Biography of New York State Senator Kathy Marchione, 43rd District
Kathy Marchione was first elected to the New York State Senate in 2012, and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2014 to continue serving and representing families across the 43rd Senate District, which includes parts of Rensselaer, Saratoga and Washington Counties, and all of Columbia County.
Senator Marchione Chairs the Senate’s Committee on Local Government, in addition to serving on several Senate Standing Committees including Aging; Banks; Consumer Protection; Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation; Elections; Finance; Labor; Racing, Gaming and Wagering, and Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs. Senator Marchione also serves on the Joint Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction, the Senate Task Force on Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases and the Senate Task Force on Workforce Development.
Senator Marchione is a trusted, independent voice for the real change that New York’s families, communities and small businesses need. Taxpayers know that Kathy cares and that they can “Count on Kathy” to continue putting people before partisan politics, stand up for what’s right, and work for a safer, stronger, more affordable New York.
Senator Marchione’s approach to public service and helping her constituents is positive, inclusive, and based on her strong belief in working together to give everyone the opportunity to succeed. Senator Marchione’s legislative agenda includes delivering real tax relief for families and small businesses, cutting wasteful spending, preserving and protecting the Second Amendment, reforming state government, stopping Albany’s unfunded mandates, honoring and helping New York’s courageous veterans, strengthening our schools, supporting hard working family farmers, combating the deadly, rising tide of heroin and opioid abuse and addiction and cutting job-killing rules, regulations and red tape for private sector job creators so they can grow a more competitive economy that works for all New Yorkers.
Some of the many non-partisan policy successes Senator Marchione has helped achieve include enacting the fifth consecutive on-time State Budget, holding spending growth below two percent, opposing tax increases, supporting welfare reform, delivering property tax rebates and historic school aid increases and providing tax credits for businesses that hire veterans. Senator Marchione sponsors a bi-partisan legislative resolution memorializing “Down Syndrome Awareness Day” in New York State in conjunction with the global observance of “World Down Syndrome Day.” In 2015, Senator Marchione had the honor of speaking at the World Down Syndrome Day Conference at the United Nations and continues her public advocacy on this important issue.
Senator Marchione has continually been recognized for her leadership, character and courage. In recognition of her principled opposition to the unconstitutional SAFE Act, Senator Marchione was named a “Legislator of the Year” for 2013 by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association. Senator Marchione also was named a “Legislator of the Year” for 2014 by the Shooter’s Committee On Political Education (S.C.O.P.E.). Senator Marchione also has been honored by The Legal Project for her strong support of its domestic violence prevention initiatives and its Katheryn D. Katz Fellowship Program. Senator Marchione also received the “No One Left Behind” Award from Rensselaer County Heroes at Home for her strong support of the PFC Joseph Dwyer PTSD Peer-to-Peer Veteran’s Counseling program, an important initiative that helps New York’s veterans who return home with the invisible wounds of war.
Since her election in 2012, Senator Marchione has authored 19 new, bi-partisan State laws, sponsored 167 pieces of legislation and co-sponsored over 300 Senate bills. Senator Marchione continues listening to her constituents’ good ideas and suggestions for State laws that will solve problems and help all New Yorkers.
In her former capacity as Co-Chair of the Administrative Regulations Review Commission (ARRC), Senator Marchione helped lead a historic, bi-partisan Senate effort that successfully identified 2,219 State rules and regulations to be revised or eliminated to make New York more business-friendly.
Putting people first and delivering high-quality, responsive, friendly service that treats all constituents like valued customers is a top priority for Senator Marchione. Senator Marchione’s office has helped thousands of constituents, communities and small businesses throughout the 43rd Senate District by performing casework that has solved problems and gotten real results.
Prior to entering the New York State Senate, Kathy Marchione was the former County Clerk of Saratoga County and is now serving in her 35th year of public service, winning her first election as Halfmoon Town Clerk at age 25 and thereafter serving as Halfmoon Town Supervisor before being elected as Saratoga County Clerk in 1997.
Serving in her capacity as Saratoga County Clerk, she oversaw all land and deed records as well as being the Clerk of the Supreme and County Courts; was responsible for processing over $72,000,000 in transactions, as well as overseeing a $3.5 million budget, supervising 56 employees and the operation of three motor vehicle branches within Saratoga County. Her department was also responsible for grant writing for all record management projects and within her tenure as County Clerk received over $970,000 in record management grants.
In 2007, Kathy served as the President of the New York State Association of County Clerks. She is a former Advisory Board Member for Leadership Saratoga where she served for 14 years. She was a long-term member and former Chairwoman of the Capital District Regional District Planning Commission. After serving as the Chair of the New York State Regional Records Advisory Committee (10 County Region) for over 10 years, Kathy was appointed to the prestigious New York State Local Government Records Committee.
She is a 25+ year member of the Temple Baptist Church and is the Church’s former Drama Director, Greeting Coordinator and had the opportunity of being a student of sign language through the Deaf Ministry.
Kathy has served in various town political positions that include Vice Chairman of the Saratoga County Republican Committee, Chairman of the Halfmoon Republican Committee, President of the Halfmoon Republican Club, a 25-year member of the Women’s Republican Club of Saratoga County and is a long-time member of the Saratoga County Chairman’s Club.
In 2010, she was selected as a New York State Senate “Woman of Distinction.” She is a four-time recipient of the Annual Achievement Award for Service to the Association of County Clerks and, in 2008, was selected as “Clerk of the Year.” In 2006, Saratoga County was chosen from over 4,000 candidates statewide as the 2006 recipient of the William H. Kelly Archives Award for Excellence in Local Government Archival Program Development, which directly commended Marchione for her work on behalf of Saratoga County. In 2007, she was the recipient of the New York Association of Local Government Records Officers’ Wheeler B. Melius Award, which is the highest distinction that a records management professional can receive and is given for outstanding service to the record management community in New York State, as well as for outstanding records management programs. In 2008, she was selected as “Conservative of the Year” by the Saratoga County Conservative Party and received the Clifton Park Republican Committee’s “Chairman’s Award.”
Kathy is married to Frank Marchione and is the mother of two grown children, Johnathan (Michelle) and Michael (Andree) Hickok, stepmother to Bobbie Marchione and grandmother to Noah, Eli, Jacob and Riley.
###