Here is how our House members and New York’s two senators voted on select issues during the legislative weeks ending April 12, as reported by Targeted News Service. Click here for previous votes.
Michael Lawler (R), District 17 (including Philipstown)
Lawler, 37, was elected to Congress in 2022. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the state Assembly from the 97th district in Rockland County. A graduate of Suffern High School, he holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Manhattan College. He is a former director of the state Republican Party and former deputy supervisor of Orangetown.
Pat Ryan (D), District 18 (including Beacon)
Ryan, 41, was elected to Congress in 2022. Formerly the county executive of Ulster, he grew up in Kingston and holds a bachelor’s degree in international politics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown. Ryan served in the U.S. Army as a combat intelligence officer from 2004 to 2009, including two tours in Iraq. He is also a former technology executive.
Worker Training
The House on April 9, by a 378-26 vote, passed the A Stronger Workforce for America Act (H.R. 6655), sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), to change and reauthorize federal worker training programs. Foxx said the bill represented “a promise that as the economy changes, we will always ensure that workers have an opportunity to gain the right skills for the job,” including by increasing funding for worker upskilling efforts, and by improving oversight of training programs.
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Museum of Play
The House on April 10, by a 385-31 vote, passed the National Museum of Play Recognition Act (H.R. 3250), sponsored by Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.), to designate a play-focused museum in Rochester as the National Museum of Play, without making it part of the National Park System. Morelle said the museum is unique in that it “exists for the exclusive purpose of exploring the ways in which play encourages learning, creativity, and discovery, and how it illuminates cultural history.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Stranded Sea Turtles
The House on April 11, by a 332-82 vote, passed the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act (H.R. 2560), sponsored by Rep. William Keating (D-Mass.), to establish a grant program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for rescuing marine turtles stranded on beaches. Keating said that by supporting a network of groups that rescue the turtles, the program would ensure that “the populations of this much-loved species continue to thrive into the future, helping to preserve a unique part of the ocean’s biodiversity for our children and grandchildren.”
Michael Lawler (R-17, including Philipstown) voted yes
Pat Ryan (D-18, including Beacon) voted yes
Along with this week’s roll call votes, the House also passed these bills without roll calls:
■ A bill (H.R. 1246), to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land held in trust for federally recognized Indian tribes;
■ The Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act (H.R. 6492), to improve recreation opportunities on, and facilitate greater access to, federal public land; and
■ The Community Reclamation Partnerships Act (H.R. 6233), to authorize partnerships between states and nongovernmental entities for the purpose of reclaiming and restoring land and water resources adversely affected by coal mining activities.
SENATE
Federal Judges
The Senate on April 9, by a 78-21 vote, confirmed the nomination of Susan Bazis to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Nebraska. Bazis took her current role as a federal magistrate judge in 2017; before that, she was a county court judge in the state and had her own law firm in Omaha, and was a public defender.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on April 9, by a 58-42 vote, confirmed the nomination of Robert White to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. White has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the district since 2018, after several years in the same post in Texas.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
The Senate on April 10, by a unanimous vote, confirmed the nomination of Ann Marie McIff Allen to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for Utah. Allen has been a judge on a district court in Utah’s court system for 4 years, after spending time as a private practice lawyer, lawyer for Southern Utah University, and attorney for Iron County, Utah.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted yes
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted yes
GHG Emissions and Interstate Highways
The Senate on April 10, by a 53-47 vote, passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 61), sponsored by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), to disapprove of and void a Federal Highway Administration (FHA) rule requiring state regulators to set reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide from vehicles traveling on their state’s portion of the National Highway System. Cramer called the rule a Biden administration effort to circumvent Congress’s action to deny such regulatory authority to the FHA, and said overturning it in Congress would avert “the gross expense of litigating this demonstration of bureaucratic arrogance.” A resolution opponent, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), said the FHA rule was essential because “it is simply not possible to meet our climate goals without addressing emissions from the transportation sector.”
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
Joint Employer Rule
The Senate on April 10, by a 50-48 vote, passed a resolution (H.J. Res. 98), sponsored by Rep. John James (R-Mich.), to disapprove of and void a National Labor Relations Board rule for determining whether two or more employers qualify as joint employers when they have the same employee. A supporter, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), said the rule “forces legal liability onto franchisers for the labor decisions of individual franchise owners despite the franchiser having no operational authority over the business’s employees,” and would result in substantial harm to restaurant and other franchise owners.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) voted no
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) voted no
The Senate also passed a resolution (S. Res. 638), calling for the immediate release of Ryan Corbett, a U.S. citizen who was detained by the Taliban on August 10, 2022.
