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Revision as of 01:48, 17 September 2020
| Kevin Byrne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the New York Assembly from the 94th District | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Steve Katz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1984-12-20) December 20, 1984 (age 40) Carmel, New York |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Briana Messina |
| Children | Braeden |
| Residence | Mahopac, New York |
| Alma mater | University of Scranton (B.A.) Marist College (M.P.A.) |
| Website | Official website |
Kevin Byrne is the Assembly member for the 94th District of the New York State Assembly. He is a registered Republican who first successfully ran with the Republican, Conservative, Independence, and Reform Party lines.
The district includes portions of Putnam and Westchester counties in the Hudson Valley.
Byrne is the ranking member on the Assembly’s Health Committee and chairperson of the Assembly Minority Conference Program Committee (2020-Present), making him the youngest member of his conference’s leadership team. He also serves on the Governmental Operations, Insurance, Labor, and Transportation Committees.
In addition, Byrne also serves as the New York state chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Previously, Byrne served as co-chair of the Assembly Minority Conference Task Force on Critical Infrastructure and Transportation (2018-2019), as the ranking member of the Assembly’s Aging Committee (2017-2018), and as vice chair of minority steering (2019).
Life and career
Byrne was born and raised in the Hudson Valley and attended Carmel High School before enrolling at the University of Scranton. As a high school student, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. At Scranton, Byrne participated in the Army ROTC program, but was unable to qualify for the Army physical because of a high school wrestling injury. Despite that, Byrne did complete the academic portion of the ROTC program coupled with an internship with then Congresswoman Sue Kelly.
Following his graduation from the University of Scranton in 2007, Byrne returned to the Hudson Valley and eventually served as a member of the Putnam Valley Planning Board and as a Firefighter/EMT with the Kent Volunteer Fire Department where he served three terms as the department’s president. He later served as Deputy District Director to Congresswoman Nan Hayworth and then as a Regional Director for the American Heart Association while finishing his M.P.A. concentrating in Healthcare Administration at Marist College. Byrne won his first bid seeking elected office in 2016 when he was elected as the Assemblyman for New York’s 94th Assembly District.
Assemblyman Byrne lives in Mahopac with his wife Briana, a Physician Assistant, and their rescued Treeing Walker Coon, Tracker.
Legislative Record & Accomplishments
Byrne refers to New York's reputation for public corruption as a "corruption tax." Byrne credits the corruption tax as part of the reason for more than one million people leaving the state from 2010 to 2017.
During his first term, Byrne voted against every tax increase proposed in the Assembly. That is one of the primary reasons Byrne was recognized in 2017 as one of five state legislators with the highest rating by the Conservative Party of New York State.
During his first term, Byrne introduced and passed ten bills in the Assembly, 8 of which passed the Senate and were signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, more than most other freshmen members during that time.
Some examples of Byrne’s legislation over the years include:
- Honoring the actions of a local Yorktown hero by designating a portion of state roadway the Major Clayton Carpenter Memorial Highway.
- Designating various local lakes as inland waterways to improve eligibility for state grants
- Loosening a residency requirement for an assistant court clerk for the town of Somers to help recruitment and retention of public employees who serve the town.
- Granting forgiveness for ministerial errors made by a local school district (initially vetoed by Gov. Cuomo but identical bill language was later included and passed in 2020-2021 FY budget which Byrne opposed for unrelated reasons)
- Assisting a new international multi-million dollar distillery project by permitting them to manufacture and sell in New York State
- Protecting a historical cemetery from development in Yorktown
- Establishing new parkland to offset commercial space along the Route 6 corridor in Yorktown
Legislation co-sponsored by Byrne that passed included bills that:
- Expanded cancer coverage for volunteer firefighters
- Strengthened the Clean Indoor Air Act (Byrne was the only GOP Assembly member to co-sponsor this legislation)
- Prohibited the practice of conversion "therapy" on minors (Byrne was the only Republican legislator to co-sponsor this legislation)
- Increased access to Automated External Defibrillators
- Better benefits for combat veterans
- Increased access to Epinephrine Auto-injectors
Additionally, Byrne has advocated for policy changes such as:
- Permanent property tax cap
- Constitutional amendment to strip pensions from corrupt politicians
- Legalized ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyftt across the state
- Greater accountability of utility companies and state agencies
- Deportation of the last known Nazi living in New York
- Timely implementation of positive train control
- Elimination of a pension double-dipping loophole exclusive for state lawmakers
- More timely paving of state roadways and other infrastructure projects
- Restoration and protection of funding for veteran peer to peer services
2016 New York Assembly campaign
In 2016, Assemblyman Steve Katz announced that he would not seek another term. Byrne was one of five Republicans that announced they would seek the nomination to replace Katz. At the local Republican Convention, Byrne received 14,562 weighted votes (76%) over Somers Town Councilman Bill Faulkner's 3,681 (19%) and Carmel Councilwoman Suzanne McDonough's 974 (5%). Councilwoman McDonough immediately pledged she would continue a primary campaign.
