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Candidates › NY-02 race › 2025–2026
Patrick Halpin
D Democratic nominee for U.S. House, NY-02
Has not served in Congress
- On the ballot
- On the general election ballotNov 3, 2026 · New York US House 2
- Where to vote
- Find your polling place (opens in a new tab) · More ways to vote
- Top priorities
- Fighting for Life That’s Affordable
- Housing that Works for Long Island
- 1. Fighting for a Life That's Affordable
- 2. Healthcare is a Right, Not a Privilege
- 4. Protecting Long Island's Environment
- Money
- $586.3K raised, $536.9K spent, $49.4K cash on hand (through Oct 14, 2026). Where it comes from
- Who gives
- 12% of individual money from donors at $200 or less · 79% from New York · largest committee giver DEMOCRACY SUMMER LEADERSHIP PAC, $2K
- Outside groups
- $10 supporting Halpin
14 priorities from halpinforcongress.com, in the order they are listed there. Every heading and the text under it is copied exactly, as one passage for each page it is from, and links to that place on the page; hover a source to see which passage it opens.
The biggest challenge facing Long Island isn't a lack of hard work—it's that the cost of living has gotten out of control. Families are paying more for groceries, housing, childcare, energy, and just about everything else, while too many paychecks haven't kept up. For young people, buying a first home can feel impossible. For seniors, staying in the communities they've called home for decades is becoming harder every year.
This didn't happen by accident. For too long, Washington has rewarded special interests instead of working families. Corporate consolidation has driven up prices, large companies have used inflation and tariffs to pad their profits, and politicians like Andrew Garbarino have supported policies that make life more expensive instead of more affordable.
I believe government should be on the side of working families. That means lowering everyday costs, expanding opportunities for people to live and work on Long Island, standing up to corporations that rig the system against consumers, and making sure our economy works for the people who earn a paycheck—not just those at the top.
Super Bowl Sunday shouldn’t feel like a luxury event. Wings. Chips. Guac. Working families are paying more—while billionaires party. We can do better.
Putting Working Families First ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordability-crisis at this heading)
For too long, Washington has worked for large corporations, billionaires and special interests instead of the people who actually make our communities run. I will fight to lower costs for Long Island families by:
- Lowering healthcare premiums and prescription drug costs by expanding Medicare and taking on pharmaceutical middlemen.
- Reducing childcare costs so families don't have to choose between raising children and building a career.
- Expanding housing opportunities for working families, young people, and seniors who want to stay in their communities.
- Lowering energy and utility bills by pursuing an all-of-the-above energy strategy that increases supply and lowers costs.
- Protecting Social Security and Medicare for the generations that earned them.
- Expand tax credits that support middle class families like the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which reward hard work, offset the cost of raising children, and actually saves the government money long-term.
Tariffs Are a National Sales Tax on Long Island Families ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordability-crisis at this heading)
I believe tariffs should be used strategically to address unfair trade practices — not as a blanket tax on American consumers. The reality is simple: when Washington imposes broad tariffs, Long Island families who pay some of the highest taxes in the nation get hit with yet another bill.
Tariffs raise the cost of groceries, appliances, cars, clothing, building materials, and everyday household goods. They make it more expensive to renovate a home, replace a refrigerator, or buy supplies for a small business.
At the same time, large corporations use tariffs as cover to raise prices even further. I will fight for trade policies that protect American workers and manufacturing without driving up costs for working families.
A System Rigged for the Industrial Food Complex ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordability-crisis at this heading)
South Shore families aren't imagining it — the system is tilted against us, especially when it comes to our food supply and groceries. Corporate consolidation has reduced competition and allowed large companies to increase prices while families have fewer choices. I will fight to take on these monopolies in Congress by:
- Cracking down on corporate price gouging and junk fees.
- Enforce antitrust laws and block corporate mergers in grocery retail and food processing that reduces competition and raises grocery prices.
- Support small businesses and farms that create jobs, strengthen local communities and build vibrant downtowns.
A Record of Delivering for Long Island ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordability-crisis at this heading)
I don’t need a briefing book to understand Long Island's challenges. I’ve lived them my whole life and worked on them for my entire career. I understand every inch of our district and how government decisions hit household budgets.
