Robin Schimminger (born September 17, 1947) is an American politician from the state of New York. A Democrat, Schimminger represented District 140 in 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 Ass ...

from 1977 to 2020.

Early life and education

Schimminger was born in

North Tonawanda, New York North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 31,568 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after Tonawanda Creek, its south b ...

and resides in

Kenmore, New York Kenmore is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,423 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. Kenmore is in the south part of the town of Tonawanda, and together with t ...

. He is a graduate of

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master' ...

and the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in ...

Career

First elected to the Assembly in 1976, Schimminger previously served as a member of the Erie County Legislature for two terms. During his tenure in the Erie County Legislature, he chaired the Public Health Committee. Schimminger was elected to the Assembly 22 times. As of 2019, Schimminger's district (Assembly District 140) included parts of North Buffalo, the Town of Tonawanda, the City of Tonawanda, and part of North Tonawanda. In 1985, after having served for four years as chairman of the Assembly Subcommittee on Small Business, he was named as chairman of the newly-created Assembly Standing Committee on Small Business. He has also served on the Ways and Means, Codes and Health Committees. Schimminger was a longtime chair of the Assembly Economic Development Committee, and was a frequent critic of the economic development policies of New York Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

. Some signature pieces of legislation authored or sponsored by Schimminger include the

Equal Access to Justice Act In the United States of America, the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) authorizes the payment of attorney's fees to a prevailing party in an action against the United States absent a showing by the government that its position in the underlying lit ...

, Omnibus Procurement Act and the Linked Deposit Program. A Democrat, Schimminger is known for working across party lines. In 2019, the ''

Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by ...

'' reported that "for about a quarter century, Schimminger ran with Conservative Party backing along a 'moderate Democrat' path. The last Western New York Democratic legislator to run on the Conservative line, he remains one of the few Assembly Democrats who opposes abortion and same-sex marriage". Schimminger announced on November 19, 2019 that he would not seek re-election in 2020. At the time of his announcement, he was the dean of the Western New York delegation in the Assembly.

References

External links

New York State Assembly Member WebsiteProject Vote Smart: Interest Group Ratings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schimminger, Robin 1947 births Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Canisius University alumni People from North Tonawanda, New York People from Kenmore, New York 21st-century American politicians