Max Rose

Max Rose

Prior offices

U.S. House New York District 11

Elections and appointments

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Stopping Gun Violence

There have been nearly 300 school shootings in America since that day in Newtown five years ago. On any given day, 96 Americans are killed with guns, including seven who are children or teens. If we accept these deaths as the status quo, we’re insulting their memories. This does not have to be part of daily life in America.

As a combat veteran, Max supports our right to keep and bear arms. He also knows we can respect the Second Amendment while doing more to get guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Weapons of war do not belong on our streets.

Fixing Healthcare

Rising premiums and deductibles have rendered insurance useless for far too many, while also eating away at stagnant take-home pay. Meanwhile, companies like Mylan jack up the price of an EpiPen by 400% without a thought – or consequence.

As Chief of Staff at Brightpoint Health, Max helped working people get healthcare they could afford. He knows firsthand how underserved our community is when it comes to these vital services, and has taken active steps to address this issue, including helping bring a medical clinic and drug recovery center to the Island. Here are some of Max’s top healthcare priorities:

• Create a public healthcare option so that no county has just one insurer
• Enact all-payer rate-setting nationwide (as Maryland already does), giving the federal government the authority to negotiate the price of all medical services and set overall global budgets for hospital systems
• Lower the age of Medicare eligibility to 55
• Remove the healthcare system’s perverse profit incentives by transitioning to a system of valued based payments rather than fee-for-service
• Mandate that all health insurance companies provide essential benefits on a non-profit basis, ensuring that shareholders don’t benefit to the detriment of patients
• Protect public health through continued funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides much-needed health services to so many communities
• Expand healthcare market subsidies
• Fight any effort to restrict a woman’s right to choose
• Move the healthcare industry’s focus to achieving outcomes through investments in primary and preventive care

Competition is the American way. It’s high time that we level the playing field, so insurance companies and healthcare systems are competing on both pricing and quality with Medicare and other federal healthcare options.

Infrastructure and Jobs

Staten Islanders and South Brooklynites know what it feels like to get stuck in expressway traffic or to wait forever for the R train. A generations-long comprehensive infrastructure plan, with built-in apprenticeships and job-training programs, would give people a chance to build their futures at the same time they rebuild our highways. We need a serious, substantial bill that will create jobs, improve commutes and create a better quality of life for everyone in New York’s 11th Congressional District.

• Change federal funding formulas that discriminate against Staten Island and South Brooklyn, so we can get our fair share of funding. New York sends $48 billion a year to DC to fund the nation’s transportation priorities, but the federal Department of Transportation’s funding formulas prevent cities with more than 200,000 residents from receiving federal dollars to cover operating expenditures. Max will fight to raise the DOT funding cut off to include major urban centers, like New York City, who need the funding the most.
• Add HOV Lanes to the West Shore Expressway and Finish the HOV SIE Lane: In the absence of federal leadership, state officials have taken the lead in improving the West Shore Expressway, but anyone who’s driven those roadways knows that’s just a start. It’s time to add an HOV lane to the West Shore Expressway, and to extend the SIE HOV lane all the way to the Goethals Bridge. Max will fight to secure federal funding to ensure those projects happen ASAP.
• Secure federal funding to get the R-Train running more frequently and on time. We must modernize our signal system, fix track and station problems, and give New Yorkers a subway system that doesn’t leave Brooklyn residents stranded for hours waiting for the R-Train.
• Take on City Hall to ensure Staten Island is connected to the citywide ferry service system. Mayor de Blasio promised a five-borough system, but once again Staten Island was left out. A South Shore Ferry isn’t just a nice idea, it’s a necessity for residents who have one of the longest commutes in the country. Max will take the fight to City Hall, so Staten Islanders get the ferry service we were promised.
• Get the Staten Island Lightrail project moving. For years Staten Island light rail has been stuck in bureaucratic limbo with our members of Congress unable or unwilling to fund the studies that need to be completed before federal funding can be used for construction. Max will get the final study funded so that this game-changing project can move forward.
• Implement two-way tolls on the Verrazano Bridge to reduce truck traffic. Not only do we have to pay a ridiculous toll to travel off the island, but commercial truck drivers take advantage of the one-way toll to dodge paying any tolls and then clog our streets in the process. With electronic toll collection now in place, there’s no reason we can’t switch to two-way tolls, splitting the cost of the current toll each way, to reduce truck traffic.
• Putting the Gateway Tunnel on the Express Track: The Gateway Tunnel Project will create jobs for residents of Staten Island and South Brooklyn and completing the project is absolutely essential to New York’s economy. Max will work with members of both party to get this critical project built, even if the President disagrees.
• Work with State and City Officials to Expedite North Shore Bus Rapid Transit: As local officials have already noted, we are years away from implementing the North Shore Bus Rapid Transit even as a development boom is expected to draw more New Yorkers to the North Shore than ever before. Max will work all levels of government to get this process sped up so that Staten Islanders aren’t left with even more gridlock and traffic while the MTA takes its time.
• Seek a seat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Every minute residents of Staten Island and South Brooklyn spend stuck in traffic or waiting for public transportation is more unnecessary time they are kept from seeing their families. Max will seek a seat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee so that they have a fierce advocate at the table where federal transportation decisions are made.