As Suffolk County Executive, I created the Long Island Housing Partnership to expand housing opportunities for working families and young people trying to stay in the communities where they grew up.
As Chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority, I helped protect Long Island's sold-source aquifer while maintaining some of the best drinking water quality standards in the nation.
The Contrast: Andrew Garbarino is costing you more ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordability-crisis at this heading)
Andrew Garbarino has supported policies that raise costs for Long Island families — including tariffs that function as hidden taxes on consumers and healthcare cuts that threaten coverage for tens of thousands of Long Islanders. He voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, yet this hypocrite is happy to claim credit for federally funded infrastructure projects that are rebuilding roads, bridges, and communities across the South Shore.
He points to the increase in the SALT deduction as tax relief for Long Islanders, but what he doesn't want you to know is that those provisions expire in less than three years while the tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations were made permanent. Garbarino has put out press releases about Housing Affordability. But this is a serious issue that won’t get solved by press releases. It gets solved by planning, compromise, and follow-through, all of which are lacking in our sitting Congressman.
Meanwhile, grocery prices continue to rise, families continue to feel pain at the gas pump, housing costs keep climbing, and for too many Long Islanders the American Dream feels further out of reach than ever before.
I believe government should be focused on making life more affordable for working families — not protecting billionaires and special interests while hard working families fall further behind.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/affordability-crisis
Long Island is exporting the one thing we can't afford to lose: our best and brightest. Too many young adults who grew up here can't afford to stay, and too many seniors can't find a place to downsize without leaving the communities they love. Meanwhile, businesses struggle to recruit workers because teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters, tradespeople, and young professionals simply can't afford to live where they work.
I believe we can create more housing opportunities without sacrificing the character of our neighborhoods. We don't have to choose between protecting our communities and giving the next generation a chance to build a life here. We can do both by planning smarter, listening to residents, and building where it makes sense.
My Record on Housing ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordable-housing at this heading)
This isn't theoretical for me. Throughout my career I've sat with residents, business owners, environmental advocates, planners, and developers to make the difficult decisions that shape our communities.
As Chairman of the Town Planning Board, I've worked to transform underused commercial properties into productive housing, required environmental reviews and infrastructure improvements, and supported scaling projects back when residents raised legitimate concerns. Good planning isn't about saying yes to every project—or no to every project. It's about getting it right.
I've learned that the best projects are the ones that improve a community, respect its character, and earn the public's trust.
Build Where it Makes Sense ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordable-housing at this heading)
Long Island doesn't need reckless overdevelopment. It needs smarter re-development. That means focusing housing near existing jobs, transit, shopping, and infrastructure instead of forcing growth into established residential neighborhoods. It means redeveloping vacant shopping centers, obsolete office parks, empty parking lots, and aging commercial corridors instead of allowing them to become more warehouses that generate truck traffic day and night.
The Route 110 corridor in East Farmingdale is a good example of how planning should work. An earlier proposal for roughly 2,700 housing units generated significant community concern. The Town listened, reduced the project to approximately 1,400, lowered building heights, respected airport safety limitations, and strengthened community protections. That's what responsible planning looks like: listening to residents, making changes, and finding a better solution. The goal was never to stop growth—it was to make sure growth worked for the community. That's the difference between planning and politics.
Housing Starts with Good Planning ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordable-housing at this heading)
Building more housing is only part of the solution. If we want housing to be more affordable, we also have to lower the cost of building it responsibly. That starts with infrastructure. Communities need the roads, sewers, utilities, and public investments that allow housing to be built where it belongs. Here on the South Shore, investments like the Southwest Sewer District didn't just help clean up the Great South Bay—they created the infrastructure that made responsible housing possible in places that could support it.
The federal government has an important role to play—not by telling Long Island where to build, but by giving local communities the tools to succeed. I'll fight for federal investments that help communities modernize sewer systems, improve transportation, upgrade water infrastructure, and prepare sites for responsible housing development. That's how Washington can be a partner instead of getting in the way.
