Freshman lawmaker Gabriella Romero is an assemblymember for New York State’s 109th Assembly District, which covers the city of Albany, New Scotland, and parts of Guilderland. In a new installment of our “Freshmen Perspectives” series, Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna interviews the assemblymember about her first-term accomplishments, what she hopes to get done in subsequent terms, and how her time as a public defender and a Common Councilmember for the city of Albany shapes how she approaches being a state lawmaker.
Guests
Transcript was generated using AI software and may contain errors.
Joel Tirado 00:03
Welcome to Policy Outsider presented by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. I’m Joel Tirado. Freshman lawmaker Gabriella Romero is an assembly member for New York State’s 109th Assembly District, which covers the city of Albany, New Scotland and parts of Guilderland, in a new installment of our freshman perspective series Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna interviews the assembly member about her first term accomplishments, what she hopes to get done in subsequent terms, and how her time as a public defender and a common council member for the city of Albany shape how she approaches being a state lawmaker. That conversation is up next.
Bob Megna 00:56
we’re here today with assembly person Gabriella Romero. She represents the 100 and ninth District, which is most of, or a big chunk of the city of Albany. And then I was looking at the assembly map the towns of new Scotland and Guilderland. Unfortunately, I live in Bethlehem, so I think I’m outside of her her district right now, but we want to welcome her and ask her some questions about how, you know, she’s adjusting to the assembly, and about how she sees the issues we’re all facing. Welcome.
Gabriella A. Romero 01:39
Thanks. I’m really excited to be here. Yeah,
Bob Megna 01:43
so you’re about a year and a half in, I guess, to your your first term, I’m sure of a much longer career. What do you see as some of your, you know, first term accomplishments, and what are the kinds of things you’re most proud of accomplishing?
Gabriella A. Romero 02:04
I’m really lucky to love my job. I wasn’t sure at first I came into politics, really wary of the political apparatus, just because I was, I never lived my life expecting, you know, some people are born saying I will be president one day. Or, you know, I’ve always wanted to shape policy, and that just was not me. I was a little bit of a wanderer in school. I loved school, but I just never really knew what I wanted to do, and that was true for college, even and even in law school, and I didn’t find my stride until I was a public defender and loved that work. Woke up every day doing that work. And so in my first term, I’ve really surprised myself in being able to find such joy in not only the constituent work, but in diving quite deep into policy that is both local and statewide in my first year. Last year, the budget issue, you know, every year has we’re lucky. We have about four or five issues in this budget in 2026 but last year, the issue of budget was evidence in a criminal case. Wow. That was everything that I knew as a public defender. I was the type of attorney that kept their gray book, which is the laws of New York State. I would keep that on me. You know, every day I really cared deeply about the CPL and the criminal procedure law and the penal law, especially with the changes and bail and and the way that that was handled in my office, the Albany County Public Defender’s Office was really on the forefront of litigating those issues. So to my surprise, and maybe to my own giddiness, I was able to navigate within the conference discovery when no one really I think I can say confidently, no one really understood that law. So I’ll say one of my greatest accomplishments was being able to come in as a freshman a few days in and being able to find a confident niche for myself very early on, a lot of people aren’t able to kind of come in and speak confidently on a topic in a way that people that I don’t know are coming to me and saying, how should I feel about this? What was said in conference today? Can you explain it to me? You know what? What is CPL 3030? What is the integrity of speedy trial law? Why does that and why does that matter? And what’s the What? What? How does that interplay with the other sections of the law? You know, something that I thought very intensely on in conference, anyways, so that was able to create a platform for myself that was really special and unique. And then last year, I was able to pass substantive laws as a freshman, which is also great. And I was really proud out of, you know, the small, not a lot, maybe three bills, four bills out of the handful of bills that I passed, one was a victim notification bill that kind of came out of my work in the public defender’s office, where crime victims would sometimes reach out to me and remember, I am representing at that point someone that had already pled guilty to a crime. Sometimes the victim in a case would reach out to me or my office, and say, Hey, what happened? What was the end disposition? And I’m like, I’m happy to answer this, but as a reminder, this is who I represent. These are the this is the district attorney’s office or the crime victims office, but here’s the information that you need anyways, that happened more often than it should. So this bill would require crime victims and felony cases, especially explicitly, ones that are not present in court at the time of sentencing, to just