 million of state tax dollars into upgrades at the fair, while nearby Syracuse, with the most concentrated poverty for blacks and Latinos of any city in the nation, has received no state aid from the Cuomo administration to address its poverty and crumbling infrastructure.
Hawkins Supports Strong Local Rent Control, Expanded Public Housing, Tenants’ Rights
For immediate release: August 24, 2018
Hawkins Supports Strong Local Rent Control, Expanded Public Housing, Tenants’ Rights
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, outlined his plan today to resolve the housing crisis in New York City and across the state, including returning control of rent laws to the city and massively increasing investment in public housing.
“Homelessness has increased 36% since Cuomo came into office and the city lost 75,000 units of rent stabilized housing. As HUD Secretary, Cuomo demolished more public housing units than he built with subsidies to private developers for affordable units. He’s governor for his real estate donors, not millions of New York tenants,” Hawkins said.
“Under the de Blasio administration, rent hikes, combined with developer-friendly rezoning and harassment by landlords, are driving the working class out of Manhattan and much of Brooklyn and other parts of NYC,” said Hawkins.
“Since skyrocketing rents and displacement of working class tenants is what we get from self-styled progressive Democrats like Cuomo and de Blasio, it’s time for an alternative – and it’s not the Republicans,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins noted that unaffordable housing is a statewide problem. Over 50% of New York renters pay more than the federal affordability standard of 30% of household income. More than 25% pay more than 50% of their income in rent. Buffalo has the third highest rate of rent inflation in the nation. As bad as NYC is, it doesn’t make the top 25 U.S. cities for rent inflation.
Read moreHawkins to Outline Affordable Housing Plan for New York City and State
For immediate release: August 23, 2018
Notice of News Conference
Date: Friday, August 24
Location: City Hall Steps, Manhattan
Time: 11:00 AM
Who: Howie Hawkins for Governor
Hawkins to Outline Affordable Housing Plan for New York City and State
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party nominee for Governor, will release his affordable housing agenda at a news conference on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan on Friday, August 24 at 11:00 AM.
Hawkins, who finished 3rd in the 2014 Gubernatorial election with 5% of the vote, will discuss steps to strengthen rent control, including repealing the Urstadt Law to restore home rule on NYC rent regulations. He will address the issues of homelessness, gentrification and displacement under Mayor de Blasio housing policies, and how to finance repairs at NYCHA and also build new public housing to relieve the housing affordability crisis. NYCHA needs $32 billion over the next five years to fix problems with lead, mold, elevators, boilers, roofs, and other repairs.
Unaffordable housing is a statewide problem. Over 50% of New York renters pay more than the federal affordability standard of 30% of household income. More than 25% pay more than 50% of their income in rent.
Cuomo’s campaign manager is a lobbyist. Does it matter?
Albany Times Union, Capitol Confidential, August 21, 2018
Those connections were being exploited Tuesday morning by Cuomo’s opponents, including by Howie Hawkins, the Green Party’s candidate for governor.
What You Can Learn From Gubernatorial Candidates' Campaign Websites
Gotham Gazette, August 21, 2018
Hawkins, running on the Green Party line, includes over 20 issue platforms on his campaign website. The socialist candidate presents broad policy proposals to address issues from “Guaranteed Health Care” (enact the New York Health Act, defend public hospitals from closures and privatizations) to “End the War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration” (establish a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission, as well as decriminalize hard drugs and enable access to drug abuse treatment on demand).
While some of his proposed issues are aligned with those espoused by the aforementioned candidates, like his claim to expand affordable housing or to rebuild the MTA infrastructure, others are much more radical, such as the complete decriminalization of hard drugs. His overall policy platform is an ever further left version of that put forth by Nixon, who is challenging Cuomo from the progressive end of the political spectrum. For instance, while Nixon advocates for a 100 percent transition to clean energy by 2050, Hawkins proposes that the transition should be made by the year 2030.
A key focus for Hawkins and other Green Party candidates is the “Green New Deal,” which is composed of three main tenets: revitalizing the public sector by fully funding public services and investing in clean energy infrastructure; eliminate policies of supply-side, trickle-down economics; and enact a plan of demand-side, bottom-up economics, which “will increase effective demand and stimulate business expansion and jobs to meet the demand,” according to his website.
“The historic role of third parties has been to force issues neglected by the major parties into public debate,” Hawkins states at the top of his issues webpage. “The Green Party has increasingly been playing this role.”
Read moreHawkins says carbon tax, funds to clean up transportation
For immediate release: August 20, 2018
Hawkins Calls for Carbon Tax, Increase Mass Transit Fund to Reduce Climate Impact of Transportation
DEC holding “listening sessions” in Syracuse on Tuesday
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, said today that the state should enact a carbon tax on greenhouse gas emissions in order to accelerate the transition to clean energy. The revenues from a carbon tax should be used to help finance an increase in mass transit funding. (See Hawkins release on Fixing the Subways.)
Hawkins also said that as Governor he would push for a requirement that all new vehicles in the state be zero emission by 2025. He supports increasing the number of electric charging stations in NY and a higher tax credit for electric cars. He would also enact congestion pricing in NYC.
“While the Cuomo administration has moved at a glacial pace in moving our electric production from fossil fuels to wind, solar and efficiency, he has been even slower with transportation, which has an even bigger carbon footprint. We need action now to avoid climate chaos, while Cuomo prefers studies and more talk,” noted Hawkins.
Read moreHawkins in Rochester for Clarissa Street Reunion
For Immediate release: August 18, 2018
Hawkins Campaign in Rochester for 23rd Annual
Clarissa Street Reunion Parade and Festival
Hawkins and Local Greens participate in celebrating one of Rochester’s most culturally rich neighborhoods.
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, is in Rochester, NY today for the 23rd Annual Clarissa Street Reunion Parade and Festival.
Hawkins is marching with a local Green Party contingent in the parade at 11am and will speak to community members at the following street festival.
Hawkins is available to speak to local media during this time.
The Clarissa Street Reunion celebrates a neighborhood known for producing renowned jazz musicians in the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's. Clarissa Street, which is located in the southwest quadrant of Rochester and in the old 3rd Ward, brought together people of Black, Italian, Irish, and Jewish descent. The annual reunion began in 1996.
Are 'most Americans are democratic socialists'?
Spectrum News, August 17, 2018
It's the summer of democratic socialism. It's a political label that's gained prominence following the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and the successful primary bid of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It's also one embraced by gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon and her running mate, Jumaane Williams.
“I've always considered myself a democratic socialist. I think most Americans are democratic socialists. But we've allowed people to be afraid of certain words,” said Williams.
But Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins says Democrats who identify as socialists now miss the broader point: public ownership.
“They're missing a central tenant of the socialist tradition, which is social ownership of the means of production as a basis for economic democracy,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins has long identified with the socialist movement, saying it's one that cannot take place within a major political party.
“We can only liberate ourselves, and so we need an independent political party outside of the two-party system,” said Hawkins.
Read more