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J une 17, 2013

State Senate Co-President J eff Klein

State Senator David Carlucci

State Senator Diane Savino

State Senator David Valesky

Legislative Office Building

Albany, NY 12247

Dear Members of the Independent Democratic Conference:

At the formation of your coalition government in the New York State Senate, we

trusted in your public promises to "move a progressive agenda that otherwise might

be stalled in Albany."*

Time is running out. With only a few days left in this year's legislative session, we

are waiting for you to make good on those promises.

We write to ask for a vote on the following critically important pieces of legislation:

1) Comprehensive campaign finance reform with public funding at its

core, to address corruption and the undue influence of wealthy donors in ourpolitical process.

2) The Women's Equality Agenda, to break down barriers that perpetuate

discrimination and inequality based on gender.

3) The New York DREAM Act, to provide critical financial support enabling

undocumented students access to higher education opportunities.

4) Marijuana decriminalization legislation, to decriminalize possession ofsmall amounts of marijuana, and put an end to racially biased "stop and frisk"

practices and illegal marijuana arrests.

*IDC Leader, Senator Jeffrey Klein: http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2012/12/04/klein-pledges-

progressive-agenda-says-idc-welcomes-to-new-members/

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5) GENDA, to ensure full civil rights and reduce discrimination against

transgender New Yorkers and all whose gender expression is unfairly

targeted

6) Moratorium on Hydrofracking, to ensure clean water, clean air and a

safe environment for all New Yorkers that protects our health.

Whether or not every bill has the votes to pass, each deserves a vote, and voters

deserve to know where their representatives stand.

A failure on the part of leadership to bring these bills to the floor for a vote will

provide voters with a clear indication of where the IDC stands.

Sincerely,

Karen Scharff, Citizen Action of New York

Dan Cantor, Working Families Party

Michael Waldman, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Susan Lerner, Common Cause/NY

Andrea Miller, NARAL Pro-Choice New York

Tracey Brooks, Family Planning Advocates

Sonia Ossorio, National Organization for Women, New York City

Christine Sadowski, YWCA Orange County

Razeen Zaman, New York State Youth Leadership Council

Chung-Wha Hong, New York Immigration Coalition

Javier Valdes, Make the Road New York

Hazel Dukes, President, NAACP New York State Conference

Marvin Bing, Northeast Regional Director, National NAACP

terri smith-caronia, Housing WorksTransgender Advocates of the Capital Region

Julia Walsh, Frack Action

Roger Downs, Sierra Club