Nassau County Legislature | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Established | 1996 |
Preceded by | Nassau County Board of Supervisors |
Leadership | |
Presiding officer | Howard J. Kopel, Republican since January 2024 |
Deputy presiding officer | Thomas McKevitt, Republican since January 2024 |
Alternate Deputy presiding officer | John R. Ferretti Jr., Republican since January 2024 |
Minority caucus leader | Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, Democrat since November 2023 |
Structure | |
Seats | 19 |
Political groups |
|
Committees | See Standing committees |
Elections | |
First-past-the-post | |
Last election | November 7, 2023 |
Next election | November 4, 2025 |
Meeting place | |
Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building, Nassau County, New York | |
Website | |
The Nassau County Legislature is the lawmaking body of Nassau County, New York. The county is divided into 19 legislative districts, each represented by an elected legislator. It was formed in 1996 to succeed the Nassau County Board of Supervisors, which had been ruled unconstitutional.
The legislature serves as a check against the county executive. The legislature monitors the performance of county agencies and makes land use decisions as well as legislating on a variety of other issues. The county legislature also has sole responsibility for approving the county budget. All members can serve for as long as they want (there is no term limit), unless expelled. Legislators are elected every two years.
The presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature is called the presiding officer. The current presiding officer as of January 2024 is Howard J. Kopel, a Republican. [1] The presiding officer sets the agenda and presides at meetings of the legislature. The Republican Party holds a 12-to-7 majority over the Democratic Party.
District | Member | Party | Residence | Elected |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Scott Davis | Democratic | Rockville Centre | 2024 |
2 | Siela A. Bynoe | Democratic | Westbury | 2014 |
3 | Carrié Solages | Democratic | Lawrence | 2014 |
4 | Patrick Mullaney | Republican | Long Beach | 2024 |
5 | Seth Koslow | Democratic | Merrick | 2024 |
6 | Debra Mulé | Democratic | Freeport | 2017 |
7 | Howard J. Kopel | Republican | Lawrence | 2009 |
8 | John J. Giuffre | Republican | Stewart Manor | 2021 |
9 | Scott Strauss | Republican | Mineola | 2024 |
10 | Mazi Melesa Pilip | Republican [a] | Great Neck | 2021 |
11 | Delia DeRiggi-Whitton | Democratic | Glen Cove | 2012 |
12 | Michael Giangregorio | Republican | Merrick | 2015 |
13 | Thomas McKevitt | Republican | East Meadow | 2017 |
14 | William Gaylor III | Republican | Lynbrook | 2015 |
15 | John R. Ferretti Jr. | Republican | Levittown | 2017 |
16 | Arnold W. Drucker | Democratic | Plainview | 2016 |
17 | Rose Marie Walker | Republican | Hicksville | 2009 |
18 | Samantha Goetz | Republican | Locust Valley | 2017 |
19 | James D. Kennedy | Republican | Massapequa | 2015 |
Position | Name | Party | District |
---|---|---|---|
Presiding officer | Howard J. Kopel | Republican | 7 |
Alternate presiding officer | Thomas McKevitt | Republican | 13 |
Alternate deputy presiding officer | John R. Ferretti Jr. | Republican | 15 |
Minority caucus leader | Delia DeRiggi-Whitton | Democratic | 11 |
When the western portions of Queens County joined New York City in 1898, the remaining three towns were formed into Nassau County. The Nassau County Board of Supervisors was then established. It was a six-member board, and each member was a government official from the three towns in the county (Oyster Bay, Hempstead, and North Hempstead) and later the two cities in the county (Glen Cove and Long Beach). The Town of Hempstead had two voting members. The board used a weighted vote system based on the Banzhaf power index, [3] meaning the districts smaller in population had near-no representation on the board.
In 1993, federal district court Judge Arthur D. Spatt ruled the board of supervisors unconstitutional, citing its clear violation of the Equal Protection Clause for its failure to adhere to the one man, one vote policy, and failure to represent the minority population. [4] Over a year later, when board members had failed to provide a constitutional successor to the board, the judge said that if they kept ending up in a deadlock and could not choose a new plan, he would make one himself. The board finally chose a plan, creating the Nassau County Legislature, changing the legislative branch of the county for the first time since its establishment, and the first election for the legislature took place in November 1995. The historic first session began on January 1, 1996, with a Republican majority.