I've also seen how predictable tax policy can make housing more affordable. As Chairman of the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency, I worked with projects that used phased-in property tax agreements to encourage investment while keeping long-term costs manageable for homeowners and renters alike. When communities provide certainty, responsible developers are more willing to invest, financing becomes more affordable, and projects are more likely to succeed.
The Policies I'll Fight For ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordable-housing at this heading)
- Expanding housing opportunities for young adults, working families, and seniors.
- Encouraging mixed-use development near transit, downtowns, jobs, and existing infrastructure.
- Providing federal support for sewer, transportation, and water infrastructure that makes responsible housing possible.
- Helping communities redevelop vacant shopping centers, obsolete office parks, and underused commercial property instead of allowing more Amazon warehouse sprawl.
- Supporting workforce housing for teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters, healthcare workers, and other essential workers who should be able to live in the communities they serve.
- Helping first-time homebuyers overcome today's affordability challenges through responsible federal homeownership programs.
- Preserving local decision-making through meaningful public input, environmental review, and smart planning—not one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington.
- Protecting housing affordability by preventing Wall Street investment firms from buying up homes and pricing working families out of the single-family housing market.
And What I'll Fight Against ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordable-housing at this heading)
- I oppose one-size-fits-all housing mandates from Washington or Albany that ignore local communities.
- I oppose reckless overdevelopment that overwhelms neighborhoods, schools, roads, and infrastructure.
- I oppose warehouse sprawl, including the new Amazon facility in Holbrook that increases truck traffic, harms our environment, and reduces quality of life.
- And I oppose politicians who talk about the housing crisis but never do the hard work of bringing communities together to solve it.
The Contrast: Andrew Garbarino's Limp Approach ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/affordable-housing at this heading)
Andrew Garbarino has supported legislation intended to encourage accessory dwelling units, and every good idea deserves consideration — But Long Island's housing challenges won't be solved by a single bill in Washington. They require thoughtful planning, infrastructure investments, local partnerships, and leaders who have actually done this work. That's the experience I'll bring to Congress.
Housing gets built when government works with local communities, invests in infrastructure, protects the environment, and earns the trust of residents. That's the work I've done throughout my career, and it's the approach I'll bring to Congress.
Long Island doesn't need more political slogans or press releases. It needs hard work and thoughtful planning that keeps our young people here, allows seniors to stay close to their families, and preserves the communities that make this such a special place to call home.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/affordable-housing
It shouldn't be this hard to build a life on Long Island. Every day I meet working families who are doing everything right, but still feel like they're falling behind. Housing costs too much, groceries are more expensive than ever, childcare is out of reach for too many families, and everyday bills keep going up while paychecks struggle to keep pace. Too many young people can't afford to stay here, and too many seniors are being forced to leave the communities they helped build.
I believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to build a good life right here on Long Island. In Congress, I'll fight to make everyday life more affordable by expanding housing opportunities for working families, standing up to corporate price gouging and monopolies that drive up prices, and putting working families ahead of billionaires and special interests.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/building-a-better-long-island
Healthcare shouldn't depend on your ZIP code, your job, or your bank account. Too many Long Island families are paying more every year for insurance, prescription drugs, and medical care while giant healthcare corporations make record profits. Andrew Garbarino promised to protect Medicaid and then turned around and voted to gut New Yorkers Healthcare and Hospitals which will result in over 1.5 million New Yorkers losing healthcare coverage and over 13 Billion in cuts this year alone.
The United States has the most innovative healthcare system in the world—but it's also the most expensive. We don't need to copy another country. We do need to be humble enough to learn from what's working elsewhere and smart enough to adapt those ideas here.
