New York State Assembly
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(June 2019) |
From 1990 to 2000 Ramirez served as a New York State Assemblyman representing the 78th Assembly District in The Bronx. During his tenure as a legislator, Ramirez chaired several committees including the Subcommittee on Urban Health Care, the Administrative Regulations Review Commission (ARRC), the Social Services and the Real Property Tax Committee.
As Chair of the Subcommittee on Urban Health Care, Ramirez conducted groundbreaking hearings on the issue of discrimination in New York's health care system.
As Chair of the Administrative Regulations Review Commission (ARRC), Mr. Ramirez introduced regulatory reform legislation and conducted statewide public hearings on health and environmental issues and on the Executive Branch's attempts to restrict the right of the public to participate in the State rule making process.
As Chair of the Social Services Committee, Ramirez worked to protect the interests of New Yorkers participating in government assistance programs. Ramirez authored the Ramirez/March bill which was eventually adopted as budget language requiring welfare-to-work programs to provide welfare recipients enrolled in colleges with work-fare assignments on or near their campuses.
As the Chairman of the Real Property Tax Committee, Ramirez chaired an 11-member Task Force on the School Tax Relief (STAR) Program, resulting in the passage of nine bills aimed at expanding eligibility of the Program to primary homeowners.
Mr. Ramirez also introduced educational legislation to provide additional resources to Schools Under Registration Review (SURR). Ramirez, with the vision of creating hundreds of permanent private sector jobs, authored legislation creating five county-specific Industrial Development Agencies as well as the Bronx Development Corporation.
In 1998, Chief Judge Judith Kaye and Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman appointed Ramirez to the Committee to Promote Public Trust and Confidence in the Legal System to address public trust issues and develop a strategic plan to improve the justice system.