The plan adopted by the board of supervisors and written into the Nassau County Charter called for a nineteen-district legislature, with at least two black-majority districts. This new plan has had the legislature fluctuating from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority, and vice versa, contrary to the regularly Republican board of Supervisors. [5]
The legislature's salary was made $39,500 in the charter; however that document allows the legislature to raise or lower that salary by law. [6] In December 2015, legislators voted without much debate to raise their salary to $75,000 amidst a county financial crisis; this went into effect the next session in 2017. [7]
All issues introduced to the legislature is sent to one of the legislature's committees for review and consideration. Then, it is sent to the Rules Committee for further review and consideration. Once through the Rules Committee, it is sent to the floor for all members to discuss, debate, and vote on. If passed, it is sent to the desk of the county executive. If it is signed by the county executive, it is now a local law and is codified in either the Nassau County Administrative Code or the Miscellaneous Laws of Nassau County. All members of the public can attend any public meeting of the legislature, and can speak at floor meetings at a designated time.
All legislation intended to become local law is introduced as an issue on the floor. [8] If passed, it becomes local law and is codified either in the Nassau County Administrative Code or the Miscellaneous Laws of Nassau County. Ordinances and Resolutions are also passed the same way, but are not codified.
Harbor Hills is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located on the Great Neck Peninsula within the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 562 at the time of the 2020 census.
North Hills is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 5,464 at the time of the 2020 census.
Russell Gardens is a village on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 978 at the 2020 census.
Saddle Rock is a village on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 989 at the time of the 2020 census.
Saddle Rock Estates is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located on the Great Neck Peninsula within the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 428 at the time of the 2020 census.
The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census, which is the majority of Nassau County's population. It's the largest populated town in the United States.
The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, adopted in 1963. The primary purpose of the Legislature is to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws.
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single-member districts, the Senate is responsible, along with the Maryland House of Delegates, for passage of laws in Maryland, and for confirming executive appointments made by the Governor of Maryland.
The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican majorities since January 2011. With both houses combined, the legislature has 132 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. The legislature convenes at the state capitol in Madison.
Thomas Richard Suozzi is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 3rd congressional district since 2024 and previously from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the county executive of Nassau County on Long Island from 2002 to 2009, when he was unseated by Republican Ed Mangano. Before that, Suozzi served eight years as the mayor of Glen Cove in Nassau County.
The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 state representatives, each serving a two-year term, and 48 state senators, who serve four-year terms that are staggered so only half of the Oklahoma Senate districts are eligible in each election cycle. Legislators are elected directly by the people from single member districts of equal population. The Oklahoma Legislature meets annually in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.
Charles D. Lavine is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 13th district, which includes portions of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County. First elected in 2004, Lavine is a Democrat.
Joseph Nestor Mondello was an American politician and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee until September 2009 and as the chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee from 1983 to May 24, 2018.
Long Island, as a major region of New York State, has a significant impact on state and national politics. On the local level, the Republican Party is slightly more popular on Long Island.
Great Neck is a village in the town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 9,989 at the 2010 census.
Bruce Arthur Blakeman is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the 10th County Executive of Nassau County, New York. He was elected in the 2021 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Laura Curran. He previously served as a commissioner for the New York-New Jersey Port Authority as well as a Nassau County legislator and Hempstead town councilman.
The Nassau Interim Finance Authority is a New York State public-benefit corporation created to assist Nassau County, a suburban county adjacent to the city of New York on Long Island, emerge from a financial and debt crisis that began in the late 1990s. As of the start of 2022, NIFA, as it is known, was still in place and still supervising Nassau's finances under a control period that resumed in 2011 after a three-year hiatus.
John Mikulin is a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 17th district, which includes portions of the towns of Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County on Long Island. A Republican, Mikulin was first elected in a 2018 special election.
The 2024 New York's 3rd congressional district special election was held on February 13, 2024, to fill the vacant seat in New York's 3rd congressional district for the remainder of the 118th United States Congress. The seat became vacant after the expulsion of Republican George Santos on December 1, 2023. Considered a suburban swing seat, political analysts predicted a competitive and expensive election for both parties. The early voting period ran from February 3 to February 11, 2024.