get, like, a basic readout of what happened at sentencing, which is just like a procedural dignity step. And I was really proud to pass that, because it came from, as I said, lived experience. And now I’m working on this year, a lot of different pieces of legislation that some of which are in the budget, some of which are woven into our immigration package that we were passing this year, and some that I’m hoping to pass in the few weeks that we may have left in this legislative session, one of The most important ones that’s a part of this legislative package would allow us to sue federal government agents specifically ice if they violate our constitutional rights. And that is something that I am just I am I’m so proud of that bill, I feel like people go their whole careers, and this is like a, this is a bill that that people go their whole career is kind of like hoping, and it’s like the epitome of their career, that they’re able to champion something like this. And here I am, in my first term, passing something like moving something like this, and we were able to get it in the budget and get it right, right, which is a legal concept. So that’s just one, that’s one, and then another, I could say another bill I’m working on is a bill that I’m hoping to pass this year, which would and and the way we handle plea bargains as it relates to mandatory minimums, if the judge and the district attorney agree, we would be able to negotiate or agree on at time of sentencing that the person is pleading guilty to a crime, but they don’t have to abide by The mandatory minimum sentence, and so it’s under a interest of justice standard. The federal guidelines have this already under the escape valve provision. And so, you know, we would have to go through a comprehensive review of the defendants, history and character and nature of the crime, etc. But it’s a mitigative step. It’s a lot of times dA say, my hands are tied. I can’t I can’t do anything more for you. And in a lot of provisions, people have old criminal histories that require mandatory minimums. But this is a empathetic view that that may work in some specific cases. So it’s a step in the right direction.
Bob Megna 08:59
You know, I wish you were around when I went back to the budget division two years ago and we were struggling on criminal justice issues. I think we needed folks who had been, you know, part of that, but you know, this goes against the next question I was going to ask you, because often new legislators don’t have that, what you just described as that ability to have an impact in important policy areas. How did that and how does that affect your relationship with the other members and maybe even some of the other new members in the legislature.
Gabriella A. Romero 09:42
Um, I think I have a good relationship with most members. I’m also, I’ll just add like them the youngest woman in the assembly right now, too, which is something that people I’m proud of, that it’s something people ask me about too, like, oh, how do you get along with everyone? I’m like, I. I don’t know I I’m kind of friendly, and I am a consummate professional. I, you know, there’s I’m always I’m used to that by nature of being in court all the time and dealing with, of course, many personalities there, Judge da client and I just we’re working a job. Everyone also has distinct districts that they have to represent. Undoubtedly, I have had conflict, and especially I’ve had debate, and I think that you take that reminder with you with every conversation you go, from even when you have conflict and debate, and I mean debate like lowercase d, right, like, not on the floor, like, and you remember that everyone’s just representing their district, someone can come up to me and say, your bill’s unconstitutional, or, like, you know, it’ll never Pass. And I think to that exact point when you are introducing a bill, or when you’re working on something and you’re standing up and you’re defending it, you have to come, you have to do the work. You have to know what you’re talking about, and you have to really come with full strength and full integrity, full research, right? And I that’s what I do with my bills, that’s what I do with the things that I care about, and I think that people acknowledge that about the things that I stand up on. So if someone’s coming at me, there’s a little bit of like, Okay, I’m ready to talk to you about this stuff, because I care about it. But people have strong opinions, especially about criminal justice, so you just have to come at that with a from a place of respect, confidence and again, preparedness, right? You can’t say something intense about criminal justice if you don’t have the knowledge to back it up. So I think to your question, I’m also here to do a job, right?
Bob Megna 12:00
Sure,
Gabriella A. Romero 12:01
friendships and relationships are important, but I want to be really good at my job, because I love my job. So I try to remember that as well
Bob Megna 12:08
as a former staff person, I’m going to assume you’ve developed pretty good relationships with the staff because they love people who have that attitude towards towards the job. So that that’s always good, but you had a life before you were in the assembly, you talked about it a little bit. And, you know, before you got to the assembly, you were on the Albany Common Council. You know, I’ve lived in the Capital District forever. You know, what were the aspects of that job that helped you prepare? But even if they didn’t help you prepare, what? What do you feel you learned from being in the local government side of things?