I support building toward universal Medicare coverage in a way that protects the coverage people already have, lowers prescription drug prices, breaks up healthcare monopolies that drive up costs, and reverses the healthcare cuts that threaten Long Island families, hospitals, and community health centers. My approach is simple: put patients ahead of corporate profits, make healthcare more affordable, and ensure no family has to choose between getting the care they need and paying the bills.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/building-a-better-long-island
Long Island's environment isn't just something we enjoy—it's what makes this a great place to live. Our drinking water, beaches, bays, parks, and open spaces are part of who we are, and protecting them means protecting our health, our economy, and our future. I've spent my career fighting to safeguard our sole-source aquifer, hold polluters accountable, preserve open space, and restore the Great South Bay. In Congress, I'll continue fighting to make polluters pay, protect clean water and clean air, strengthen climate resilience, and keep Long Island healthy for generations to come.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/building-a-better-long-island
Washington should work for the American people—not billionaires, corporate PACs, lobbyists, and special interests. I believe elected officials should earn the public's trust through transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership, not by selling access or putting powerful donors ahead of the families they represent. That's why I’m refusing corporate PAC money, I support banning congressional stock trading, and will fight to restore integrity to Congress by ending pay-to-play politics, strengthening ethics laws, and making government accountable to the people of Long Island.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/building-a-better-long-island
For generations, Americans have worked hard, paid into Social Security and Medicare every paycheck, and planned their retirement around one simple promise: if you play by the rules, those benefits will be there when you need them. Today, that promise is at risk. If Congress continues to do nothing, Social Security's retirement trust fund is projected to become insolvent in 2032. Under current law, that would trigger huge benefit cuts of more than 22 percent for millions of retirees—even though they've spent a lifetime paying into the system. That's unacceptable. And what’s even worse is that Speaker Mike Johnson and Congressional Republicans have talked openly about privatizing Social Security and Medicare.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/building-a-better-long-island
Keeping our communities safe starts with strong leadership, support for law enforcement, and an immigration system that is secure, orderly, and fair. As Suffolk County Executive, I worked side-by-side with the Suffolk County Police Department to strengthen public safety, negotiate a long-overdue police contract, improve officer training and equipment, protect victims of domestic violence, and reclaim neighborhoods from crime. In Congress, I'll fight to support our police, secure our borders, combat fentanyl and human trafficking, and fix our broken immigration system with common-sense solutions that keep Long Island families safe while upholding the values that has made America a shining beacon of hope and prosperity.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/building-a-better-long-island
Andrew Garbarino and many of his colleagues in D.C. have lost sight of who they work for: the American People. Instead of representing the people of the South Shore, Garbarino has waded deep into the corruption-filled swamp, bending his knee to special interests that hurt Long Island.
Washington is broken because too many politicians spend more time answering to lobbyists, corporate PACs, billionaires and special interests than the people who elected them. That drives up costs, weakens accountability, and leaves Long Island families paying the price.
I believe public office is a public trust. Congress should be focused on lowering costs, strengthening oversight, and solving problems—not helping powerful interests gain influence behind closed doors.
Your Tax Dollars are Being Used for Washington Corruption ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/dc-corruption at this heading)
Washington insiders keep finding new ways to reward themselves while hardworking Americans pay the bill. Convicted insiders. Pardons for cronies. Secret deals. Zero oversight. And while it happens, Congressman Andrew Garbarino stays silent.
My Record of Integrity ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/dc-corruption at this heading)
Throughout more than four decades of public service, I’ve built a reputation for transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership.
- I served as Chair of the New York State Assembly Ethics Committee.
- Required strong ethics standards and rigorous background reviews for appointments.
- Supported full financial disclosure to prevent conflicts of interest.
- Delivered transparent leadership as Suffolk County Executive, State Assemblyman, County Legislator, and Chair of the Suffolk County Water Authority.
- Protected the drinking water of more than 1.2 million Suffolk County residents through independent, accountable public oversight.
My Plan to Clean Up Washington ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/dc-corruption at this heading)
- First, I’m not accepting any corporate PAC contributions, unlike my opponent who’s taken over huge amounts of Corporate PAC Money from companies who do business with the Department of Homeland Security.
- Banning Members of Congress from trading stocks with insider information and making it water-tight, not filled with loopholes like the watered-down bill Garbarino supports.
- Overturning Citizens United and reducing the influence of unlimited special-interest money in politics.
- Ending the revolving door between Congress, lobbying firms, and the industries they regulate.
- Strengthening ethics rules and financial disclosure requirements.
