page_title: Joseph Morelle
section_title: State legislature
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Morelle / Political career / State legislature
caption_attribution_description: English: "Garth Fagan, NYS Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, NYS Senator James Alesi, and Nazareth College President Daan Braveman."
context_page_description: Joseph D. Morelle is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 25th congressional district since 2018. A Democrat, he was formerly a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 136th Assembly District, which includes eastern portions of the City of Rochester and the Monroe County suburbs of Irondequoit and Brighton. Speaker Sheldon Silver appointed him as Majority Leader of the New York State Assembly in January 2013 and Morelle served as Acting Speaker in the Speaker's absence. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives for New York's 25th congressional district in November 2018 following the death of longtime Congresswoman Louise Slaughter.
context_section_description: Morelle was first elected to the State Assembly in 1990. He ran uncontested in the November 2008 general election and won the November 2010 general election with 61 percent of the vote.
  During his tenure in the State Legislature, among the more than 200 laws authored by Morelle are major reforms to the workers compensation system, laws to require carbon monoxide detectors in one- and two-family homes, toughen regulations governing charitable organizations, protect the elderly and infirm who live in nursing homes or receive home based health care, and raise senior citizens' real property tax exemption. Morelle sponsored bills to exempt veterans from certain state licensing fees, protect their gravesites, and assist them with regard to the civil service application process.
  In January 2001, Morelle was appointed the Chairman of the Assembly Standing Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development.  He worked with area leaders to develop Rochester as a center for tourism and the arts in Western New York.
  In addition to the Tourism Committee, Morelle's standing committee assignments included Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry; Higher Education; Local Governments; and Libraries and Education Technology. At his request, the Speaker created the Subcommittee on Manufacturing in order to give New York's manufacturing sector a greater voice in state government.
  In 2005, Morelle issued a report, "Creating a State of Innovation: Unleashing The Power of New York's Entrepreneurial Economy," detailing New York's economic decline, particularly in Upstate, and offering numerous policy recommendations to reverse this years-long trend.
  In 2005, Morelle was elected chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, and held this position until 2014.
caption: In 2009 with Garth Fagan, James Alesi, and Nazareth College president Daan Braveman
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