Helene Weinstein, the longest serving woman in the history of the Assembly, is no stranger to breaking barriers. As the first woman to chair the Assembly Judiciary Committee, she was, and continues to be, a tireless advocate for children and families; sponsoring legislation establishing permanent funding for domestic violence shelters, making discrimination in private clubs illegal, protecting crime victims with a rape shield extension law, and mandating seatbelts on school buses.
Most recently, Assemblywoman Weinstein was appointed as the first female Chair of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, overseeing all matters pertaining to the adoption of a State Budget and all legislation introduced in the Assembly that would impact spending or revenues at the State or local level.
Helene Weinstein sponsored New York State’s landmark Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act of 1994, which significantly changed the way police and courts deal with domestic violence, the Child Support Standards Act, and championed a law requiring judges to consider domestic violence when determining child custody and visitation cases.
In recent years Assemblywoman Weinstein has been instrumental in introducing legislation to create an address confidentiality program for victims of domestic violence who have left their home as a result of abuse and require confidentiality to protect them and their children. She has written a plethora of laws protecting children from sex offenders, shielded consumers from unfair banking and business practices, championed the landmark “zombie property” law, which improved communities by forcing lenders and banks to maintain properties vacant following foreclosures, and passed a law closing the loopholes that made raising rent and rent decontrol far too easy for landlords who priced families out of their homes.
The Assemblywoman previously chaired the Governmental Employees and Election Law Committees, Task Force on Women’s Issues and is a former chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus. Currently she is also a member of the Rules Committee.
She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from American University and received a Juris Doctor from New England School of Law. Ms. Weinstein is renowned for her advocacy work on behalf of veterans, crime victims, and the disabled and throughout her career has secured funding for various community, senior youth and school organizations that provide essential services to residents in the 41st Assembly District.
A lifelong Brooklynite, the Assemblywoman maintains an active community office and devotes much time to attending local events, overseeing district office programs, and keeping the constituency informed through her regular attendance at number of neighborhood civic meetings.