Gabriella A. Romero 12:53
Yeah, you know, I really miss public comment period from the Albany Common Council. And some people might not agree, to be honest, we would spend hours sometimes, especially on the really controversial bills, with people providing comment, you know, expressing how they feel on things. And we just don’t have that as much anymore. Obviously, it’s emails, constituent emails sometimes, but, but to be frank, like advocate we call it advocacy emails. An advocacy email in the state legislature is like a canned email that is created by a coalition you can put your and it’s a great way, and it’s a really helpful way for people to do quick advocacy. And that’s how you have to do it in the state, because there’s so many bills. And of course, you know a know that’s how you codify your idea or your opinion on a bill, is that you can put your name and your address into something and send it to your state legislator, and we just don’t have, you know, it’s not that as personal as it was on the city council, when people would come and they would say, your speak, you’re voting, or you’re thinking about this bill in committee, and this is how I feel about it, and we got to see them, and we didn’t get to interact with them unless it was a public hearing. But even then, you know, we’re able to ask people questions and go back and forth, and it just felt a little a little more, I don’t know, personal, and of course, we have that opportunity in our budget hearings, but that’s more controlled, because you’re inviting a very specific amount of people during a state budget hearing, as opposed to the Common Council. Also anyone can come. So sometimes you’ll have just like a completely unknown constituent that’s coming, and they’re exacerbated, and they’re sharing their concern, and it’s, you know, they’re on their last leg, and you’re, you’ll give them your business card at the end of the night. And you know, I just felt like you’re really on the ground and
Bob Megna 14:59
you.
Gabriella A. Romero 15:00
You know, I just, kind of, I really liked that. And at that same time, I was at the public defender’s office, very on the ground. And, you know, I’ve shared this with a lot of people. I of course, miss my work there. I I loved being a trial attorney. I was just, you know, while I was there, I thought that that was my, that was what I was going to do forever. I was going to be, you know, the best trial attorney in New York, or whatever, is going to craft my cross examination technique. And I’m really grateful for my time there, because that truly is, is a special opportunity to not only understand law, literally, CPL, penal law, etc, housing even you know, but it shows you all of the rude, nasty, disgusting underbelly of government systems. DSS, period, you know, the housing system, the fact that our mental health and drug treatment centers are not working the way they should, the fact that it’s harder to get someone into mental health treatment than it is into drug treatment when we really have such a problem in our mental health treatment centers. Like, you know, it’s just and, and so like all of that, all of doing all that work, radicalized me so intensely, in a way that people were like, girl, you got to do something. And so that’s what kind of led me to this path. Inevitably, I would have, I’m sure, cracked in some way and done something, who knows what, in the public defender’s office, whether it was pivot to nonprofit work or something, maybe, or taking a break. But I loved, why did I did it so passionately that I think it made me need to do something more or different. And, you know, it’s funny, like the grass is always greener. Now, I’m like, oh, bring me back in the courtroom. But I loved that work. I loved what I was doing there, and again, I loved the common council work because it was so boots on the ground.
