Emily Gallagher: Policy Positions
Housing and Tenants' Rights
Gallagher has made housing policy a central pillar of her legislative agenda. She is the chief Assembly sponsor of the Social Housing Development Authority bill, which would create a new state authority to build permanently affordable, publicly owned, union-built housing as an alternative to the private-developer model . She has framed the housing crisis as a systemic failure of the market-based approach, arguing that existing tax incentive programs like 485-x fail to produce genuinely affordable housing at the scale needed .
She supports universal rent control, increased state investment in NYCHA, and an end to incentivizing luxury development . In 2026, she joined colleagues pressing for the REST Act (Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants), which would allow local governments to declare housing emergencies and stabilize rents . She has regularly hosted tenant clinics and town halls on good cause eviction legislation in partnership with Senator Julia Salazar .
Climate and Energy
Gallagher is the lead Assembly sponsor of the All-Electric Buildings Act, the first state law in the nation to phase out fossil fuel hookups in new construction . She has positioned climate policy as inseparable from economic justice, arguing that all-electric buildings produce healthier indoor environments, lower utility costs, and generate green jobs .
She has been a vocal opponent of rollbacks to New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and has publicly criticized Governor Hochul for what she describes as backtracking on the state's climate commitments . She supported the Building Public Renewables Act and the Climate Action Council's scoping plan for emissions reductions .
Transportation and Street Safety
Gallagher has identified the McGuinness Boulevard redesign as one of the primary motivations for her initial run for office . She has spent over a decade advocating for safety improvements to the roadway, which she describes as a Robert Moses-era highway that was cut through a residential neighborhood in the 1950s . She supported the full road diet plan with parking-protected bike lanes and shortened pedestrian crossings, opposing the Adams administration's reversal of the redesign .
She has served on the Assembly Transportation Committee throughout her tenure and has advocated more broadly for investments in mass transit, congestion pricing, and pedestrian and cyclist safety .
Corporate Accountability and Anti-Corruption
Gallagher authored the LLC Transparency Act, requiring limited liability companies doing business in New York to disclose their beneficial owners . She framed the legislation as a tool for combating real estate speculation, campaign finance violations, tax avoidance, and financial crimes facilitated by anonymous shell companies .
She is a member of the Fight Corporate Monopolies task force and has described corporate price gouging as a driver of inflation . Her broader anti-corruption agenda includes opposition to the influence of lobbyists and corporate donors in Albany .
Immigration
Gallagher has been a vocal supporter of immigrant protections, backing the New York for All Act to prevent state and local resources from being used to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement . She has stated that she participated in demonstrations against ICE and was arrested protesting federal immigration enforcement . She has also advocated for the placement of asylum seekers in her community, pushing for a local community center to be used as a temporary shelter .
Criminal Justice
Gallagher has expressed support for a range of criminal justice reform measures, including the Second Look Act, the Earned Time Act, the Marvin Mayfield Act, and Elder Parole . She has stated her support for the framework outlined by sociologist Alex Vitale in opposition to punitive policing models . She has publicly distinguished between homelessness and crime, arguing that homelessness is a societal failure rather than a criminal matter .
Substance Use Disorder
In 2026, Gallagher introduced and debated the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Bill of Rights on the Assembly floor, legislation aimed at establishing protections for individuals in treatment programs .