New York’s financial system has all the time been formed by energy. In a single period, it got here from labor unions and manufacturing unit flooring. In one other, from buying and selling desks and company towers. However as we speak, as inequality deepens and public belief wears skinny, we’re confronted with a primary query: who’s the financial system for?
For greater than 20 years within the State Senate, I’ve tried to reply that query by means of laws, oversight, and finances negotiations. I symbolize a Brooklyn district the place working households make the town run, however the place they’re too usually shut out of the advantages of development. This rigidity—between the worth produced by on a regular basis New Yorkers and the rewards concentrated elsewhere—has solely grown extra stark.
When the beneficial properties of our financial system are disproportionately captured by a small group of corporations and traders, and when our public {dollars} reinforce that sample, now we have a accountability to behave.
Public funding isn’t a impartial train. It displays a set of priorities. We subsidize stadiums whereas subway stations crumble. We grant tax abatements to luxurious developments whereas small landlords battle to keep up primary infrastructure. We permit metropolis and state contracts to cycle by means of the identical company distributors whereas Black- and Latino-owned companies are instructed to attend their flip.
A lot of my work in Albany has targeted on shifting these priorities. I’ve superior laws to strengthen entry to capital for minority- and women-owned companies. I’ve sponsored payments to enhance how the state tracks and enforces fairness in contracting. I’ve pushed for power coverage that doesn’t simply scale back emissions, however lowers prices for working-class households. The state’s local weather targets imply little if households in East Flatbush or the South Bronx are left paying extra for much less dependable service.
In 2023, I helped lead efforts to broaden group photo voltaic packages, permitting lower-income households to learn immediately from the power transition. I’ve labored on inexperienced jobs coaching packages that put together younger folks for careers in infrastructure, expertise, and the trades—not simply levels that include debt.
However even these wins really feel incomplete when measured in opposition to the scale of the issue. Small companies, particularly in communities of shade, nonetheless face steep boundaries to credit score and procurement. Public housing continues to deteriorate whereas capital funds stay tied up in paperwork. Our pension funds—huge as they’re—stay tethered to underperforming or politically poisonous investments, as if no different exists.
That’s why I joined latest requires the State Comptroller to divest public pension {dollars} from Tesla. The difficulty is not only inventory volatility or Elon Musk’s conduct. It’s whether or not the general public sector ought to reward firms that defy labor norms, undercut sustainability targets, and overtly assault democratic values. Our investments should align with our ethics—and replicate a dedication to long-term worth over short-term hype.
This precept extends past anybody firm. We’d like clearer requirements for the place our public funds go. Meaning extra sturdy environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. It means transparency round fund managers, consultants, and charges. It means actively searching for investments that construct housing, enhance broadband entry, broaden little one care, and create jobs within the neighborhoods that want them most.
Funds justice isn’t a slogan. It’s a framework. And it calls for we glance not simply at how a lot we spend, however who advantages.
As Chair of the Senate Vitality Committee, I’ve seen how rapidly state companies and personal utilities transfer when there may be stress from capital markets—and the way slowly they transfer when accountability is just measured in hearings and audits. The general public sector should be taught to suppose with the urgency of personal trade, however with values that serve the general public good.
We will do that. We will modernize procurement, spend money on inexperienced infrastructure, and associate with mission-driven lenders and group growth establishments. We will fund startups that rent domestically, and nonprofits that clear up issues at scale. We will make knowledge public and spending traceable. None of that is radical. It’s overdue.
Too usually, New York’s working class is handled as an afterthought—important throughout crises, expendable in restoration. A simply financial system flips that script. It acknowledges that dignity isn’t a spinoff of revenue. It’s the place to begin.
That is the work I’ve tried to do all through my profession. Not from the rostrum, however from finances tables, committee rooms, and web site visits. Shifting from Wall Road to Major Road isn’t about punishing success. It’s about guaranteeing that prosperity on this metropolis isn’t outlined by ZIP code or zoning map.
Town we would like—resilient, honest, and useful—received’t come from ready on the following tech growth. It’s going to come from investments that meet folks the place they’re, and insurance policies that comply with by means of.
We now have the instruments. What we want now could be the need.
State Senator Kevin Parker represents the twenty first District within the New York State Senate, the place he serves as Chair of the Vitality and Telecommunications Committee and leads efforts to advance financial and environmental fairness throughout the state.
