Donna A. Lupardo (born August 17, 1954) is a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

representing the 123rd Assembly District, which includes the city of

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, as well as the towns of Vestal, New York and Union, New York. The villages of Johnson City, New York and Endicott, New York are contained within the Town of Union and also make up part of the district. Lupardo was born in Staten Island, New York. She earned a B.A. degree from

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

in 1976, and an M.A. degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

in 1984. Prior to her election to the Assembly she served in several capacities, including as a member of the Broome County Legislature from 1999 to 2000. She has also worked as a community mental health educator and was a faculty member at

from 1980 to 1990. She was first elected to the State Assembly in November 2004, defeating the incumbent Robert Warner in the 126th Assembly District. In November 2006, Lupardo was re-elected, defeating challenger Jay J. Dinga by a margin of almost 2 to 1. She ran uncontested in the November 2008

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

and won the November 2010 general election with 56 percent of the vote. After reapportionment, the boundaries to Lupardo's Assembly District remained unchanged, but the district number was changed from 126 to 123. She was elected to her fifth term in 2012, easily defeating Broome County Legislator Julie Lewis, 62% to 38%. Lupardo ran unopposed in 2018, as well as in 2014. In 2016, she defeated challenger Dorollo Nixon with nearly 59% percent of the vote. In 2019, Assemblywoman Lupardo was appointed as Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee. She previously served as Chair of the Committee on Aging, Chair of the Committee on Children and Families and Chair of the Legislative Commission on Science and Technology. She currently serves on the following committees: Higher Education, Economic Development, Rules, and Transportation. Her other leadership positions include Chair of the Legislative Women's Caucus, Co-Chair of the New York Legislative Aviation Caucus, and Past-President of the New York Conference of Italian-American State Legislators. Assemblywoman Lupardo's legislative accomplishments include authoring the State Green Building Construction Act and Contract Disclosure Act. She also helped pass the Work Zone Safety Act and Yield-Right-Away legislation designed to keep our roadways safer. Assemblywoman Lupardo has been a leader in the efforts to legalize and commercialize

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

in New York. In 2014, she authored legislation that was signed into law to allow research universities to partake in a pilot research program to grow industrial hemp. In 2016, the State Legislature passed her second industrial hemp bill, which was signed into law, permitting the transportation, processing, sale, and distribution of hemp grown under the research pilot program. Until the passage of the Agricultural Act of 2014, which allowed states to grow the crop in pilot research programs, the federal government banned hemp production. Lupardo lives in Endwell, New York with her husband, Scott J. Peters.

References

External links

New York Assembly Member Website

Donna Lupardo For New York State Assembly
Campaign Website
Law Sets Deadline for Chemical Contamination Alerts

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lupardo, Donna 1954 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Italian descent Binghamton University alumni Binghamton University faculty Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Broome County, New York People from Staten Island Wagner College alumni Women state legislators in New York (state) American women academics