By Mark Hallum
Steve Stern is finishing his sixth term in the Suffolk County Legislature, his last due to term limits. He has served as chairman of the Veterans Committee as well as the vice chairman of both the Economic Development Committee and the Seniors and Consumer Protection Committee.
But Stern is setting his sights on a new goal: U.S. Rep. Steve Israel’s seat. He is one of five candidates in the June 28 Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District.
In an interview with the TimesLedger, Stern said the issues he is most passionate about are care for the elderly, veterans and education reform.
“By the year 2050, we will be spending as a nation approximately $1.1 trillion a year on the impacts of Alzheimer’s disease. That is roughly equal to our entire defense budget. That makes finding a cure a top priority of mine,” Stern said.
Asked about his legislative experience, “The Suffolk County Legislature has a culture of cooperation and working across party lines and with other levels of government. We are a level of government that actually gets things done. That doesn’t mean that partisan politics aren’t at play, but that is the culture that I come from. I’m part of a government that works.”
Stern said his ability to create relationships and partnerships built on common goals will prepare him for working in a polarized Congress. The issue of housing homeless veterans is one on which he believes Republicans will want to work with him. He referred to a series of bills he calls the Housing Our Homeless Heroes Act. He hopes to bring this legislation to Congress and does not foresee any opposition to passing it into law on the federal level.
Stern spoke about repairing infrastructure, such as roads, and raising revenue to fund those repairs by cutting back on federal funding that goes toward big industries in the form of subsidies.
“Big oil, we give tens of billions of dollars to on a annual basis. That means that our elected representatives believe that it is a priority of the taxpayers of this country to subsidize an industry that serves to pollute our water and pollute our air and is supporting that past rather than investing in the future,” Stern said. “I’m adamantly opposed to continuing our subsidies.”
Immigration reform is an issue that Stern does not veer far from other Democrats on.
“I see the failure of federal government to address immigration. I support a pathway to citizenship, and it is an issue that has gone on too long. In Congress I will work toward meaningful reform.”
Reducing airplane noise in Queens is a quality-of-life issue, which requires an aggressive strategy from civic leaders and local agencies, he said. The EPA and the FAA are organizations Stern sees as helping to address complaints from Queens residents over new flight paths to LaGuardia Airport.
Stern supports education reform from local administrators who would be able to make decisions based on the problems they see within their own communities.
“The most intelligent and talented people that I know serve on school boards. These are bright people with good ideas, but when they don’t have the ability to implement any of those good ideas, it becomes very frustrating. From a curriculum and academic excellence standpoint, there should be standards that are implemented in that.” Stern said. “How you get there, I believe, should be left to local control.”
His opponents in the primary are Jonathan Clarke, Jon Kaiman, Anna Kaplan and Tom Suozzi.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