Bob Megna 17:08
You know, you answered my next question, I think, which was to ask you about how did being a public defender influence you know your work, so maybe I’ll go somewhere else. And, you know, I’ve known I grew up in New York City, right? But I’ve lived upstate and done like state stuff forever. So much of the political gravity of the state gets sucked down, you know, 120 miles from where we are. How do you navigate that? How do you get it sounds like you’ve been pretty successful already in getting your voice heard. But how do you figure that part of it out,
Gabriella A. Romero 17:55
like explaining the the large spheres in a smaller way, or,
Bob Megna 18:02
yeah, or the do you find you have some difficulty getting your issues to the table given you know some of the smaller city issues, you know upstate New York. Often you have folks talk about upstate New York, like, once you get north of Westchester County, right, you have, like upstate New York, you know, how do you think about bringing your issues, you know, to the table for for this
Gabriella A. Romero 18:31
region? I understand, yes, um, well, we’re upstates a little more organized these days. We have the Upstate caucus, which is outside of Westchester, they have their own caucus, and that’s become a great organizing tool to put together voices and solidify how we want to address certain issues. For example, EV busses is is a really big financial strain on our school districts, of course, you know, understanding the need to meet our climate goals. And I think that when we first passed that bill, before I was in the assembly, it was really helpful, you know, tool in the toolbox to do that, but it has been an incredible strain on our school district. So we kind of got together and said, This is going to be an issue. And so kind of like a chorus and conference, people bring it up, and it’s just so, it’s so upstate, because you’d never get it unless you’re in these upstate districts. And you know, sometimes you see their New York City colleagues being like, what’s that? EV bus thing? Like, what’s going on? What is that? But the point of winning is consistency and sometimes bifurcated voices, right? So I think that that could potentially be a win in this budget that we’ll see and we’ve received success. So to answer your question. It’s by getting organized. It’s getting people together. And that wasn’t me to be clear. That was Bill magnarelli, that was Didi Barrett. That was Jen Jen Luntz, for John John McDonald. People much with much seniority than me, saying we need to do something about this. And really honored that they’ve kind of brought me in as one of the newer members, and we’re trying to push the needle on a few different things, because Upstate has, I’ll say we need upstate parity on some things. Another big issue that we’re seeing right now is revenue on this quote, unquote tax the rich initiative that is receiving a lot of revenue in New York City, where they’re getting a lot of revenue there through various different initiatives. And the reality is that our upstate municipalities need revenue as well, and I’d like to make revenue in any way possible, frankly, as long as it’s not taxing working class New Yorkers. So if they want to create revenue by just giving money to municipalities, that’s great, but the reality is that we don’t really have just like money to spare. So some people, not the entire caucus, are trying to create parity through the pita terror tax in New York City, even just through an opt in option, giving municipalities the option to opt in, and that has been interesting navigating the Upstate caucus and upstate thoughts and feelings through that as well.
Bob Megna 21:30
I shouldn’t say this, but I have occasional conversations with the budget director, and I think the governor’s office shares the view of, if you’re going to do something, you know, in the city, you should have some parody, you know, statewide. But it’s an interesting dilemma, right? Because they’re always going to be, well, we’re generating all the money, right? And so, I guess, believe me, it’s an interesting question so but I’ve been asking questions that I think really what we’d like to talk about a little and maybe end up with is, what do you what’s on your agenda? What do you think you want to accomplish? And it sounds like you’ve already done quite a bit. But you know, if you’re going to continue doing this, which it sounds like you’re going to, you know, what do you want next?
Gabriella A. Romero 22:31
You know, I have a few different bills I care about. The ones that I mentioned are the, the highest and most they’re taking up the biggest amount of space in my brain, which look like they could even pass very soon, which is just totally incredible and fantastic. But you know, something that I care about, that I want to see happen, which is long term, is the beauty and success of my district. And that obviously can be accomplished through legislation and money, of course, to the district. But each section of my district, gildaland, new Scotland, Albany, has its own kind of like metamorphosis. Kind of Albany, of course, is going through its own literal revitalization. New mayor. If you know, if we were on another podcast, we would just like edit in like a applause, because we’re so excited about this. You know, incredible, exciting new energy coming into the city. And there’s this 200 400 technically, but 200 we’re focusing on massive investment for the city of Albany, but I’m focusing on, like, the true, actual mentality change that comes with, with a revitalization plan. I’m talking about, like, a tripling of our population size. I’m talking about what, what really do you have to do to make sure that young people want to stay in a city and and create families here, that older adults are able to age in place, comfortably and safely? You know? How do you actually create a city? It’s really like a beautiful concept. That’s what Albany is going through, and that’s my five and 10 year plan, to make sure that that happens sustainably and correctly, because we have a great opportunity right now to do it, and if we do it wrong, we’re just going to totally ruin our next, you know, our next 10 to 20 years, and then kind of similarly guilt, obviously. Let me also just back up. Albany is literally the capital and what’s, what I believe is what’s good for Albany that will trickle out in both economic development, public safety and growth will affect positively the rest of the capital region. But you know, gilderland and new Scotland are very similarly, going through some metamorphoses. With their own housing plans. Gilderland, I believe, is either coming out of or in the end of their housing moratorium, they’re figuring out how they want to handle housing for their next generation. Are they going to focus on single families? Are they going to focus on three bedrooms versus large scale developments totally different, like, you know, like smaller homes or or large, large developments, they’re figuring that out, and that’s why they instilled that moratorium. And then new Scotland, kind of on the on the flip side is trying to figure out where they want to develop, because they are really beautiful rural area that is wants to preserve their green space. And lucky for me, I get to represent all of them and the ribbon and the beautiful connectivity between all parts of my district, and so everyone’s really going through a metamorphosis and on their own, and I get to shepherd them through this beautiful time, which has been such an honor and such a great, beautiful time to do it, but I want to make sure it’s done right, right? So, how can I, how can I work with all of my locals to do this properly, to make sure that, you know, I’m connected and on the ground, and that the state is helping them, you know, cut red tape, get the grants that they need, make sure that they’re connected to state agencies when needed, and there’s no clunkiness there. And I love doing that.
