John James Faso Jr. (born August 25, 1952) is an American politician and the U.S. Representative for New York's 19th congressional district since January 3, 2017. He served as minority leader of the New York State Assembly from 1998 until 2002, representing the 102nd district from 1987 until 2002. A Republican, he gave up his seat in the Assembly to run for New York State Comptroller in 2002, losing to Alan Hevesi. In 2006, he ran for Governor of New York, and lost to Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer.
In 2016, he ran for U.S. Congress in New York's 19th congressional district. He was the endorsed Republican, Conservative, Independence, and Reform candidate. On November 8, 2016, Faso won the election to Congress for New York's 19th district, defeating Democratic challenger Zephyr Teachout.
Video John Faso
Early life, education, and early career
Faso is of Italian and Irish descent, the eldest of five siblings. He attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York and SUNY-Brockport. After college, Faso became a grants officer for Nassau County, New York. Faso graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1979. After law school, Faso took political jobs in Washington, D.C. while considering running for elective office in New York.
Maps John Faso
Career
In 1983, Faso moved to upstate New York, purposely choosing to live in a district where an Assembly seat would soon become open so that he could run. He was elected to the New York State Assembly for the first time in 1986.
Assembly tenure
Faso was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002. He received the 1997 Nelson A. Rockefeller College Award for distinguished public service. In 1987, Faso called Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision regarding abortion rights, a "black mark upon this country." In late 1994, Faso served on George Pataki's transition team, where he chaired the budget committee. He became head of the team that wrote Pataki's first budget as governor.
In 1995, Faso became Ranking Member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. He was the original sponsor of charter school legislation and was involved in the passage of Governor Pataki's proposal to create charter schools in New York State in 1998. He supported expanding the current cap on charter schools. Faso was elected Assembly Minority Leader in 1998.
2002 to 2016
In late 2002, Faso joined the firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips; he took a leave of absence to run for governor in 2006, then rejoined the firm.
From 2003 to 2006, Faso served as a member of the control board working to fix the financial and managerial issues with the City of Buffalo and the Buffalo City School District.
From 2012 to 2015, Faso worked as a public affairs consultant for the Constitution Pipeline Co., an energy company that was attempting to build a pipeline to carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York State. The pipeline was controversial because the pipeline would have transported gas extracted from hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Construction of the pipeline was ultimately blocked by the state.
2002 Comptroller campaign
Faso's work on the state budget fueled a run for New York Comptroller in 2002. Initially trailing Democrat Alan Hevesi (then-Comptroller of New York City) by a 20-point margin, Faso lost the election by a 50%-47% margin. Faso accused Hevesi of having mismanaged the city's pension funds. Hevesi was later jailed in a pay-to-play scheme involving New York's state pension fund. In 2010, Faso's law firm agreed to a five-year ban from appearing before the state's public pension funds and paid a $550,000 fine as part of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's pay-to-play investigation into public pension funds.
2006 gubernatorial campaign
In 2005, Faso announced his intention to run for governor. For the Republican nomination, Faso faced former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, former New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and Assemblyman Patrick Manning. Weld reportedly offered Faso the chance to join his ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor. Faso received the Conservative Party's endorsement while Weld received the Libertarian Party's nomination. After a weak showing at the state Republican convention, Weld announced his withdrawal from the race.
In June, the Republican State Convention voted to endorse Faso. Faso's running mate was former Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. Faso was opposed by Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer won with 69% of the vote, Faso received 29% of the vote.
2009 U.S. House campaign
After then-Representative Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to the U.S. Senate, a special election was called in 2009 to determine her successor in New York's 20th congressional district. Faso positioned himself against Senator Betty Little and Assemblyman Jim Tedisco in the Republican primary, but eventually withdrew after party support coalesced around Tedisco. Tedisco lost the election to Democrat Scott Murphy, who in turn, lost to Chris Gibson at the next election.
2016 U.S. House campaign
On September 14, 2015, Faso announced he would run for New York's 19th congressional district in the 2016 election. Republican Chris Gibson, the retiring incumbent, endorsed Faso. He won the Republican primary against Andrew Heaney, 67.5% to 32.5%. During the general election, Faso faced academic and political activist Zephyr Teachout. Faso defeated Teachout with 54.7% of the vote.
Congressional tenure
Faso was named to the House Budget and House Agriculture Committee as well as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he serves as Vice Chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Material Subcommittee.
As of January 2018, Faso had voted with his party in 87.7% of votes so far in the 115th United States Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 84.7% of votes.
Faso is a member of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership.
Health care
In January 2017, The Washington Post reported on a closed-door meeting in which Faso said that he had "no problem" with defunding Planned Parenthood, but urged his fellow Republicans not to do so as part of the proposed repeal of the ACA (Obamacare); Faso added that using Obamacare repeal legislation to defund Planned Parenthood would be "a gigantic political trap," "a political minefield," and a "grave mistake." In a later interview, Faso clarified that he "does not favor defunding Planned Parenthood" and that "if a separate up-or-down vote on Planned Parenthood funding came up in the House, he would vote for the status quo, effectively keeping the organization funded." In February 2017, Faso voted against a resolution that "reverse[d] an Obama Administration rule barring states from defunding Planned Parenthood." In March 2017, Faso voted to amend an Obamacare repeal bill to remove language that would have defunded Planned Parenthood for one year.
On May 4, 2017, Faso voted in favor of American Health Care Act, the House Republican bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); this legislation would have defunded Planned Parenthood for one year. He faced protests in his congressional district over his position on the AHCA.
Economy
Faso voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. "From the beginning, I wanted to support a tax reform plan that would increase economic growth, increase worker paychecks, incentivize small business investment and ensure New York families are better off," he stated after voting against the bill. Faso argued that the $10,000 state and local tax deduction would also deeply impact New York residents of all wealth levels.
Personal life
Faso is married to Mary Frances Faso; they have two children, Nicholas and Margaret. Faso is a Roman Catholic.
References
External links
- Campaign website
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Appearances on C-SPAN
Source of article : Wikipedia
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