| Donna Lupardo represents the 123rd Assembly District which includes the City of Binghamton and the Towns of Vestal and Union. First elected in 2005, Assemblywoman Lupardo has several leadership positions in the Assembly including Chair of the Committee on Agriculture. She also Co-Chairs the NY Legislative Aviation Caucus and leads the Legislative Squadron of the NY Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. She serves on the following Assembly Committees- Economic Development, Higher Education, Rules, Steering and Transportation. Assemblywoman Lupardo previously served as Chair of the New York Legislative Women's Caucus, and President of the New York Conference of Italian-American State Legislators.
In 2020, Assemblywoman Lupardo was appointed Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and has led the effort to strengthen the state's food supply chain. She has prioritized small farms and producers, helping new and existing farmers with access to land and emerging markets through programs like Farmland for a New Generation, Farm to School, and Nourish NY. She was also instrumental to the growth of New York's craft beverage industry and continues to be a major champion.
In 2017, she became Chair of the Committee on Aging and focused her attention on the many services that older New Yorkers receive and depend on. She was successful in bringing more resources to home care services as a way to help people stay in their own homes, avoiding more expensive nursing home care.
In 2013, she became Chair of the Committee on Children and Families. During this time, she was an outspoken advocate for affordable childcare and afterschool programs; and is credited with making childcare a workforce development, and economic equity issue. She also helped expand the Empire State Anti-Poverty Initiative that focused on the high percentage of children living in poverty throughout the state.
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo is an outspoken advocate for the Southern Tier, championing the area's economic recovery. She has secured funding for many local nonprofit organizations, area schools and colleges, historic renovations, and infrastructure improvements. Some local examples include- Binghamton University's Innovative Technologies Complex, the Agricultural Development Center at Broome County Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the renovation of the historic Carnegie Library into the SUNY Broome Culinary Arts Center.
She is also an effective legislator, seeing many significant bills signed into law. Some examples include the Safe Drinking Water Schools Act, Parking Garage Inspection Standards, Work-Zone Safety Act, Nursing Training Act, and the STOP-DWI Surcharge Bill.
Through her years of service, Assemblywoman Lupardo has received numerous awards and recognitions. Some include the New York Aviation Management Association Presidents Award, Cornell Cooperative Extension Friend of the Extension, Association of Small City School Districts Leadership in Education Award; and Legislator of the Year for the NY Trucking Association, American Council of Engineering Companies, Nurses Association, Brewers Association, Conference of Italian American Legislators, the Association of Pupil Transportation and more.
Originally from Staten Island, Donna is a graduate of Wagner College. She moved to the Southern Tier in 1976 to attend graduate school at Binghamton University where she received a Master's degree. She stayed on as a Lecturer in the School of Education & Human Development for ten years before dedicating herself to community mental health education and public service.
She served on the Broome County Legislature from 1999 to 2000 and is the first woman to represent Broome County in the State Legislature. Donna lives in Endwell with her husband Scott J. Peters, a Professor in the Department of Global Development for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, along with their cat Zuzu. |