Bob Megna 26:33
You know, when I moved up here eons ago, from downstate, I grew up in the Bronx. To me, the most fascinating part about living in Albany was that if you were four miles, literally, three and a half four miles outside of the city limits in new Scotland, you were in a rural setting. And you know, it was, and it still is kind of an interesting kind of right now I’m two miles outside of the city limits, and if I go another two miles, I’m in New Scotland, and it is kind of real interesting thing that we in Albany get to experience that I think downstate people sometimes don’t get that you could be so close to rural America at the same time that you have urban America you’re sitting in, right? So that’s interesting, that you’re thinking about that stuff.
Gabriella A. Romero 27:38
Yeah,
Bob Megna 27:39
you know, we’re at the end. So whatever you want to talk about, I think if you have any other stuff you want to discuss, I think, you know, this is a good time to do it. I guess,
Gabriella A. Romero 27:52
sure, I’ll just clarify. I represent the whole city of Albany and parts of gilderland and all of new Scotland, and I’m very newly Albany used to be represented by two people, and that
Bob Megna 28:08
was the last redistricting.
Gabriella A. Romero 28:10
Yeah, yeah. So Albany now has one assembly member and one senator. We still kind of claim John McDonald, in a fun way, like he’s kind of like our capital district delegation chair kind of, but
Bob Megna 28:23
it’s Capital District. No, I appreciate you clarifying that,
Gabriella A. Romero 28:28
yeah, yeah, but it’s great. I can’t emphasize enough that I love what I do. I’m lucky to do it. Couldn’t do it without the team that I have four people my office, but you know, all all really hard workers that are dedicated to this district, and I just love helping people with their problems and solving, solving and creating good, good bills. So, you know, we keep trudging, but maybe by the time people are listening, we’ll have a budget.
Bob Megna 29:01
Listen, well, I hope that’s true too, because, you know, I lived that life for a long time, and it’s it is hard on people in many, many ways. Yeah, I know you say you have four people, but given what you’ve done in your, you know, your short tenure here, I think I’m guaranteeing you, the senior staff in the legislature are pretty happy with what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. So
Gabriella A. Romero 29:31
thank you.
Bob Megna 29:32
I’m gonna believe you have more than four people. But anyway, thanks for doing this.
Gabriella A. Romero 29:39
Thank you. This is great anytime I’d love to be back.
Joel Tirado 29:49
Thanks again to New York State Assembly Member Gabriella Romero and Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna for joining us on policy outsider. If you liked this episode, please rate, subscribe and share. It will help others find the podcast and help us deliver the latest in Public Policy Research. All of our episodes are available for free wherever you stream your podcasts, and transcripts are available on our website. I’m Joel tirado until next time, policy outsider is presented by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York the institute conducts cutting edge, nonpartisan public policy research and analysis to inform lasting solutions to the challenges facing New York state and the nation. Learn [email protected] or by following Rockefeller inst, that’s I N, S T on social media. Have a question, comment or idea, email us at [email protected]
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