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Serphin R. Maltese

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Serphin R. Maltese (born December 7, 1932, Corona, Queens) is an American politician, a member of the New York State Senate until January 2009.

He was first elected to the New York State Senate in November 1988. On November 4, 2008, he lost his reelection bid to Joseph Addabbo.[1] He had represented the 15th Senatorial District in Queens County in the City of New York, which includes the communities of Forest Hills Gardens, Glendale, Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach, Maspeth, Middle Village, Old Howard Beach, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, and parts of Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Ozone Park, Rego Park, Richmond Hill, South Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Sunnyside and Woodside; serving over 320,000 constituents.

Maltese graduated from P.S. 63, JHS 64 and Stuyvesant High School. After his military service, he went to Manhattan College on a Regents Scholarship and the G.I. Bill, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was awarded a War Service Scholarship and received his LLB and J.D. degrees from Fordham University School of Law. Senator Maltese was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1963 and admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Senator Maltese is an Army Infantry Veteran of the Korean War, previously serving in the United States Marine Reserves. He is a life member of the American Legion, Catholic War Veterans, Korean War Veteran's Association and a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. During his first term, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Veterans. He is currently a member of the American Legion's National Legislative Council.

In 1990, Senator Maltese sponsored the legislation that authorized the creation of the 250-bed State Veterans Nursing Home at St. Albans.

In his second term, Maltese served as Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Consumer Protection. In his third term, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction.

Prior to his election, Senator Maltese served as Queens Assistant District Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Homicide Bureau.

In 1969, Maltese was active as a citywide coordinator for State Senator John Marchi's mayoral bid and in 1970 he became Law Chairman and Election Law Advisor to U.S. Senator James L. Buckley. He served as Counsel to U.S. Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato and was elected a New York State Reagan-Bush Elector in the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections. He also served as New York State Chairman of Conservatives for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and served for seven years as a member of Senator D'Amato's Federal Judicial Selection Panel. He has served for more than 25 years on the National Board of Directors of the American Conservative Union.

He was a co-founder of the New York State Conservative Party in 1962. He ran on William F. Buckley, Jr.’s ticket for State Senate in 1965.

Maltese became Executive Director of the New York State Conservative Party in 1971 and Chairman of the Queens County Conservative Party in 1972. He was elected to the position of State Chairman of the party in 1986, a position in which he served until his election as Senator, when he voluntarily relinquished that post.

Maltese's served as Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Elections in 1995, a position in which he served through 2002. In 2003, Senator Maltese was appointed Chairman of the Senate Cities Committee, which handles a wide variety of legislation impacting the six big cities and over fifty small cities throughout the state. He also serves on the following Senate Committees: Rules, Civil Service and Pensions; Codes; Higher Education; Finance; and Judiciary. He is the only Senate Majority member from New York City on the Higher Education Committee. Maltese also serves in the Senate Leadership as Vice Chairman of the Majority Conference. Maltese was also appointed to serve as Chairman of the Special Committee on the Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Senator Maltese is a past president of the New York Conference of Italian American State Legislators. He served as liaison for the Columbus Countdown Quincentennial Program and is an Honorary Chairman of the Italian American Professional Business Association. Senator Maltese served as Chairman of the Queens County Republican Party for ten years. He was elected as a Delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Prominent among his legislative accomplishments are his 1989 legislation that provided $175 million in funding to save Wyckoff Heights Hospital and enabled the financially-troubled hospital to continue to provide quality medical care to patients in Queens and Kings Counties and his securing in 2006 one of the largest legislative grants in CUNY history - $55 million - for LaGuardia Community College.

In the 2008 election, he was defeated for re-election by David Addoso.


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  1. ^ http://collegedemsny.com/blog/?p=301
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