Ending the Drug Epidemic

Our community has been at the epicenter of the drug epidemic that’s swept across the country. It’ll take someone who understands the problem in all of its complexities to make sure we get the right kind of resources to fight back, and that’s Max Rose. As Chief of Staff at Brightpoint Health, Max helped bring a 24/7 drug recovery center to Staten Island—the first of its kind. He’ll take the same determination and innovative thinking to Congress, fighting for actual solutions to a national emergency that destroys lives one family at a time.

Just as FDR used the power of government to eradicate Polio, and as Congress passed the Ryan White Act to help curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Max believes we need a national commitment to beating opioids that includes:

Ensuring not one more life is needlessly lost to a preventable overdose by:

• Reducing federal roadblocks to medically-assisted treatment: Suboxone is a life-saving drug that can diminish cravings for and withdrawal from opioids. Federal regulations restrict the amounts that doctors can prescribe and do not reflect the fact that in today’s healthcare world, Physician Assistants and Nurses provide a large portion of critical care. Congress must roll back these restrictions to ensure that victims of the opioid crisis are able to get the treatment they need to beat their addiction. Expanding access for Medical Marijuana is also critical and has been proven to help in communities hit hardest by the epidemic.
• Improving prescriber training: Since 1999, US opioid prescription rates have tripled, and these prescriptions are often the gateway to addiction. Congress must mandate continuing pain medication training for doctors, and create resources for medical and pharmacy schools to eliminate over-prescribing.
• Building on local successes: District Attorney Mike McMahon has launched multiple campaigns and partnerships to raise public awareness and prevent overdoses including SIHOPE, and helped equip NYPD officers with the Naloxone treatments they used to save nearly 300 lives last year. He was also a national pioneer in treating overdose cases as crimes, allowing law enforcement to conduct homicide investigations and bring those responsible to justice. Thanks in large part to his efforts, overdose deaths on Staten Island fell more than 25 percent last year. As a Congressman, I’ll introduce legislation to provide more federal funding for DA offices across the country, so that they finally have the resources necessary to implement local solutions to this crisis.

Getting victims of the opioid epidemic the support and treatment they need by:

• Ensuring the federal funding necessary to end the crisis: The opioid epidemic is the largest public health crisis facing our generation. Ending it once and for all will require the federal government to ensure that all aspects of treatment, from grant programs for building clinics and expanding recovery services, to research by SAMSA and the NIH, are adequately funded. Just as the Ryan White Act provided funding to improve the availability of care for HIV/AIDS patients, so too must a new spending bill unleash the full power of the federal government to eliminate the scourge of the opioid crisis.
• Improving provider communication and expand treatment options: As a Congressman, I’ll lead the effort to repeal the IMD exclusion, and fight to fund new outpatient clinics that handle substance abuse, mental health treatment, primary care, and wrap-around programs under one roof, improving inter-party communication that studies have shown is our greatest obstacle to eradicating this crisis.

Maintaining and expanding healthcare access: Victims of the opioid epidemic must be able to pay for treatment, and in New York, that often means funding through Medicaid. Medicaid funding is responsible for 38% of NY’s opioid fight funding, per the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Medicaid covers 4/10 adults with opioid addiction. Congress must resist Republican efforts to eliminate funding to Medicaid, because without a fully-funded healthcare system, this crisis will only get worse.

• Expanding clinic access in underserved areas: Researchers at Columbia University found that the opioid epidemic touches Staten Islanders “from all neighborhoods, races, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds,” and that “some areas with the most overdoses are also the most underserved in terms of opioid addiction treatment clinics.” There are only two methadone providers on the island, and just three inpatient clinics, only one of which offers detox. We need funding to double the number of clinics on Staten Island, to ensure that anyone impacted by this crisis has the resources they need to get better.

