Meet Julia

Before being elected to the State Senate in 2018, Julia worked as a community organizer with Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ), working in coalitions to advance criminal justice reforms and police accountability legislation. She began her advocacy during her time as a college student at Columbia University, where she advocated for the rights of fellow tenants, domestic workers and service industry workers. Upon her election in 2018, Julia was the youngest woman elected in the history of the New York State Senate. 

Julia has helped thousands of constituents with casework ranging from connecting to the Department of Labor regarding unemployment benefits throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to assisting renters in organizing with their neighbors to demand better conditions in their buildings. In 2020, Julia and her office led the fight to create a cease and desist zone throughout Brooklyn Community Board 5 to protect homeowners and residents from harassment, and she continues to advocate for the zone to be expanded throughout Brooklyn. Julia has also long been a supporter of the No NBK Pipeline campaign, working with neighbors to successfully fight back against National Grid’s expansion of harmful fossil fuel infrastructure in north Brooklyn.

When Julia joined the State Senate, her first bill to pass was the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act, which requires health insurance companies to fully cover the cost of all FDA-approved forms of contraception without co-pays. She also played a critical role in passing the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019. In 2020, she was the lead sponsor of the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, as well as the bill that finally ended child marriage in New York by increasing the age of consent to eighteen. In 2021, she sponsored a historic bill, now law, to secure additional federal funding for NYCHA and empower public housing residents. She was also the co-prime sponsor of the Build Public Renewables Act, nation-leading climate justice legislation which became law in 2023.

Senator Salazar serves as the Chair of the State Senate’s Committee on Crime Victims, Crime & Correction, and previously served as the Chair of the Committee on Women’s Issues from 2019 through 2020. She is also an appointed member of the New York State Council of the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS). She currently serves as the Treasurer for the legislature’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Caucus and is an active member of New York’s Puerto Rican & Hispanic Task Force.