About Jonathan

Since being elected to the Assembly, Jonathan has had a record of reform. Jonathan has proposed and supported changes to the areas which needed to be addressed. Because of his experience and tenacity, he has been successful from the beginning passing new laws to address the needs of his constituents as well as state-wide challenges. Jonathan has become one of the most effective members of the Assembly.

Jonathan Jacobson was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2018, representing the 104th Assembly District, which includes the Cities of Newburgh, Beacon, and Poughkeepsie, and the Towns of Newburgh, Marlborough, Lloyd, and Plattekill. A product of the Newburgh public school system, Jonathan graduated from Newburgh Free Academy. He went on to graduate cum laude with Honors in Political Science from Duke University and earned his law degree from New York Law School.

Before his election, Jonathan built a distinguished career in public service and the law. He served as an Assistant Counsel to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, where he researched and wrote legislation for the Labor Committee. As an Assistant New York State Attorney General, he headed the Consumer Frauds Bureau at the Poughkeepsie Regional Office. He continued his public service career as a New York State Workers’ Compensation Law Judge. Jonathan also served on the Newburgh City Council, where he championed improving the City’s infrastructure, and chaired the Orange County Democratic Committee for 22 years. In private practice, Jonathan first concentrated on real estate and business law and later focused on representing workers in Workers’ Compensation and Social Security disability cases.

Jonathan has focused on utility reform concerning billing and how rates are determined; educational reforms to increase funding to our schools including pre-K and to expand opportunities after high school; insurance and health care reforms to end monopolistic practices; and protecting and expanding safeguards to reproductive rights.

Jonathan has also focused on eliminating lead-contaminated water lines which plague our older cities including Newburgh and Poughkeepsie; election law reform making it easier and simpler to register and vote as well as banning conflicts of interest at our boards of elections; and Industrial Development Agency (IDA) reform as well as combatting gun violence. He has also been successful in passing legislation to ensure transparency in job posting and to regulate ghost (fake) jobs.

Jonathan is proud of his bill (now law) which was included in the 2026-2027 budget which ends automatic rate increases for Central Hudson and other utilities so if the Public Service Commission says no to any increase, the old rate stays in effect. He is also proud of the law ending late billing which requires utilities to bill within three months when it is due or lose the ability to charge for that period.

Jonathan wrote and passed a bill which is now law to help end confusion to voters when their polling site moves. Now, the Board of Elections post a sign on the old polling site explaining where the new polling site is located. He had another bill which is now law prohibiting Board of Election employees from getting paid to help candidates in the county where they work. Also, employees who run for office, must take an unpaid leave of absence from the time they file petitions or, if there is no primary, then 90 days from the primary or election until they are no longer a candidate or the election results are certified.

Jonathan has always been a strong supporter of common-sense gun safety legislation. Jonathan’s bill restricting who can purchase body armor became law. Criminals do not need body armor; Jonathan’s bill restricts the sale of body armor to those whose occupations put them in danger of gun violence, including law enforcement, armored car guards, security guards, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians and paramedics. He also supported the passage of the Red Flag Bill, strengthening New York’s gun safety laws. Jonathan has also sponsored gun buybacks to get guns off the streets and so they will not end up in the wrong hands.

Jonathan has been a strong protector of reproductive health rights including the codification of Roe v. Wade through the Reproductive Health Act which he was a sponsor as a many other laws including shield laws protecting medical providers who perform legal reproductive health services including out-of-state residents.

In addition to being a successful legislator in Albany, Jonathan has also brought back millions of extra dollars from Albany to help our municipalities and not-for-profits. And Jonathan is proud of his office’s work on constituent problems ranging from Central Hudson complaints to problems with getting unemployment benefits and dealing with other unresponsive state agencies.