Kirsten’s New York Minute!

Here’s what she’s been up to this week:

100 years after it was first introduced, Kirsten is leading a new effort to codify the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution and finally guarantee equal rights for all Americans regardless of sex. Her ERA Now resolution will be a model for Democrats across the country on how to protect reproductive rights.

Read more.

After severe flooding devastated parts of the Hudson Valley, Kirsten called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to send any requested federal assistance to the region.

She’s also announcing bipartisan legislation to reform the National Flood Insurance Program to make sure that flood insurance is accessible and affordable for families and business owners who need it.

Read more.

The week’s flooding also shut down vital transportation corridors across New York.

Kirsten announced legislation to help ensure that our transit infrastructure can withstand severe storms. Her Resilient Transit Act would help transit agencies prepare for future extreme weather by making proactive upgrades to trains, buses, and ferries.

Learn more.

Kirsten is dedicated to bringing federal dollars home to New York.  

Just this week, she delivered:  

1. $6.88 billion – the largest federal transportation grant in history – for the Gateway project, which will build a second tunnel under the Hudson River to New York City. Read more.
2. $6 million for bus facilities in the Bronx to build new seating, better lighting, bike racks, and more along Jerome Avenue. More.
3. $1.3 million to build a new workforce training center at Niagara University. The investment will provide workers with education in in-demand fields and strengthen the local economy. Learn more.
4. $648,000 for fire departments in the North Country to purchase 150 sets of protective equipment. More.

Kirsten visited military installations across Europe to meet with New York service members stationed abroad, including Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division in Romania, the 7th Army Training Command in Germany, and the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa and 173rd Airborne Brigade in Italy.

Until 2013, same-sex couples were barred from filing joint federal tax returns. That meant they couldn’t take advantage of the same tax benefits as heterosexual couples.

Kirsten introduced the bipartisan Refund Equality Act to right that wrong and provide an estimated $55 million in refunds to couples that should have received them in the first place.

Read more.

When the surviving spouse of a Vietnam War veteran contacted Kirsten for help receiving spousal benefits, her office reached out to the Department of Veterans Affairs to advocate on her behalf. As a result, the VA awarded her $1,500 in monthly benefits and over $8,000 in death payments and reimbursements.

Individual casework is Kirsten’s top priority. If you need help with a federal agency, contact her here.

Every year, women members of Congress play a charity softball game against the women of the D.C. press corps to raise money for the Young Survival Coalition, a breast cancer nonprofit. Here’s Kirsten captaining the congressional team.