Experience and Qualifications
Mike is a fourth generation Staten Islander, third generation union member, and has 35 years experience in public service. He was a 9/11 first responder, paramedic, retired NYPD officer, civil litigation attorney, public school special education teacher, former Chief of Staff in the NY State Assembly, and Assistant Counsel on the NYC Districting Commission.
Community Involvement
Mike began volunteering at the hospital where he was born, Saint Vincent’s, now called Richmond University Medical Center at an early age. He has been an active advocate for causes he has believed in his entire life -- marching for civil rights, women's reproductive rights, gun control, and immigration reform for example. Last year, he organized the largest mobilizations in NY-11 holding rallies in support of Medicare & Medicare, Empty Chair Town Halls, and No Kings 1 & 2 marches.
Education
Kalamazoo College Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Music, New York Law School Juris Doctor (J.D.), Hunter College Master of Science in Education (M.S.E.d.)
Party Endorsements
Bay Ridge Democrats, Alliance of South Asian American Labor (ASAAL), EMS PAC, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club
Campaign Phone
202-770-6299
Campaign Instagram
www.instagram.com/mike.decillis/?hl=en
We need to have guardrails in our government to protect civil and constitutional rights. We cannot have good policies unless we have a functioning government that is not governed by executive actions alone. Congress needs to be a co-equal branch of government. After Watergate, Congress enacted reforms to restrict presidential power. We need to similarly enact new reforms in the next Congress.
Affordability is another challenge facing our country. Groceries, gas prices, healthcare, and our housing are just a few examples of things that are no longer affordable. Our wages have been stagnate while the cost of everything is rising. We need to reduce the tax burden on the working class and the billionaires need to pay their fair share.
As a former teacher, I want to reinstate the Department of Education and believe that more investments need to be made in public education. Education is an equalizer and the more people that get the training they need, the more people will succeed.
Citizens United must be overturned, period. Money in politics allows for corporations and the mega rich to dilute the voices of regular people. Politicians are beholden to special interests and not the people. The system is rigged against regular working class people. Big money must get out of politics. Instead of wasting money on expensive elections, we could be using the money to invest back into our country and into future generations.
Our democracy is dying in real time. We all witnessed how the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act just last month. The decision gave the green light to Southern states to silence the voices of people of color. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibited states from imposing discriminatory maps or practices. This decision is basically Jim Crow 2.0.
Congressional action to safeguard voting rights is long overdue. If elected, I will support the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as a start to repairing the harms caused by this ruling, as well as the continuous disenfranchisement of people of color in this nation.
First of all, we need to get back to a point where we have a federal government that believes that climate change is real, not refutable, and believes in hard science. The Environmental Protection Agency is working to protect the polluters' and corporations' interests, not every day people. The National Resources Defense Council has said the current EPA is the most harmful, pro-polluter agenda in history. We need to elect officials that are not in the pockets of big oil and special interests. We need to enforce penalties and fines for dumping toxins in our waters and pumping greenhouse gas into our air. The United States needs to lead on climate change -- it is both a domestic policy issue and a national security issue. We have to rejoin international trade treaties that combat climate change. We have to invest in our infrastructure and upgrade sewer and drainage systems so that future natural disasters do not completely flood our districts.
The United States needs to support the United Nations, NATO, and the International Criminal Court for better equal recognition of human rights and respect for sovereignty of nations. It is essential that American foreign policy has stable and predictable relationships with other nations to ensure functioning diplomacy, reliable alliances, and robust and fair trade.