- I will commit to hold quarterly public town halls and maintain responsive constituent services so Long Islanders always have access to me, their representative - a stark contrast to my opponent.
- Protecting independent congressional oversight to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.
The Contrast with Garbarino's Pay-to-Play ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/dc-corruption at this heading)
When politicians become dependent on corporate money, the public has every right to question whose interests are being represented. Recent reporting has highlighted concerns that Representative Andrew Garbarino accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from corporate PACs affiliated with companies that received Department of Homeland Security contracts after he became Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Watchdog groups have argued that this creates the appearance of a "pay-to-play" system and raises legitimate questions about whether Congress can effectively oversee the very industries funding political campaigns.
Andrew Garbarino ran for Congress for himself—not for the people he is supposed to represent. He has said he has "always wanted to be a congressman" and appears to enjoy the perks and privileges that come with his office. Garbarino has embraced the swamp in Washington by:
- Held stock in, and accepted campaign contributions from, pharmaceutical companies that have been accused of defrauding consumers and taxpayers.
- Repeatedly voted against measures to protect the integrity of New York's elections.
- Repeatedly voted against the New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
- Profited from private legal work while serving in public office and opposed efforts to ban outside income for legislators.
Major corporate PAC money Garbarino has received: ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/dc-corruption at this heading)
- PRIVATE PRISON CONTRACTORS: Accepted more than tens of thousands of dollars from private prison contractors, including GEO Group and CoreCivic, companies that hold ICE detention contracts while serving on the committee responsible for overseeing the Department of Homeland Security.
- BIG PHARMA: Accepted at least $12,000 in campaign contributions from major pharmaceutical, health insurance, pharmacy benefit management, and healthcare companies, including CVS and Amgen, while Long Island families struggle with rising insurance premiums and prescription drug costs.
- ENVIRONMENT & FOSSIL FUELS: Accepted thousands of dollars from fossil fuel and energy industry PACs while Long Island communities face rising flood risks, worsening coastal erosion, and the growing costs of climate change.
- FINANCE: Accepted thousands of dollars from Wall Street firms and major banks, including BlackRock, Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bank, and U.S. Bancorp, while Long Island families face rising mortgage costs, unaffordable housing, high interest rates, and mounting household debt.
- DEFENSE: Accepted thousands of dollars from defense contractor PACs, including L3Harris and Lockheed Martin, while Long Island communities continue to fight for federal investments in infrastructure, flood protection, transportation, and affordable housing.
- AIRLINES & TRANSPORTATION: Accepted thousands of dollars from airline and transportation PACs, including Delta Air Lines and FedEx, while Long Island commuters continue to deal with transportation challenges, airport congestion, and rising travel costs.
- REAL ESTATE: Accepted campaign contributions from the National Association of Realtors while Long Island faces one of the nation's worst housing affordability crises, pricing young families out of the communities where they grew up.
- INSURANCE: Accepted campaign contributions from the insurance industry while Long Island homeowners continue to face rising homeowners' insurance premiums and increasing flood insurance costs driven by growing climate risks.
I believe Congress should never leave voters wondering whether campaign contributions influence official decisions. Public confidence depends on transparency, independence, and accountability.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/dc-corruption
Long Island's environment is one of our greatest assets—but it's also one of our greatest responsibilities. Everything we love about living here depends on protecting our natural resources. Clean air and clean water are essential to our health and quality of life. Our beautiful beaches and bays support local businesses and tourism. Our amazing parks allow people of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy green open spaces. Most importantly, every family on Long Island depends on the same sole-source aquifer for clean drinking water. Once it's contaminated, there is nowhere else to turn. Protecting our environment isn't just about conservation. It's about protecting public health, lowering costs for families, creating healthier communities, and preserving Long Island for the next generation.
Clean Water Is Personal to Me ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/environment at this heading)
Long Island families face some of the highest breast cancer rates in the country, and while no single cause explains that reality, we know exposure to toxic chemicals and contaminated groundwater is a serious public health concern that demands action. When chemical companies contaminate our drinking water, they shouldn't be allowed to leave taxpayers holding the bill. Companies that pollute our air and water should pay to clean up the damage they cause. That's the principle I've fought for throughout my career and it's the principle I'll bring to Congress.
