Though chair of the state senate’s Agriculture Committee, local state senator Michelle Hinchey’s no one-trick pony, skilled only in one field of knowledge. In the Albany style, she serves on eleven other committees. And the legislation she gets passed, often with bipartisan sponsorship, is quite varied.
On Thanksgiving week, three bills Hinchey sponsored were signed into law. Melanie’s Law was named in remembrance of Melanie Chianese, a Dutchess County woman murdered by her mother’s ex-partner after being denied an order of protection. The law has now been changed to allow such orders to extend to relatives of victims of domestic violence.
A second bill establishes November 26 as the first statewide day of recognition for local heroine Sojourner Truth in New York State. Truth made history as the first Black woman to win a court case against a white man, securing her son’s freedom. The case was heard at the historic Ulster County Courthouse, where a plaque has now been erected in her honor.
The third Hinchey law allows regional planning councils to apply for federal and state grants, provides access to new funding for local governments to collaborate with neighboring municipalities, pooling resources to tackle regional projects. The legislation will boost economic development.
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