Senator Proposes Guaranteed Jobs, Healthcare, Education, and Retirement

This week, State Senator James Sanders introduced a constitutional amendmentguaranteeing every citizen of New York the right to a job that pays a living wage, quality health care, a complete education, affordable housing, a clean environment, and a secure retirement. The sponsor refers to this change in the constitution as an economic bill of rights and urges passage in the sponsor’s memorandum by arguing:

“On January 11, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a Second Bill of Rights, also known as an economic bill of rights. FDR said that the current political bill of rights was inadequate to ensure the equality of the pursuit of happiness. In June 2019, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders called for an updated version of FDR’s Second Bill of Rights. This bill amends the New York State Constitution to provide for an economic bill of rights for the citizens of the State of New York.”

An amendment to New York’s constitution requires passage in both houses by two separately elected legislatures (first passage in 2020 and second passage in 2021, for instance) and then would need to be ratified by the people via ballot proposition.