My Record on the Enviornment ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/environment at this heading)
Protecting Long Island's environment isn't a campaign promise for me—it's been my life's work. As Suffolk County Executive, I established the Drinking Water Protection Program to preserve land over Long Island's aquifer recharge zones, preventing development that could threaten our drinking water supply for generations to come.
As Chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority, I helped lead one of the nation's largest public water systems, delivering safe drinking water to more than 1.2 million Suffolk County residents. I helped lead landmark litigation against the manufacturers of PFAS "forever chemicals," securing approximately $170 million to help remove these dangerous contaminants from our drinking water instead of taxpayers shouldering the cost.
I also helped secure tens of millions of dollars in state funding for water treatment infrastructure and to connect families with contaminated private wells to safe public water. During the COVID pandemic, we delayed water rate increases because families were already facing enough financial hardship.
Earlier in my career, as a member of the New York State Assembly, I authored New York's landmark Bottle Bill, dramatically increasing recycling and reducing litter across our state. I also chaired the Assembly Subcommittee on Long Island Marine Resources, helping protect our coastal environment and fisheries and I also co-sponsored a law to close polluting landfills.
Protecting Long Island's Future ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/environment at this heading)
Long Island is on the frontline of global warming and we need to carefully balance environmental protection and economic growth. I'll fight for federal investments that help restore the Great South Bay, strengthen coastal resilience, reduce flooding, modernize drinking water infrastructure, and protect our communities from stronger storms and rising seas. I'll also continue opposing projects that threaten our sole-source aquifer or place unacceptable burdens on Long Island's environment. Development should strengthen our communities—not put our drinking water or quality of life at risk.
The Policies I'll Fight For ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/environment at this heading)
- Make polluters—not taxpayers—pay to clean up contamination.
- Protect Long Island's sole-source aquifer and strengthen federal drinking water standards.
- Continue removing PFAS and other emerging contaminants from our water supply.
- Protect clean air by reducing harmful pollution, strengthening clean air standards, and holding major polluters accountable.
- Invest in modern water infrastructure and wastewater treatment.
- Restore the Great South Bay and protect our beaches, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems.
- Preserve open space and environmentally sensitive lands.
- Strengthen climate resilience to reduce flooding, protect homes, and lower long-term costs.
- Support responsible recycling, waste reduction, and a cleaner Long Island economy.
And What I'll Fight Against ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/environment at this heading)
- I oppose rolling back environmental protections that keep our air and water safe.
- I oppose forcing Long Island taxpayers to pay for pollution caused by large chemical companies.
- I oppose weakening the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gases and protect public health.
- And I oppose development that threatens our sole-source aquifer or sacrifices Long Island's environment for short-term profits.
The Contrast: Garbarino's Trashing our Environment ↗ (opens halpinforcongress.com/environment at this heading)
Andrew Garbarino has supported budgets that reduce funding for environmental protection while accepting campaign contributions from major corporate interests like Dow Chemical, even as Long Island communities continue to face the costs of contaminated groundwater, coastal flooding, and aging environmental infrastructure. Like Lee Zeldin, our former Congressman and now EPA Administrator who's destroying the EPA, Garbarino knows how sensitive the South Shore is to climate change. But his votes that benefit his corporate donors instead of his supposed home are leaving the Long Island out to dry.
I've spent my career protecting Long Island's water, preserving open space, restoring our environment, and holding polluters accountable. In Congress, I'll continue that fight—because protecting Long Island's environment means protecting our families, our economy, and the place we call home.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/environment
Long Island families are one serious diagnosis away from financial disaster, and instead of fixing that, Andrew Garbarino voted to make it worse with massive federal cuts to healthcare in New York. I’ve spent my career protecting essential services and fighting to make government work for working families on the South Shore. In Congress, I’ll fight to make healthcare and retirement security affordable again—not gut them to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and give more power to giant healthcare conglomerates.
