Maritza Davila
Maritza Davila is the incumbent Democratic nominee for NY State Assembly District 53, running unopposed for a seventh term. A longtime Bushwick and Williamsburg community organizer, she chairs the Assembly's Social Services Committee and is a member of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.[1][2][3]
Floor votes in Albany
- YesProvides that a microbusiness licensee authorized to conduct retail sales may serve as a processor and cultivator for purposes of cannabis showcase event permits · S10113 · Passed Assembly 88–53 · 2026-06-05 official record ↗Provides that a microbusiness licensee authorized to conduct retail sales may serve as a processor and cultivator for purposes of cannabis showcase event permits.
- YesRelates to granting employees access to personnel records · S3460 · Passed Assembly 92–49 · 2026-05-19 official record ↗Grants employees access to personnel records; requires notice of negative information in such records and an opportunity for a review; permits employee to include certain information in personnel records.
- YesConcealed Carry Improvement Act · S51001 · Passed 90–52 · 2022-07-01 official record ↗Enacted after the Bruen decision: added training and character requirements for carry permits and barred guns in designated sensitive places.
- Yes2021–22 budget revenue bill · S2509 · Passed 88–61 · 2021-04-07 official record ↗Raised personal income tax rates on incomes above $1 million and raised the corporate franchise tax rate on large businesses, among other revenue measures.
- YesProtect Our Courts Act · A2176 · Passed 97–44 · 2020-07-20 official record ↗Bars federal civil immigration arrests of people going to, attending, or leaving New York courthouses without a judicial warrant.
- YesClimate Leadership and Community Protection Act · S6599 · Passed 111–35 · 2019-06-20 official record ↗Set statewide targets of 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and an 85% cut in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.
- YesHousing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 · S6458 · Passed 95–46 · 2019-06-14 official record ↗Made rent regulation permanent, ended vacancy decontrol and the vacancy bonus, and limited rent increases for major capital improvements.
- YesExtreme risk protection orders (red-flag law) · S2451 · Passed 100–37 · 2019-01-29 official record ↗Allows courts to temporarily bar people found to pose a danger to themselves or others from possessing firearms.
- YesReproductive Health Act · S240 · Passed 95–49 · 2019-01-22 official record ↗Moved abortion from the penal code to the public-health law and protected access to abortion under state law.
Votes on landmark laws since 2019, plus 2026 roll calls where at least five members voted on the losing side — read from the legislature’s official records.
On the record — official actions
- actionChairs the Assembly's Social Services Committee (since January 2023) and is a member of the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Children and Families, Housing and Rules committees in the 2025–2026 session; also a member of the Assembly's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.[3]
- billSponsors legislation on public assistance and rent-regulated housing, including A02502 (establishing home stability support supplement programs), A02538 (barring SNAP applicants from being required to submit to finger imaging) and A00989 (regulating buyout agreements within rent-regulated apartments); as of the current session these remained in committee without floor votes.[4]
Positions on the issues
- SupportsStronger rent regulation and tenant protectionsFrom recorded votes
Voted yes on S6458 (Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, 2019-06-14): Made rent regulation permanent, ended vacancy decontrol and the vacancy bonus, and limited rent increases for major capital improvements.[6]
What they say: Sponsors A00989, which would add tenant protections against harassment or undue pressure in landlord buyout offers for rent-regulated apartments, requiring written disclosure of tenants' rights and penalizing harassment tactics.[5]
“This legislation provides needed protection to rent-regulated tenants from the common situation where tenants face harassment and undue pressure from landlords to surrender or waive their rights to occupancy pursuant to "buyout" agreements.”
- SupportsFaster transition away from fossil fuelsFrom recorded votes
Voted yes on S6599 (Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, 2019-06-20): Set statewide targets of 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and an 85% cut in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.[7]
- SupportsStricter gun lawsFrom recorded votes
Voted yes on S2451 (Extreme risk protection orders (red-flag law), 2019-01-29): Allows courts to temporarily bar people found to pose a danger to themselves or others from possessing firearms. Voted yes on S51001 (Concealed Carry Improvement Act, 2022-07-01): Enacted after the Bruen decision: added training and character requirements for carry permits and barred guns in designated sensitive places.[8][9]
- SupportsProtect legal access to abortionFrom recorded votes
Voted yes on S240 (Reproductive Health Act, 2019-01-22): Moved abortion from the penal code to the public-health law and protected access to abortion under state law.[10]
- OpposesExpand immigration enforcement and deportationsFrom recorded votes
Voted yes on A2176 (Protect Our Courts Act, 2020-07-20): Bars federal civil immigration arrests of people going to, attending, or leaving New York courthouses without a judicial warrant.[11]
- SupportsRaise taxes on high earners or corporationsFrom recorded votes
Voted yes on S2509 (2021–22 budget revenue bill, 2021-04-07): Raised personal income tax rates on incomes above $1 million and raised the corporate franchise tax rate on large businesses, among other revenue measures.[12]
Background
- Born in Catano, Puerto Rico, and moved to Bushwick, Brooklyn, as a young girl, where she has lived since; raised three children as a single mother in Bushwick.[2]
- Began her public-service career as a community organizer on education, healthcare, public safety, affordable housing and economic-development issues in Bushwick and Williamsburg, and served as president of the Community School District 32 board of education.[2]
- Was a founding member of the North Brooklyn Coalition Against Domestic Violence and founded the Northern Brooklyn Residents Association, a community advocacy group focused on affordable housing.[2]
- Joined the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council in 1996, where she helped found a local credit union and organized tenant, merchant and block associations.[2]
- Earned an associate's degree in Political Science from Long Island University in 2013.[2]