Paul Tonko

Paul David Tonko (born June 18, 1949) is the U.S. Representative from New York's 20th congressional district, a post he has held since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 21st for his first two terms, is located in the heart of the Capital District and includes Albany, Schenectady and Troy.

Tonko previously represented the 105th District in the New York Assembly from 1983 to 2007. Tonko was president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, from 2007 until his resignation on April 25, 2008. He soon after declared his candidacy for Congress and was first elected in 2008. Since January 2019, Tonko has been serving as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on the Environment and Climate Change.

Tonko is a lifelong resident of Amsterdam, New York, near Schenectady, and is of primarily Polish descent. He graduated from Amsterdam's Wilbur H. Lynch High School in 1967, and received a degree in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from Clarkson University in 1971.

After college, Tonko became active in politics and was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. He was a member of the board from 1976 to 1983, and the board's chairman from 1981 to 1983. Tonko was the youngest person in county history to be elected to the board of supervisors.

In January 1983, Assemblywoman Gail S. Shaffer resigned her 105th District seat to take office as Secretary of State of New York. Tonko was subsequently nominated by the Democratic and Liberal Parties to contest an April 12th special election for the seat against former Schoharie County Clerk Eugene Hallock, the Republican and Conservative nominee. Tonko defeated Hallock in a close race. Tonko was re-elected thirteen times, serving in the Assembly until 2007.

While in the Assembly, Tonko served as Chairman of the Assembly Energy Committee from 1992 until his departure from the Assembly in 2007. Tonko was also a member of standing committees on Agriculture, Transportation and Education, where he was the original sponsor and a chief proponent of the College Tuition Savings Program that was signed into law in 1997.

Tonko sponsored Timothy's Law, a 2006 law which requires health insurers to provide coverage for mental health treatment. Tonko was also a sponsor of the Northeast Dairy Compact, and the Chairman of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources,

Tonko resigned his Assembly seat in June 2007 to become President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Elections

2008

On April 25, 2008, Tonko stepped down from his position at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority after Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty announced his upcoming retirement from Congress. Tonko later became a candidate for Congress in New York State's 21st Congressional District. He won the Democratic congressional primary on September 9, 2008, defeating four other candidates.

In the November 4, 2008 general election, Tonko defeated Republican Schenectady County Legislator James Buhrmaster by a decisive margin. According to the Times Union, "Tonko's name recognition ... accomplishment in the Legislature, such as the passage of mental health parity legislation, and his record" contributed to his win. He was also helped by the district's heavy Democratic lean. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+9, it was the most Democratic district in the state outside of New York City and Western New York.

2010–present

In 2010, Tonko ran for re-election on the Democratic, Working Families and Independence Party lines. He was challenged by Republican and Conservative Party nominee Ted Danz, a former United States Navy Reservist and small business owner in the cooling and heating business. Congressional Quarterly rated the race as "Safe" for the incumbent party to keep the seat. Tonko raised almost $980,000, and spent almost $780,000 on his campaign; Danz raised about $44,000 and spent about $42,000 for his own campaign. The seat was rated by The New York Times as being "Solid Democratic" with "99.8%" to "100% chance" that Tonko would win the seat. The major issues in the 2010 race were Tonko's "yes" votes for the Health Care Bill, the Stimulus Package (ARRA), and the Energy Bill. The Albany Times Union endorsed Tonko in that race, citing "a way of thinking and speaking like the engineer that he once was" and his support of the economic stimulus bill and health care bills. Tonko won the general election on November 2, 2010, by a vote of 124,889 to 85,752.

After a redistricting process in which Tonko's district was renumbered as the 20th district, Tonko defeated Bob Dieterich in 2012, Jim Fischer in 2014, and Joe Vitollo in 2016 and 2018.

Tenure

Tonko was one of the 19 most liberal House members, according to the National Journal, for 2011.

When he entered Congress, Tonko said he wanted to focus on the issue he said he knows best – energy policy. He sponsored a bill to get $800 million research program in wind energy technologies, which would benefit GE in his district. He also wanted to create a research program to improve the efficiency of gas turbines used in power generation systems that convert heat into energy. In 2010, Tonko got a provision in a House-passed bill, following the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, to prevent future spills and help small businesses in spill research. In 2011, he sponsored an amendment seeking to protect the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate carbon emissions.

Tonko has contributed blog posts to the Huffington Post, with many sharply criticizing the Republican Party, including their "budget hypocrisy" and the threat they pose to Social Security. He praised the 2011 State of the Union address, saying: "the President set out a bold agenda for our nation, an agenda that will focus on growing our economy, growing jobs, and growing opportunity for the middle class". On numerous occasions, he has also warned of the threat that would allegedly be posed by the healthcare repeal to small businesses, to young people, and to seniors.

Tonko has also worked to raise awareness about the region's waterways, chiefly the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and the effects of recent flooding following Hurricane Irene. Seeking a comprehensive flood mitigation and economic development strategy, Tonko introduced the Hudson-Mohawk Basin Act in 2012.

Tonko became a prominent opponent of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2015, citing American trade deficits and the use of child labor by at least four countries who had already signed the pact as among his reasons for opposing the deal.

In 2017, Tonko was one of three Catholic politicians who were publicly rebuked by Bishop Edward Bernard Scharfenberger of Albany for participating in a rally supporting Planned Parenthood.

In January 2019, Tonko—a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee—was named chair of that committee's Subcommittee on the Environment and Climate Change.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• Committee on Science, Space & Technology
  • Subcommittee on Environment
  • Subcommittee on Research and Technology
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

Caucus memberships

Tonko is a member of more than 65 caucuses in his capacity as United States Representative. Below is a small sample of his memberships:

• Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus (vice chair)
• Bicameral Congressional Caucus on Parkinson's Disease
• Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's disease
• Congressional Army Caucus
• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Biomass Caucus
• Heritage Corridor Caucus
• Congressional Safe Climate Caucus
• Congressional Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Equality Caucus
• Congressional Mental Health Caucus
• Congressional Voting Rights Caucus
• House Manufacturing Caucus
• House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus
• House Baltic Caucus