Every American should have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. I believe we should give Americans the opportunity to buy into Medicare coverage—while making sure no one with strong private coverage they already like is forced to give it up.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/healthcare
Guarantee Healthcare for Every American — I support the goal of expanding Medicare, but I don't believe getting to universal healthcare means taking good coverage away from people who already have it. Union members have fought at the bargaining table for strong healthcare benefits, and millions of Americans have employer coverage they're happy with. We should let every American access Medicare and build a system that's so good and affordable that more families and employers choose it—not force people into it overnight. As we move toward universal Medicare coverage, people should continue to have the ability to purchase private supplemental insurance as is the norm in most industrialized nations.
Lowering the Cost of Healthcare and Prescription Drugs — Americans pay more for healthcare than people in any other industrialized nation, yet we don't get better health outcomes in return. That's because our healthcare system rewards monopoly power, middlemen, and corporate profits instead of patients. I believe we should learn from the best ideas that are working around the world and build an American healthcare system that delivers high-quality care at a price families can afford. The more Americans who participate in Medicare, the greater its purchasing power becomes. We should use that bargaining power to negotiate lower prices for American families—not protect pharmaceutical company profits.
- Learn from what works: Adopt proven ideas from other industrialized countries that reduce costs, improve access, and deliver better outcomes while building a healthcare system that reflects American values.
- Better drug prices, negotiated sooner: Don't make Medicare wait years before it can negotiate the price of expensive medications without competition.
- Stop pharmaceutical patent games: Crack down on patent thickets, product hopping, pay-for-delay agreements, and other strategies designed primarily to keep cheaper generics and biosimilars off the market.
- Take on PBMs and Prescription Drug Middlemen: The middlemen who negotiate prescription drug prices shouldn't make more money when your medicine gets more expensive.
Break the Healthcare Monopolies — America doesn't just have a healthcare coverage problem. We have a healthcare monopoly problem. No healthcare conglomerate should be able to own your insurance company, decide which drugs it will cover, own the middleman negotiating the price, steer you to the pharmacy it owns, buy your doctor's practice—and make money at every step.
- Remove conflicts of interest: Use stronger antitrust enforcement and structural separation where giant healthcare conglomerates use ownership across insurance, PBMs, pharmacies, and healthcare providers to eliminate competition, steer patients toward their own businesses, and drive up costs.
- Stop hospital and provider consolidation from driving up prices: Scrutinize hospital mergers and the acquisition of independent physician practices that reduce competition, while protecting community and safety-net hospitals that Long Islanders depend on.
- Protect independent doctors and pharmacies: Stop dominant healthcare corporations from using their market power to squeeze independent providers out of business, leaving patients with fewer choices and higher costs.
- Pay fairly for the care you actually receive: Expand appropriate site-neutral payments so patients and Medicare aren't charged substantially more for the same routine service simply because a hospital conglomerate bought the doctor's office or facility.
- Put patients and doctors back in charge: Crack down on abusive prior authorization, corporate steering, and other practices that allow insurance companies and vertically integrated healthcare corporations to put their financial interests ahead of a patient's care.
Reverse Garbarino's Healthcare Cuts — Andrew Garbarino promised to protect Medicaid and then voted for legislation that cut healthcare and put coverage at risk for Long Islanders. I will fight to reverse those cuts and protect the healthcare families already depend on.
- Reverse the Medicaid cuts: Restore federal Medicaid funding and protect coverage and access to care for seniors, people with disabilities, children, and working families who depend on the program.
- Restore and protect New York's Essential Plan: Restore the federal funding cuts that devastated New York's Essential Plan and protect affordable healthcare for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers whose coverage was put at risk.
- Make ACA coverage affordable again: Restore enhanced ACA premium tax credits so Long Island families buying their own insurance aren't hit with dramatically higher monthly premiums.
- Protect Long Island hospitals and community health centers: Reverse cuts that shift billions in costs onto New York's healthcare system, threatening hospitals, community health centers, providers, and the patients they serve.
- Stop pushing the cost of the uninsured onto everyone else: When people lose coverage, they don't stop getting sick. They end up seeking more expensive care in emergency rooms, leaving hospitals and insured families to absorb the cost. Protecting coverage helps keep costs down for everyone and keeps all our costs from going up.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · halpinforcongress.com/healthcare