State Sen. Jack Martins announced in April that he wouldnot seek re-electionto his sixth term, citing new income rules in the state Legislature.
The Republican has represented the 7th district, Nassau County’s North Shore, for almost eight years, with tenures from 2011 to 2017 and again since 2023. He served as Mineola’s mayor in the 2000s andran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Houseof Representatives against Tom Suozzi in 2016 and Nassau County executive in 2017.
He said a newly adopted law limiting outside income for state lawmakers contributes to his choice to leave office. Martins saidthe law, which is reported to limit outside income at about$35,000 annually, is creating a “professional political class,” and would limit his ability to meet family responsibilities.
Martins, whopractices commercial real estate lawwith Harris Beach Murtha Cullina PLLC, said he thinks the state Legislature should be made up of working citizens, not career politicians.
“We need a Legislature that is grounded in practicality and understands the needs and concerns of their local communities because they are part of it,” he said, adding that skills from outside experience contribute to legislative decisions. “If we remove that as part of the process, then we end up with a professional political class that relies more on politics and less on governance.”
One vote that he said he has reconsidered upon further reflection is his 2011 vote against the Marriage Equality Act, which upon passage made New York the sixth state to recognize same-sex marriage.
“I think if I had an opportunity to retake that vote, even a few months after the vote was taken, I probably would have reconsidered how I would have voted,” he said, “and certainly I think it’s something I would have changed.”
Martins said one of the most important pieces of legislation to him, and Long Island was one “protecting water and water quality, and making sure there were resources available for infrastructure and developing an island-wide program for monitoring the sole source aquifer.”
He also highlighted a 2016 bill that increased the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.
“These are important pieces having to do with not only life on Long Island, when it comes to the environment, water quality and our need to address those issues,” he said, “but also another priority of mine has always been labor and workforce development. And making sure that people had the proper resources, whether it’s paid family leave, or making sure they had a proper wage.”
Source: LI Press
