The 189th New York State Legislature, consisting of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

and 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 ...

, met from January 9, 1991, to December 31, 1992, during the ninth and tenth years of

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

of 1938 and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to follow the

One man, one vote "One man, one vote" or "one vote, one value" is a slogan used to advocate for the principle of equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of democracy and political equality, especially with regard to electoral reforms like ...

rule, re-apportioned in 1982 by the Legislature, 61 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. Senate and Assembly districts consisted of approximately the same number of inhabitants, the area being apportioned contiguously without restrictions regarding county boundaries. At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Conservative Party, the Right to Life Party, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, the

New Alliance Party The New Alliance Party (NAP) was an American political party formed in New York City in 1979. Its immediate precursor was an umbrella organization known as the Labor Community Alliance for Change, whose member groups included the Coalition of Gr ...

, the Libertarian Party, and the Socialist Workers Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The 1990 New York state election was held on November 6. Governor

and Lieutenant Governor Stan Lundine were re-elected, both Democrats. The elections to the other two statewide elective offices resulted in the re-election of the two incumbent officeholders: a Republican Comptroller, and a Democratic Attorney General. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats 2,086,000; Republicans 866,000; Conservatives 828,000; Right to Life 138,000; Liberals 71,000; New Alliance 31,000; Libertarians 25,000; and Socialist Workers 13,000. 22 of the sitting 23 women members of the legislature—State Senators Mary B. Goodhue (Rep.), a lawyer of Mount Kisco; Nancy Larraine Hoffmann (Dem.), of

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

; Olga A. Méndez (Dem.), of

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

; Velmanette Montgomery (Dem.), of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

; Suzi Oppenheimer (Dem.), of

Mamaroneck Mamaroneck ( ), is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Villag ...

; and Ada L. Smith (Dem.), of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

; and Assemblywomen Barbara M. Clark (Dem.), of

;

Elizabeth Connelly Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Connelly (June 19, 1928 – May 25, 2006) was a politician from Staten Island, New York who represented the North Shore community from 1973 to 2000. She was the first woman to win elective office to any district encompassi ...

(Dem.), of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

; Geraldine L. Daniels (Dem.), of

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

; Gloria Davis (Dem.), of

; Eileen C. Dugan (Dem.), of

; Aurelia Greene (Dem.), of

; Earlene Hill Hooper (Dem.), of Hempstead; Rhoda S. Jacobs (Dem.), of

; Cynthia Jenkins (Dem.), a librarian of

; Helen M. Marshall (Dem.), a teacher and librarian of

; Nettie Mayersohn (Dem.), of

; Patricia McGee (Rep.), of Franklinville; Catherine Nolan (Dem.), of

;

Audrey Pheffer Audrey I. Pheffer (born August 13, 1941) is an American Democratic Party politician from New York. She is currently serving as Queens County Clerk. Previously, she represented District 23 in the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2011, which c ...

(Dem.), of

; Cecile D. Singer (Rep.), of

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

; and Helene Weinstein (Dem.), a lawyer of

—were re-elected. Nancy Calhoun (Rep.), of Blooming Grove; Joan Christensen (Dem.), of

; Vivian E. Cook (Dem.) of

; Deborah J. Glick (Dem.), of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

; Susan V. John (Dem.), of Rochester; and Frances T. Sullivan (Rep.), of Fulton; were also elected to the Assembly. The 1991 New York state election was held on November 5. Three vacancies in the Assembly were filled. Assemblywoman Helen M. Marshall was elected to the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

. On January 28, 1992, Joni A. Yoswein (Dem.), of

, was elected to fill a vacancy in the Assembly. Thus the 189th Legislature began and ended with 28 women members, setting a new record.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 214th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 9, 1991; and recessed indefinitely in the early morning of July 4. Mel Miller (Dem.) was re-elected Speaker of the Assembly. Ralph J. Marino (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the Senate. On December 13, 1991, Speaker Mel Miller was convicted of a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

, and thus vacated his seat in the Assembly. On December 16, 1991,

Saul Weprin Saul Weprin (August 5, 1927 – February 11, 1994) was an American attorney and politician. He was a United States Democratic Party, Democratic member from Queens County, New York, Queens County of the New York State Assembly, and served as its ...

(Dem.) was elected Speaker. The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 215th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 8, 1992; and recessed indefinitely on July 3. In June, the Legislature re-apportioned the legislative districts. On June 24, 1992, the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

approved the redrawn districts with one exception. On June 30, 1992, the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

also validated the new apportionment. The Legislature met again from July 28 to 30, 1992.''Albany Approves Fiscal Package for Suffolk and Jobs Bond Act''
by Sarah Lyall, in ''The New York Times'' on July 31, 1992

State Senate

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Joseph R. Holland, William J. Larkin Jr., Stephen M. Saland and William R. Sears changed from the Assembly to the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Secretary: Stephen F. Sloan

State Assembly

Assembly members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

: Francine Misasi

Notes

Sources

''The 1990 Elections: New York; The Legislature; G.O.P. Adds to Senate Majority While Democrats Keep Control of Assembly''
by Kevin Sack, in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' on November 7, 1990
Members of the New York State Assembly 1991
at

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life ...

library {{NYLegislatures 189 1991 establishments in New York (state) 1992 disestablishments in New York (state) 1991 in New York (state) 1992 in New York (state) 1991 U.S. legislative sessions 1992 U.S. legislative sessions