Bringing drug companies and drug dealers to justice by:

• Supporting a federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers: Congress must hold drug corporations financially and criminally responsible for the death and destruction they’ve brought to our country. Just as the government sued cigarette companies for the damage they willfully inflicted on Americans, it’s time for the federal government to join cities and states across the country, Republicans and Democrats alike, in forcing these drug companies, who misled the scientific community about the harmful effects of opioids for decades, to reform, pay up, and be brought to justice.
• Empowering law enforcement to stop the flow of fentanyl-laced drugs: As the opioid epidemic has progressed, many people have moved from painkillers to cocaine and heroin. But much of this heroin and cocaine is now laced with the opioid fentanyl — often without the knowledge of the people buying the drug. Congress must arm law enforcement agencies and the US Postal Service with the manpower and technology necessary to catch fentanyl as it’s being transported.
• Changing federal laws that handcuff law enforcement: Both parties let drug industry lobbyists write laws that prevented the DEA from going after prescription drug distributers who fail to report suspicious orders from pharmacies, and both parties have failed to follow New York’s lead and create a federal I-STOP program to prevent doctor shoppers and pharmacy shoppers from illegally obtaining and filling multiple prescriptions. Congress must stop protecting drug companies that write large campaign checks, and instead empower the DEA and other federal law enforcement agencies to adequately address and stop this crisis.

Protecting Our Rights

From an Attorney General who vehemently opposes criminal justice reform to executive orders that target our nation’s most vulnerable, the Trump Administration is rolling back decades of progress on civil rights and voting rights. We must:

• Foster truly meaningful criminal justice reform by working with affected communities, the judicial system and law enforcement to mend the divides between the criminal justice system and communities of color
• Protect and advance our rights to privacy and individual choice, which allow women to make their own healthcare decisions
• Pass comprehensive immigration reform, protect DACA recipients, and help hard-working families share in the American dream
• Remove mandatory sentences for non-violent offenses, so Judges can fairly and appropriately administer the law
• Ensure no soldier is disqualified from serving because of their gender identity. When Max was in harm’s way, it never mattered whether the soldier to his left or right was transgender. What mattered was that they had his back.
• Safeguard the right of every eligible American to have their voice heard in our elections
• Provide resources for DA’s offices across the country to investigate and prosecute animal abuse cases, which studies have shown are indicators of a propensity for violence.

Our Government is here to keep us safe and protect our rights. It’s time D.C. started acting like it.

American Leadership

As a veteran, Max understands that while America can’t solve all the world’s problems, none of those problems can be solved without America.

In the last year and a half, trusted allies have been insulted and the world has come to doubt that America’s word is its bond. It’s no surprise that our adversaries feel empowered as a result. Max will fight to protect and promote the legacy of global leadership our parents and grandparents worked so hard to build. That means adhering to these 10 principles:

• Respecting and working with our NATO allies
• Re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement and combating the effects of climate change
• Safeguarding human rights
• Empowering women and girls around the world
• Championing a free press
• Promoting efforts to counteract income inequality
• Leading the way in a competitive global marketplace
• Supporting Israel, and being firmly committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through US support of direct, bilateral negotiations aimed at resolving conflict and regional discord
• Recognizing Russia as a hostile foreign power and holding the Kremlin accountable for its attempts to undermine the sovereignty and democratic values of other nations
• Providing the State Department the resources it needs to engage with the world on all fronts, through diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and economic development.

One of Max’s proudest moments was attending the citizenship ceremony of one of the soldiers who served under his command in Afghanistan. There is something uniquely special about an America which encourages people from around the world to put on our uniform in the hopes of one day calling themselves an American citizen. That’s something we need to protect.

Standing up for Working People

The people of Staten Island and South Brooklyn wake up every day and work their hearts out to keep this city and country going. And what have they gotten for that hard work? Politicians in Washington who cater to corporations and special interests’ demands, rigging the system for their benefit, while middle and working-class Americans get screwed over or left behind. In Congress, Max will fight for the America we know is possible – one where we can create good-paying jobs as we rebuild our infrastructure with union labor. He’ll lead the fight against national right-to-work and advocate for stronger labor laws that make it easier for workers to unionize.

Right now, the laws prohibiting employers from firing workers who are organizing are very weak and the penalties are too light. This makes it too easy for big businesses like Charter Spectrum to put profits ahead of the hardworking members of Local 3 who do the work right here in this district.

At the national level, Max will vehemently oppose any efforts to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires government contractors to pay the local prevailing wages for work on federally funded projects. Repealing Davis-Bacon Act would be disastrous for states like New York, and Staten Island in particular, where the cost of living is so high. Max will never allow the union workers in his district to get screwed over.

