Bruce Levine, a former Rockland County legislator and former municipal attorney, is running in the 98th assembly district, which covers parts of Orange and Rockland counties—including Deerpark, Mount Hope, and Goshen.
The Democratic candidate will face Republican incumbent Karl Brabenec in the Nov. 8 general election.
Levine spoke with The Epoch Times on Oct. 31. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The Epoch Times: You said you were motivated to have a career in public service at the age of 14. Can you tell us why?
Levine: When I was a kid, there were two things that bothered me. One was the Holocaust—why wasn’t anybody able to stop it? The other was the civil rights movement—why did it take so long? These are the things that ultimately motivated me to get into politics and government.
I spent my life trying to do things that would improve people’s lives. And I was lucky enough to be able to do it. To me, that is a gift from God.
The Epoch Times: You said that from all the work you have done, you are most proud of the means-tested jobs program in Rockland County. Can you tell us more about it?
Levine: The program was created during the 1990s when we had terrible crime going on. I was looking for something we could do to prevent crime. I knew we should do something—not too small to be meaningless, but also not too large to drive everybody nuts about spending and taxes.
So I worked with a Republican in the county government to create this program to hire young people, those who don’t have a lot of money or connections and whose parents might be working two or three jobs. We really wanted to go deep into the most vulnerable groups in society to make a lasting impact.
Thousands of kids have gone through the program that I created. It still exists today.
The Epoch Times: You see a difference between politics and government. What is it?
Levine: To me, government means getting things done. If I had asked for a million dollars for that jobs program, it never would have happened. If I had asked for $10,000, it would have served so few people that it would not really be moving the needle. You must find the right spot.
At the state level, if you happen to be in the majority party—whether it is Democrat or Republican—you can get a lot of things done on a big scale.
But even if you are in the minority party, you can still get some things done.
I told my opponent the first time I met him, “I know you are a minority, but you can use the power of your ideas to get things done. You just don’t have to take credit for it, and you can still get things done.”
The Epoch Times: What issues will you focus on, if elected?
Levine: I want to expand childcare options so we have more slots for kids from families where both parents have to work. One way to do it is to require businesses to reserve childcare space in their buildings if they want to get tax breaks from local economic development agencies.
I also want to upgrade existing low-income housing and build new affordable housing in the district. We can subsidize the new constructions with federal and state tax credits.
I am pro-moderate growth. I want our communities to have a variety of housing to meet the needs of different people—upper-income, middle-income, and low-income.
The Epoch Times: On hot-button issues, you hold drastically different views as a Democrat from your Republican opponent. Can you give an example?
Levine: He is an NRA supporter and is against most gun control measures, whereas I am for gun control.
