A story of courage and survival, Luis is a legal immigrant and naturalized US Citizen, he knows from personal experience that the best way to achieve The American Dream is to hold a job or create a business. A long-time trusted advisor and strategic partner to senior business leaders, Luis is now an avid sports car racer, motorsports journalist and an Elder at First Presbyterian Church of Pittsford, NY, where he makes his home with his wife and three children.

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AFFORDABILITY

Over the last four years the impact of federal and state policy decisions in Albany has resulted in the worst inflation since the 1970’s. Every day we see stories in the news about people abandoning New York in droves, fleeing to other states that have lowered the tax burdens and are building more sustainable and affordable economies. According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, New York lost another 100,000+ more residents last year - the largest such loss of any state in the union.

Why are New Yorkers leaving? They are escaping soaring prices and lack of opportunity.

What can we do to turn it around? We need to reduce regulation and lower the tax burdens on our residents. We should provide targeted relief to folks who are struggling with taxes and regulations - but while working hard to make ends meet.

When elected I would support:

Cutting income taxes across the board to encourage investment and job creation.
An inflation reduction tax credit for working families, allowing them to write off the delta between their grocery bills in 2023 compared with the pre-pandemic costs in 2019.
Cutting 25% of your utility bill that goes to pay for state taxes, regulations, and fees.
Ending the Hollywood tax credit that sends a billion dollars to liberal elites and does nothing to help the average New Yorker
Ending all benefits for illegal aliens and redirecting that money to reducing taxes, funding public education and providing more tuition assistance for college expenses to hardworking Rochesterians.
Doubling the earned income tax credit to help the working poor.
Exploring ways to eliminate school taxes for those 65 and over who are living on fixed incomes.
Eliminating some optional services covered by Medicaid to lower the cost burden on the state and counties.
Increasing access to funds for subsidized childcare for parents who need to work.
Limiting State spending in order to restrain the growth and cost of government.

EDUCATION

A strong education system is the basis for a strong republic. Therefore, it is not only a social imperative to invest in educational success, but also a matter of national security. Education is the ladder up from poverty and the path to a prosperous middle-class life. As your next Senator, it will be a top priority to deliver the resources needed to make sure we invest in our children’s future.

In order to ensure our children get the best education possible, we must first be honest about where we stand today. The East side of Monroe County is home to some of the State’s best schools - and some of its worst. As a Pittsford resident, I remain impressed with the robust education our children receive. This can also be said for schools in surrounding suburban areas. It will be my goal to help those school districts continue to improve and strive for all be nationally ranked in the top 100.

Unfortunately, we have serious problems in the Rochester City Schools that we can no longer ignore. In the most recent statistics published by the New York State Department of Education, the Rochester City Schools ranked second TO LAST in our State in Math and English scores for grades three through eight. A review of school district rankings published each year by US News and World Report tells a similar story about Monroe County - most suburban schools are doing well, but the City School District ranks near the bottom.

As your Senator I will fight to make sure EVERY child in our District is provided a good education, and that we deploy state-of-the-art methods to address important educational needs. Specifically, I will:

Fight to maintain abundant state funding to support all of our schools.
Champion local control of curriculum and teacher evaluation.
Support innovation using Charter Schools in areas that would benefit from competition.
Support educational aid increases for private and religious schools for their work on common, non-religious curriculum and operational costs.
Strongly back state support for increased access to Advanced Placement and College level courses for those who qualify but lack either the availability of those courses or the resources to pay for them.
Work with enterprises and trade unions to expand access to career counseling and technical classes and apprenticeship training.
Support local teacher centers, so that these hardworking professionals continue to have access to development opportunities and resources.
Strongly support our community libraries in their core educational mission

CRIME

Our families are very concerned and weary of crime in our cities and neighborhoods. Poll after poll shows that voters have crime near the top of their concerns. A Siena college poll from July showed that a whopping 61% of New Yorkers were concerned that they could be a victim of crime. Thirty six percent of them have felt threatened over the past year by the behavior of a stranger. In recent months, three friends of mine have had their cars stolen – from their driveways!

But what are politicians in Albany - like my opponent – doing about the threats about crime? They are simply coddling criminals. Their destructive bail reform scheme has allowed repeat offenders to run free in our communities, perpetrating burglaries, brazen organized shoplifting heists and carjackings. Last month (March) for example a 19-year-old Shalom Matthews was arrested for using a knife to try to tie up and sexually assault an employee at St. John Fisher University. He was released without bail, so he went on to electronically stalk two women in Brighton. We have had more than enough. New York’s so-called Bail Reform (which my opponent voted to support) has proven to be a disaster for public safety and it must be repealed.

But even if we are successful - repealing bail reform is only the tip of the iceberg! When I am elected to the Senate, I pledge to reverse all the negative policies my opponent has supported and to support legislation that will restore Law and Order and respect for our police and first responders.

When elected, Senator Luis Martinez Will:

Repeal Bail Reform
Repeal the Clean Slate Act, which allows tenants and job seekers to conceal their criminal history.
Make it a felony to engage in rioting or inciting a riot.
Make it a hate crime to assault a police officer due to his or her profession.
Pass legislation to impose a first-degree murder charge on a dealer who sells someone a lethal dose of drugs.
Fight any and all attempts to defund or undermine our law enforcement agencies.
Repeal laws protecting perpetrators from the consequences of their criminal behavior and introduce laws that protect and embrace the rights of their victims.

