Jessica Ramos: Voting and Legislative Record
Jessica Ramos's legislative record is built around her Labor Committee chairmanship, producing a substantial body of enacted legislation focused on wages, worker protections, and pandemic relief, alongside opposition to major development projects in her Queens district. This section examines her documented record, with citations to primary or strong secondary sources.
A note up front: Ramos's record of 52 enacted laws over four terms is unusually productive for a state legislator. Her most distinctive achievements are in labor law and pandemic-era worker support.
Minimum wage and inflation indexing
Ramos helped raise New York's minimum wage and, critically, index it to inflation, ensuring that workers' pay keeps pace with rising costs without requiring new legislation for each increase 1. This structural reform is among her most consequential achievements. It ensures ongoing wage growth.
Prevailing wage and wage-theft enforcement
Ramos authored and advanced prevailing-wage expansion and stronger enforcement against wage theft, protecting construction and service workers from employer abuses 1. These laws reflect her background in labor organizing and her committee's jurisdiction. They are core elements of her record.
The Excluded Workers Fund
During the pandemic, Ramos championed the $2.1 billion Excluded Workers Fund, which provided income support to undocumented workers who were left out of federal pandemic-relief programs 2,3. The fund was among the largest of its kind in the country and is widely cited as a signature achievement. It combined her labor and immigrant-advocacy priorities.
Stopping the LaGuardia Airtrain
Ramos was a leading opponent of the proposed LaGuardia Airtrain, a project she argued would not serve her community's transit needs, and she helped stop it 4. The opposition was a notable exercise of her influence on a major infrastructure decision affecting her district.
Opposition to the Willets Point casino
Ramos opposed the Willets Point casino proposal, a major real-estate and entertainment development in Queens 4. Her opposition aligned her with community groups concerned about the project's impact on the neighborhood. The stance is a significant local-policy position.
52 enacted laws
Ramos's campaign materials cite 52 laws passed during her tenure, spanning labor, immigration, housing, and community issues 4. The total reflects a productive legislative career across four terms. Specific bills beyond those detailed above were not individually catalogued in the research underlying this piece.
Voting profile
Ramos's voting record is consistently progressive, aligned with the Senate Democratic majority on labor, immigration, reproductive rights, and social-welfare issues 5. Her overall profile is that of a reliable progressive vote and an active, committee-driven legislator. Her voting record reflects her governing-progressive identity.
Assessing the record
Ramos's legislative record is that of a productive, labor-focused state senator who used her committee chairmanship to advance meaningful wage and worker-protection reforms and who championed pandemic relief for some of the state's most vulnerable workers. Her opposition to major Queens development projects added a district-specific dimension.
The honest summary is that Ramos built a substantive, results-oriented legislative record anchored by labor law, the Excluded Workers Fund, and local advocacy, winning praise from labor and progressive allies. Her 2026 primary loss to Gonzalez-Rojas came despite this record, suggesting other dynamics, including her 2025 mayoral campaign and Cuomo endorsement, shaped the outcome. Both her achievements and her political choices are part of the full picture.