U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), a gubernatorial candidate, said during a virtual town hall with Blank Slate Media that his goals for the state if elected are to reduce crime, taxes, help kids in troubled schools and attack “the most corrupt state in the United States of America.”

“I’m sick of all the fighting of Democrats and Republicans and not getting things done,” Suozzi said last week. 

On crime, Suozzi referred to his 15-Point Crime Intervention and Prevention Plan, which includes helping fix bail reform by allowing judges to take “dangerousness” into account. The Glen Cove native said New York is the only state that doesn’t allow a judge to detain defendants who pose threats to the community. 

“We should give judges the discretion to look at the whole case,” Suozzi said, “to look at the record of the person in front of them. to look at the circumstances that led to the allegations before them.”

In 2019, the state Legislature enacted a law that eliminated cash bail for many nonviolent crimes. Pretrial detention and optional cash bail were eliminated in an estimated 90 percent of cases.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in January signed an executive order that cites a need to “increase transparency by disclosing in daily reports the pending criminal data case and bail stats of those rearrested” by the Police Department. 

When asked about potential abuses of the system, possibly leading to increased arrests of black and brown people, Suozzi – a former Nassau executive – said that applying statistics would help uncover potential irregularities and patterns in police officers and judges, among others. 

Specifically, Suozzi cited CompStat for Justice, a data collection and analysis program that lets law enforcement agencies make policy decisions to reduce the risk of biased outcomes. 

One of Suozzi’s opponents, current Gov. Kathy Hochul, has earned an endorsement from state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs, who was also appointed Nassau County Democratic Chairman by Suozzi in 2001. 

Suozzi said he and Jacobs have a long-term relationship together but if elected he would not have Jacobs remain in his current position.

“Jay is loyal to the person in power,” Suozzi said. “He was with [David] Paterson, he supported Spitzer after my race, he was with Cuomo and now he’s with Hochul. If I’m the governor, he will no longer be Democratic chairman.”

Suozzi also was critical of the governor for her budget process, naming Brian Benjamin her running mate, contributing $600 million of taxpayer money to the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium, and her voting record on gun legislation during previous political stops. 

“When she was in Washington, D.C., as a member of Congress, she voted with the NRA, was endorsed by the NRA and took money from the NRA,” Suozzi said. “She voted to allow concealed carry, she voted with the Republicans and NRA when she was in Congress. That’s the height of hypocrisy.”

Turning to guns, Suozzi said he has co-sponsored every piece of gun violence prevention legislation in the country and that he has an “F” rating from the NRA. He said he would also fully implement New York’s Red Flag law, passed three years ago, that allows a court process to take away guns from “dangerous” people and prevent them from having firearms. 

Suozzi said that communities need to encourage giving incentives to developers in order to allow multi-story buildings in downtown business districts. Suozzi says increased transit-oriented development would attract young people to the area, increase tax bases and lower prices through an increased housing supply. 

On schools, Suozzi responded to a Blank Slate Media analysis on state funding for school districts by saying many inequities exist through state aid, which he said was a “regressive” form of taxation.” 

Suozzi pointed out that last year New York was named the most corrupt state in the country by the Washington Post. He responded to a previous question on generating revenue despite his intention to lower taxes by saying the Medicaid system is “rife with waste, fraud and abuse.”

“We spend 2 1/2 times the cost of the national average for Medicaid, more than Texas and Florida,” Suozzi said. “Why? Because there’s a cottage industry of fraud taking place. People say they’re going to go to adult-care facilities, the facilities sign off on the client without ever going there and then they give a kickback to the person. It’s a scam.”

Suozzi, who has long referred to himself as a common-sense Democrat, says that he is the candidate making crime and reducing taxes a priority while having the executive experience to lead. He also touted some of his accomplishments, such as being named the environmentalist of the year for the New York League of Conservation Voters, a perfect rating from Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign and becoming chair of the labor caucus in Congress.

“I’m going to fight for the people, I’m not going to fight for the insiders,” Suozzi said.