Adriano Espaillat: Legislative Record
State Assembly (1997 to 2010)
During his 14 years in the New York State Assembly, Espaillat focused on legislation affecting tenants, consumers, veterans, immigrants, and local businesses in his Upper Manhattan district . He passed laws encouraging the construction and preservation of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents and supported legislation granting low-income day care workers the right to organize and obtain health care . He sponsored measures to improve hospital translation services and authored the Notary Public Advertising Act, which aimed to prevent notaries from tricking immigrants with fraudulent legal services .
Espaillat established a higher education scholarship fund for families of victims of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens in November 2001 . Following a wave of assaults and murders targeting livery cab drivers in 2000, he passed legislation strengthening penalties for violent crimes against drivers and enabling their families to access New York State Crime Victims Board funding . He also championed legislation to stop businesses from selling alcohol to minors .
In 2007, Espaillat was a strong supporter of efforts to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, a position that drew criticism from national Republican and conservative voices . He took legal action against Con Edison after equipment failures caused a two-day blackout in Upper Manhattan in July 1999, resulting in financial damage to restaurants, bodegas, and other small businesses .
State Senate (2011 to 2016)
In the New York State Senate, Espaillat served as Ranking Member of the Housing, Construction, and Community Development Committee . He sponsored the Tenant Protection Act of 2015, which sought to limit post-vacancy rent increases, regulate landlord cost recoveries for improvements, and extend protections for project-based rental assistance in New York City . The bill remained in committee but aligned with broader legislative pushes that influenced state budget negotiations on housing . He voted in favor of marriage equality in 2011, a landmark vote in the state legislature .
Congressional Legislation (2017 to 2026)
Espaillat's legislative work in Congress spanned five terms from the 115th through the 119th Congress. During the 118th Congress alone, he introduced more than 50 bills and resolutions 13.
His signature legislation was the Ghost Guns Are Guns Act (H.R. 1454), which he introduced in every Congress beginning in 2017 14. The bill would classify firearm assembly kits as firearms under federal law, requiring them to be subject to background checks 15. The legislation gained nearly 90 cosponsors and endorsements from gun safety organizations including Brady, March for Our Lives, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence 16.
In 2017, his first bill in Congress sought to prevent a border wall from being built on federal lands, with 63 House Democrats signing on . He introduced the Make Our Government Safe Act, which would have amended the National Security Act of 1947 to prevent anyone who has made statements about destroying the government from serving on the National Security Council 18. He introduced the JARED Act to block security clearances for presidential family members who cannot pass a background check .
In 2023, he introduced a resolution (H.Res.28) condemning the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade . The same year, he introduced H.R. 1124 to abolish the federal death penalty . He also introduced legislation to authorize a commemorative coin honoring baseball Hall of Fame player Roberto Clemente, a bill he co-sponsored for reintroduction in 2025 .
His most significant legislative achievement was the Holcombe Rucker Park National Commemorative Site Act (H.R. 6852), which passed both the House and Senate during the 118th Congress 23. The bill federally enshrined Holcombe Rucker Park, an iconic basketball court in Harlem 24.
In the 119th Congress, Espaillat introduced several bills including the Governors' Right to Inspect Act of 2026 (H.R. 9271), the Earned Benefits Equality and Family Reunification Act (H.R. 9054), and the Subpoena Abuse Prevention Act (H.R. 8966) 25. He also introduced the Lowering American Energy Costs Act of 2025 (H.R. 6851) and the SPELL Act (H.R. 6711) .
Espaillat co-sponsored legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Harlem Hellfighters, an infantry regiment that mainly consisted of African Americans during World War I . The medal was awarded to the regiment in August 2021 .
Appropriations Work
Through his position on the House Appropriations Committee, Espaillat secured billions in federal funding for New York's 13th Congressional District, including critical investments in affordable housing, transportation, workforce development, health care, and community infrastructure 29. He helped secure billions of dollars in federal funding for the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway extension into East Harlem 30. He also delivered more than $14.1 million in Community Project Funding for the district in the fiscal year 2026 cycle 31. He championed an amendment adopted by the House Appropriations Committee to close the data broker loophole 32.
Voting Record
From January 2017 through June 2026, Espaillat missed 45 of 4,987 roll call votes, a rate of 0.9 percent, which was better than the median of 2.1 percent among the lifetime records of representatives serving at that time . He voted for the impeachment of President Donald Trump in December 2019 . He was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 .