ENERGY - ENVIRONMENT

In our current environment I think our use of natural resources calls for a commitment to conservation and support of reasonable environmental regulations. But we still need to continue to find ways to unlock our national untapped energy potential to support our modern economy. As a nation we have been energy self-sufficient before, and we can do it again. It is an important balancing act, and not one that my opponent has handled well. We cannot take an either-or approach to our energy future; we must take an all-of-the-above approach instead.

As a Christian, I am a strong believer in the idea that we the people have a significant role in being responsible stewards of our natural environment. As a Republican, I agree with Theodore Roosevelt who famously said: “I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.”

As your Senator I will not support any more radical environmental control policies that raise utility rates for working families, make it more expensive to gas up your car for work, or restrict consumer energy choices. However, I will continue to support renewable energy. The Key is a balanced, calculated approach understanding, measuring, and transparently revealing the cost/benefit consequences.

Specifically, I will support:

Reducing or eliminating state taxes and fees on our utility bills.
Providing tax credits and other subsidies to support voluntary renewable energy development.
Efforts to maintain and expand access to natural gas for all who want it.
Analysis of the cost and benefit of recent environmental policies like the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act .
Maintaining local zoning and planning control of all solar, wind or other energy development – always cognizant that home rules must be protected.
Increasing funding to the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to continue to invest appropriately in conservation efforts.
Continued funding to support clean water infrastructure and eliminate the use of lead pipes.
Drafting policies which protect communities from pollution and stop the expansion of upstate landfills to accommodate NYC garbage.

CONSTIUTIONAL FREEDOM

Our constitution and bill of rights makes us the envy of the world, but all too often arrogant politicians think they know better than the wise men and women who founded our nation. Our constitutional rights here in New York are now - and have been for some time - under unrelenting assault.

Whether it is the right of parents to decide what healthcare is best for their children, or what curriculum they should study in school, or whether it is the right to keep and bear arms, or even whom we can invite into the privacy of our home for a meal (as evidenced during COVID mandates), our state government is imperious.

As your Senator, I want you to know that my overall values are “erring on the side of truth and freedom.”

This is what I stand for to protect our constitutional rights:

New York has the most draconian, unconstitutional gun laws in the country. They do not make us safer. We do not need any more and we need to reverse many of them.
The SAFE Act, and other infringements on our freedoms should be repealed.
No child should be required to get a vaccine to attend school, and no citizen should be required to get one to work or attend events.
Only parents - not the government - should make health care and educational choices for their children.
The right to vote is perhaps our most sacred right, and it must be protected. I strongly support requiring US Citizenship and that a valid government identification be presented before casting a vote.
The right to life is an important moral bedrock for me. New York currently allows abortion until the final moments of pregnancy. It also provides taxpayer funds for women to get abortions in other states. When elected I will strongly oppose both.

IMMIGRATION

As someone who emigrated legally to the United States from a country with an oppressive communist regime, I understand why so many wish to come here to live the American Dream. However, they must follow our rules for immigration and apply to enter the United States. But the current administration has failed to enforce our laws. Now states like New York and regions like the Rochester metro area are forced to deal with the costly and dangerous consequences of welcoming and harboring illegal aliens.

While federal leaders have done nothing, state and local leaders have made New York a landing target for illegal aliens by adopting so-called “sanctuary” status. Those “sanctuary” orders prohibit illegal aliens from being:

Denied entry,
Detained, and
Deported.

These lawless policies reached a tragic and preventable result on February 22nd of this year when 22-year-old Laken Riley was brazenly murdered by an illegal alien who had been arrested by New York City law enforcement and subsequently released in 2023.

Our state leaders have made it emphatically clear that they will not do anything to reverse their illegal “sanctuary” policies. Their vision of solving the immigration crisis is to provide an increasing number of cash and welfare benefits to hundreds of thousands of people occupying our public and private places illegally. As State Senator, I will introduce much-needed legislative oversight into the crisis, and will:

Oppose any financial bailout of New York City or any other jurisdiction claiming “sanctuary” status for lawbreakers, or to offset the cost of their irresponsible sanctuary city policies, as proposed by Governor Hochul.
Support legislation to repeal former Governor Cuomo’s Greenlight Law that made it a Felony if a Law Enforcement Officer identifies illegal aliens or collaborates with Federal authorities to identify, apprehend and deport illegal aliens.
Support Laken’s Law requiring law enforcement agencies to notify Federal immigration authorities when arresting a non-citizen, ensuring that any migrants who commit crimes face the full weight of their actions and legal status.
Reject and forbid the Federal government’s continued illegal and subversive flights of illegal aliens from other nations to airports in the state of New York.
Support legislation that would make state aid and state grants to municipalities contingent on condition that they permanently repeal their “sanctuary” jurisdiction status.
Demand school districts that are not in “sanctuary” zones be made financially whole with funding for additional burdens placed upon them as a result of relocations and deportations originating out of New York City or from any other jurisdiction identifying as a “sanctuary” for lawbreakers.

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Contact

Friends of Luis Martinez

P.O. Box 242
Pittsford, NY 14534

Phone: (585) 766-9536
Email: LuisMartinezforNYSenate@gmail.com

Contact Luis

Republican and Conservative Senate Candidate for NYS Senate District 55 covering much of Monroe County including: Irondequoit, Webster, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Fairport, East Rochester & the eastern portion of the City of Rochester.