Assemblymember Jonathan Rivera highlights the upcoming legislative session’s focus on health care funding, particularly the impact of potential federal changes on Medicaid, SNAP benefits and Medicare. He emphasizes a recent estimate that 30,000 people in his district alone could lose health insurance.
Rivera also addresses the lack of diversity in New York’s judiciary, emphasizing the need for new judicial districts to better represent racial and rural communities. He mentions his Somos workshops on diversity and public education, and the importance of investing in bilingual educators. Rivera also shares his initiative to expand the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to improve literacy among young children in underserved communities.
You can watch the full interview in the video player above. And be sure to tune in for a look inside the biggest issues impacting upstate New York, on In Focus every Sunday on Spectrum News 1.