By Miriam Y. Cintron

State Representative Cynthia Soto of the 4th District, which includes West Town, Ukrainian Village, and the Grand Avenue area, sponsored the Living Wage Act, which requires that employees at companies receiving state contracts earn at least $8.20 an hour. She also sponsored the Family Care program, supported extending Medicaid to low-income women for breast and cervical cancer treatment, and sponsored legislation creating a task force to allow parents to provide input before schools can be shut down.

If re-elected, Soto would work to obtain fair funding distribution for local schools, reinstate the 7% cap on property assessments for city residents, and improve mass transit. To fix the state’s budget crisis, she proposes a temporary increase in income tax and state income tax on individuals who make more than $250,000 per year.

Soto is on the Child Support Enforcement, Appropriations-General Service, Labor, Transportation and Motor Vehicles, Mass Transit; Agreed Labor Bills, Licenses and Registration, Pension Fund Management Procurement, and Transit Management and Performance Committees.

Challenger Jose Massas could not be reached for an interview.