A day after winning his party’s endorsement, Byrne was seriously injured in a Brewster auto accident, breaking his right knee and suffering other injuries when another car, traveling at high speed, crossed into his lane, he said, and collided with him head-on. Byrne continued his campaign throughout his recovery and would later be victorious during the Republican primary, defeating McDonough 60% to 40%. He won the 2016 general election over Democrat Brian Higbie in the 2016 general election with 61% of the vote.
2018 New York Assembly campaign
In 2018, Byrne was challenged by Vedat Gashi, a Yorktown resident and real estate attorney.
During the campaign, a debate at the Putnam League of Women Voters Forum became contentious due to a dispute between the candidates about whether Byrne had supported legislation that would prevent violent domestic abusers from obtaining firearms, commonly referred to as the “Domestic Violence Escalation Protection Act” (Assembly bill A5025). Byrne voted in favor of the bill in question (A5025) twice.
Throughout the campaign, Byrne argued that his effectiveness was shown by his record of passing more legislation than nearly any other freshmen lawmaker in the state (of the 20+ freshmen legislators only 3 freshmen Democrats passed more). Gashi argued that he could deliver more for the district by being a member of the majority Democratic conference.
Gashi’s campaign outspent Byrne’s campaign by more than four times, spending more than $250,000 compared to Byrne's approximately $65,000.
The same election year, the state Senate flipped to Democratic control. This was in part due to the loss of a Republican held Senate seat that largely overlapped with the 94th Assembly District. In a year that proved challenging for many Republicans across the state, Byrne won his bid for re-election by a double digit margin.
References
- "New York State Assembly Member Directory". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
- "Rep. Kevin Byrne". www.alec.org. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
- "Task Force Aims To Address Massive Infrastructure". 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Meet Kevin - Kevin Byrne for NY". Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- "Kevin Byrne for NY District 94". Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- "Assemblyman Byrne Responds". TAPinto. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "2017 Assembly Ratings". CPNYS. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "State Assembly Candidate: Kevin Byrne". TAPinto. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "A9506B ELFA budget bill". April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "The NYS Budget: Op-Ed from Assemblyman Byrne". www.theexaminernews.com. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- Dunne, Allison. "NYS Bill Enables Distillery To Move Forward In Putnam County". www.wamc.org. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York A00576 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly". LegiScan. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "Permanent Property Tax Cap Passed in Senate, Blocked in Assembly". Byrne4NY. 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "Murray Passes Bill To Block Sex Offenders From Becoming Ridesharing Drivers". NewsLI.com. 2017-06-27. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "UTILITIES GET SLAPPED BY STATE INVESTIGATION INTO 2018 STORM RESPONSES BUT NO MENTION OF THE CREWS IN PUERTO RICO". Byrne4NY. 2019-04-22. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- Buchwald, Latimer, and Exec. Committee. "United Westchester Storm Response Report" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-09-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Yekusiel (2017-06-14). "Majority Leader Morelle, Hikind, Simanowitz And 85 Colleagues Implore Sessions To Deport Nazi". Yeshiva World News. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "Assemblymen Push to Get Positive Train Control Enacted". www.theexaminernews.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- Todd (2020-04-14). "Letter to the Editor: Positive Train Control finally completed in Hudson region". Mid Hudson News. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- Dunne, Allison. "Two NYS Lawmakers Call On Commission To Close Double-Dipping Loophole". www.wamc.org. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "FINAL Infrastructure Task Force Report.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "ASSEMBLYMAN BYRNE JOINS SENATORS MURPHY & SERINO TO ANNOUNCE $185,000 SUPPORTING VETERAN'S PEER-TO-PEER PROGRAM". Byrne4NY. 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "Byrne Calls for Funding of Joseph P. Dwyer Vet 2 Vet Program". Byrne4NY. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "Five Republicans Vie for Assembly Nomination". TAPinto. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
- "Byrne Wins GOP Nomination in Landslide". Yorktown-Somers, NY Patch. 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
- "Kevin Byrne, Assembly Candidate, Injured In Crash". The Putnam County Courier. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
- "Kevin Byrne, Assembly Candidate, Injured In Crash". The Putnam County Courier. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
- "Byrne Endorsed for Assembly; Faulkner Unsure of Primary". TAPinto. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- "NYS Board of Elections Primary Results, September 13, 2016" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-08-26.
- "NYS Board of Elections Assembly Elections Returns Nov. 8, 2016" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-08-26.
- "Byrne and Gashi Vie for State Assembly Seat". TAPinto. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
- "Home Page - New York State Board of Elections". www.elections.ny.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
- LWV-PC General Elections Candidate Forum 10/22/2018, retrieved 2019-09-28
- "State Assembly Candidate: Kevin Byrne". TAPinto. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "New York State Assembly | Bill Search and Legislative Information". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "GASHI, VEDAT - FollowTheMoney.org". www.followthemoney.org. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- "BYRNE, KEVIN M - FollowTheMoney.org". www.followthemoney.org. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
- "Byrne Defeats Gashi in 94th Assembly District". TAPinto. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
External links
- New York State Assemblyman Kevin M. Byrne official site
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded bySteve Katz | New York Assembly, 94th District 2017–present |
Incumbent |
