SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Assembly member Paula Elaine Kay is set to be re-elected to the New York State Assembly, running unopposed. Kay, who was first elected in 2024, is running on her successes in Albany, which include bringing money back into the district through the state budget process and using her office to maintain services in Sullivan County. 

Kay sat down with the River Reporter to discuss her accomplishments and her re-election campaign. 

Kay said that she’s been in public service her “entire working life.” After graduating law school, Kay worked for the New York City Council as a member of their central staff. She was assigned to the committees on housing and buildings, general welfare and the speakers’ special commission on the homeless. In Sullivan County, she worked as a municipal attorney for Thompson and Fallsburg, and also provided legal counsel to fire districts, EMS companies and local nonprofit organizations. 

Kay also had extensive experience in the Assembly before she was elected. She worked for late Assembly Member Jake Gunther as his director of special projects and then for his successor Assembly Member Aileen Gunther as her legislative director.

When Aileen Gunther decided to retire from the Assembly, Kay decided it was her time to run for elected office. She was motivated by her experience working as council to local governments and as an advisor to elected officials.

“I decided it was time for me to step up,” Kay said. “I knew that I could do a very good job with the background I had for the people of the 100th district.”

Making good on priorities

Kay said that during her first campaign, some of her top priorities were housing, health care and child care. “Going into Albany, these were the issues that really drove me.” 

In the world of health care, Kay has worked with local hospitals and nonprofits to get them grants and to improve the state of health care in the county. She highlighted a grant her office gave to Garnet Health to revamp its OB/GYN offices. Garnet Health’s OB/GYN office opened shortly after Optum announced that OB/GYN practices at Crystal Run were closing, leaving a gap in coverage. Kay worked with  the hospital to make sure that women of Sullivan County were not without health care. “[It’s] critical to the health of women of all ages that we have vital healthcare for women,” Kay said.

Kay also spoke about her work on housing. 

“I’ve been saying this for years as a resident of Sullivan County and the 100th district, that we need more housing for the people who are here now,” she said. “A lot of the jobs are with not-for-profits or governmental agencies, and the pay scale can’t keep up with the rising cost of housing.”

Kay also singled out workforce housing, saying that it was of particular concern to Sullivan County. “The employers have… an issue of retaining employees because people either are commuting from very far away, or they can’t afford the housing here to live here and do the work.” 

To address housing concerns, Kay held housing roundtables with developers and with the county’s largest employers. The goal of these roundtables is to create more workforce housing to attract employees to jobs available in the county. She said these roundtables have been successful.“There are two fully executed contracts for workforce housing in Sullivan County, one in the Village of Monticello and one in the Town of Liberty. I’m really excited about these projects.”

Kay added that she is planning more of these roundtables, and hopes that she’ll be able to share some “great news” that comes out of them.

Kay also spoke about child care, which was a central issue the state legislature and the governor tackled this year. The state’s adopted budget for the 2027 fiscal year featured $4.5 billion to expand child care access, according to New York Focus. Kay said that means more money coming to the 100th district. “I’m really proud that as a member of the Assembly we were able to bring back more than double the amount of child care dollars up to the 100th district this year.” 

Kay qualified that by saying that the money is not enough. However, she said, the money that is brought back would allow families to make decisions about caregivers and if about if family members could enter the workforce or not. 

Kay said that these issues are complementary, and by addressing them she is improving the economy of the district. “If you don’t have all three, you don’t have a vital workforce,” Kay said.

Budgeting for success

In making good on her priorities, Kay has also proven herself to be adept at navigating the state’s budget process. Outside of previously mentioned grant funding, she got a $250,000 line item into the state budget for EverGreen Meadow Academy, a local nonprofit providing mental health services for at-risk girls in New York. She also got $100,000 for the Upper Delaware Council (UDC), which it was promised by New York at the inception of the council in 1988 but never received until now.

She said that her passion for these issues and her constituents also is a contributing factor for her success. She pointed at two factors for that success: first,  “I really care and I think that matters,” and second, “ “I understand what it takes to inform the decision makers in a way that doesn’t overload them with information, but really gets to the point of what’s needed, what’s necessary and why things are important.”

Kay also credited her success in navigating the budget to her background working with people in Albany and navigating state processes. 

“I have many years working collegially with people, ... in local, state and federal government,” Kay said. “Yes, it’s my first term, but I have a lot of experience in Albany. I have a lot of experience in negotiating. I have a lot of experience working with people.”

Kay pointed specifically to the UDC funding as a proud accomplishment, saying that “it was something that, to me, has been contractually obligated by New York State for the last 30-plus years and never happened until now. And that organization is vital to protect our natural resources… I think it’s really incredibly meaningful for all of Sullivan County to make sure that the UDC is able to function and staff and take care of the Delaware River.”

Kay encourages voter participation

In closing, Kay urged everyone to vote, saying that it’s important that people turn out and vote and the voting process “is part of what makes this country so special.”

“One of the tenets of our democracy is that we have the ability to elect the people who serve us,” she said. “I am a public servant. I work for my constituents. I think it’s really important that everyone exercise that right.”