Education

As automation continues to eliminate more and more jobs, Congress has done nothing except pay lip service to addressing the challenges facing theAmerican worker. One reason: far too many politicians have looked down on manufacturing jobs or skilled labor careers as a back-up rather than the bedrock of the middle class. Not Max. He’ll fight to expand vocational education and manufacturing institutes, renewing our commitment to supporting skilled labor.

But he won’t stop there. Max will fight to ensure that teachers and public schools have the right kind of resources to prepare our kids for the challenges of the 21st century, so that all kids have a shot at good job opportunities with or without a college degree. And instead of saddling those who do choose to go to college with mountains of debt, Max will work to lower student loan interest rates to the same levels that bailed-out banks received at the height of the financial crisis. His ultimate goal: making college debt free. Plain and simple, Max believes the federal government should not be making a profit on educational loans. It’s unacceptable.

Max does not believe Mayor’s plan to end the SHSAT is the best way to ensure that New York City’s children have the greatest education available to them. He believes we should be focused on ensuring that the city spends the millions of dollars allocated by the state to provide prep and training for the SHSAT correctly – which he does not believe they are doing so right now. Lowering standards, instead of aiming to lift every child up is the wrong decision for my district, and all of New York City’s children.

Tax Reform

It’s time families in Staten Island and South Brooklyn got their fair share of the prosperity they helped create. But for decades, special interests and giant corporations have used the tax code to rig the system and enrich themselves, even as wages and benefits for the American worker have stagnated. No corporation, no matter how big or powerful, should be able to exploit loopholes and rely on an army of lobbyists to avoid doing their part. And no company should be given a tax break for shipping jobs overseas or giving million-dollar bonuses to CEO’s while their workers struggle just to make it every day. That doesn’t just weaken the economy, it’s immoral.

Max will fight for a tax system that gives hard working Americans a tax cut, not corporations. He’ll fight to roll back the Republican tax bill that raised our taxes, made it harder for the middle class to get ahead, and added $1.5 trillion dollars to the deficit. He’ll work to pass a bill that looks out for us, not the special interests. That means raising the long-term capital gains tax rate for the wealthy so that billionaires no longer pay a lower tax rate than firefighters or teachers. It means raising the floor on the Alternative Minimum Tax – which has hurt middle class families– and meaningfully expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to put more money in our wallets. And it means closing loopholes, like the carried interest loophole, that allow big corporations to dodge taxes and lower the overall corporate tax rate so that small businesses receive a tax cut.

Women's Rights

Ensuring equal pay for equal work, protecting a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions, and promoting gender equality in the workplace should all be universal values – and they’re values Max will defend and protect. He will:

• Demand that Congress stop spending their time and our money trying to undo Roe v. Wade, and defend women’s right to make their own healthcare decisions
• Fight for paid parental leave, the implementation of which could revolutionize workforce participation
• Insist our government protects a woman’s right to equal pay for equal work
• Reject any attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides vital community health services to underserved communities
• Stand up and speak out against sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination
• Support programs to advance women’s participation in small business ownership and industries where they have traditionally be under-represented

For too long, women in America have had to fight the same battles over and over again. It’s time for Congress to start proactively supporting policies that give everyone the opportunity to reach their full potential.^[28]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} SILive.com, "It’s official: Rep. Max Rose sworn in; vows to fight for the district," accessed February 1, 2019
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on July 6, 2018.
3. ↑ Max Rose For Congress, "About Max," accessed February 1, 2019
4. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.1044 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020," accessed March 22, 2024
5. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.6800 - The Heroes Act," accessed April 23, 2024
6. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2019," accessed April 23, 2024
7. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.748 - CARES Act," accessed April 23, 2024
8. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.5 - Equality Act," accessed April 23, 2024
9. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.8 - Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019," accessed April 23, 2024
10. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024
11. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.1790 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020," accessed April 27, 2024
12. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act," accessed April 24, 2024
13. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.1994 - Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024
14. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.3 - Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act," accessed March 22, 2024
15. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.1865 - Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020," accessed April 27, 2024
16. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.1838 - Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024
17. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.3884 - MORE Act of 2020," accessed April 27, 2024
18. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.6074 - Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020," accessed April 27, 2024
19. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.J.Res.31 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019," accessed April 27, 2024
20. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.47 - John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act," accessed April 27, 2024
21. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021," accessed April 27, 2024
22. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021," accessed April 27, 2024
23. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.24 - Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024
24. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.Res.755 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors," accessed April 27, 2024
25. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.Res.755 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors," accessed April 27, 2024
26. ↑ ^{26.0 26.1} Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
27. ↑ Max Rose’s 2020 campaign website, “Issues,” accessed October 8, 2020
28. ↑ Max Rose 2018 campaign website, "Issues," accessed October 2, 2018

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