Since taking office in January 2025, Assembly Member Paula Elaine Kay has fought diligently for the people of Sullivan and Orange counties. Assembly Member Kay hit the ground running, using her municipal experience to navigate the Albany landscape and deliver significant wins for her district. 

During her first term, Paula secured tens of millions of dollars in investments for Assembly District 100, benefiting municipalities and numerous community partners. She secured capital grants for The Center for Discovery and EverGreen Meadow Services to support the construction of state-of-the-art facilities; the City of Middletown to redevelop the abandoned Kleiner Psychiatric Center; the Federation for the Homeless to continue its lifesaving work combating food insecurity in Sullivan County; and Garnet Health Medical Center to improve its Callicoon campus and expand access to healthcare in western Sullivan County. 

Paula also fought for and secured millions of dollars in programmatic funding for organizations that strengthen local communities. These investments included funding for the Friends of the Upper Delaware River and the Upper Delaware Council, Inc. to support their efforts to protect the Upper Delaware River and surrounding river communities; close to a million dollars to assist first responders across the district to ensure they have the equipment necessary to keep residents safe; and the Humane Society of Middletown to help offset medical costs associated with operating as a no-kill shelter.   

In addition to bringing grant funding home to Assembly District 100, Paula prioritized support for local school districts. Schools throughout Sullivan and Orange counties received increased funding in each of the last two years for projects that each school district have championed. 

Throughout her first two years in office, Paula championed legislation designed to make meaningful improvements for the residents of her district. She sponsored and passed bills to protect farmland in Sullivan County, reduce time for volunteer fire fighters to wait for electric company employees to arrive at a downed wire scene, eliminate a death gamble loophole affecting Orange County correction officers and sheriff’s deputies, expand access to home-care information for veterans, and combat food insecurity in local communities.   

Paula also played a key role in advancing legislation she cosponsored, including measures that provide meaningful tax benefits for veterans and first responders, expand insurance coverage and access to healthcare to help reduce costs for New Yorkers, protect children and families through the passage of “Kyra’s Law”, strengthen public safety by enhancing access to pepper spray for personal protection, and establish safeguards around demonstrations near houses of worship to protect the religious freedom of all New Yorkers. 

Paula has made her office a place where constituents can turn for assistance and support. Throughout her first term, she has engaged with hundreds of constituents, hosted events that bring the community together, and established a Comfort Closet during the winter months. Through this initiative, community members donated gently used clothing and household essentials, making vital resources available to neighbors in need. 

Through her conversations with constituents, Paula recognized the urgent need for workforce housing throughout the region. In response, she coordinated multiple roundtable discussions with community partners focused on expanding workforce housing opportunities in Sullivan and Orange counties in locations with the infrastructure necessary to support them and have already yielded plans for the construction of more than 100 new housing units in the heart of her district. 

Assembly Member Paula Kay has lived a life dedicated to service. Paula graduated with a bachelor’s degree in government from Wesleyan University (as the Captain of the Women’s Ice Hockey Team) and a Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School. She began her legal career working as counsel at the New York City Council to the Housing and Buildings Committee, General Welfare Committee, and Speaker Peter Vallone’s Special Commission on the Homeless. She wrote legislation and staffed public hearings on the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, conditions in city-owned housing, and incentives for private developers to produce affordable housing. 

After moving to Sullivan County, Paula became Director of Special Projects for Assembly Member Jake Gunther, where she championed the one-of-a-kind Adopt an Exit Program in the State of New York on Route 17 (I-86). In 2004, when she was first elected, Paula became Legislative Director for Assembly Member Aileen Gunther.  

In 2008, Paula formed the Law Office of Paula Elaine Kay, specializing in municipal law, land use and zoning, corporate law and estate planning, including providing legal services to volunteer fire districts and not-for-profit corporations. She represented the Towns of Thompson and Fallsburg and reviewed large projects on behalf of the Towns including Resorts World Catskills, The Kartrite Resort and Indoor Water Park, and YO1, as well as numerous housing developments and improvements to the Thompson Square Mall. Paula was the Town of Thompson Prosecutor through 2021, working closely with law enforcement personnel.