About Steve

Steve Stern is proud to have been elected twice to serve as our Suffolk County Legislator. Steve represents a new generation of leadership to promote fiscal responsibility, protect our environment and preserve our quality of life.

While serving his constituency with dedication, Legislator Stern serves as Chairman of the Veterans & Seniors Committee. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Public Works & Transportation Committee as well as Vice-Chairman of the Economic Development, Higher Education and Energy Committee. He is also a member of the Parks & Recreation Committee.

As a homeowner and the parent of two young children, Steve understands that, during these challenging times, it is important to support our hardworking families. Steve is proud that, for four consecutive years, he has delivered on his promise to hold the line on taxes by supporting a budget with NO general fund property tax increase, while maintaining essential County services. Steve also knows how important it is to lead by example and joined his staff and other County employees to cut his own salary and refuse perks like a county car to promote fiscal responsibility and hold the line on taxes.

Steve has improved public safety by co-sponsoring the most aggressive legislation in the nation to protect our children from sexual predators. He is also the author of legislation establishing a New Advocacy Program for Victims of Domestic Violence and legislation in support of tougher penalties for hazing and bullying in public schools. Steve also chaired the Underage Drinking Task Force and has spoken to hundreds of students and their parents about the dangers of underage drinking, drug use and driving safety and co-sponsored the Social Host Law. As our Legislator, Steve has been a strong supporter of our law enforcement organizations and first responders and is proud to have earned the endorsement of every law enforcement organization in Suffolk County.

Steve has worked hard to protect the environment. In 2006, he passed the Planning Bill, which, for the first time, required that notice and an opportunity to be heard is afforded to residents of adjoining towns when large developments are planned near town borders. Steve has worked from day one to address planning and overdevelopment issues in our community, working across party lines and with all levels of government to develop a more regional approach to planning. Steve has also worked to secure millions of dollars in funding for infrastructure in our community.

Steve authored successful legislation to strengthen penalties against illegal dumping and to develop a pharmaceutical collection program to protect our environment and drinking water. He has worked to protect our groundwater, develop renewable green energy, promote sewer development in our underserved communities and has joined with members of our community to lead the fight against the New York State Department of Transportation's Intermodal facility. Steve is proud to have earned the endorsements of the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.

Steve has worked to protect our Veterans, sponsoring legislation to provide property tax relief and foreclosure protection for our Veterans, supporting Veterans groups and sponsoring the East End Veterans Clinic to provide additional care for the brave men and women who protect our freedoms. Steve sponsored the Veteran's Long-Term Care Act and co-sponsored legislation to protect nursing home patients and fight elder abuse. Legislator Stern chaired the Senior Citizens Task Force to help develop programs to meet the needs of our seniors, with respect to transportation, housing and health care. Steve sponsored successful legislation to require that county-sponsored affordable housing developments are built to Universal Design and Visitability standards, to enable residents to remain in their homes should they become disabled.

Steve created the “Silver Alert” System, the first system in New York to protect seniors and those with special needs and to provide peace of mind to their families and caregivers by notifying the community when a person with a cognitive disorder is reported missing.

As a parent, Steve knows that protecting the health and safety of our most vulnerable is critically important. Steve is proud to have sponsored Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act, landmark legislation that made Suffolk County the first in the nation to prohibit the sale of baby bottles and toddler cups containing the hazardous chemical BPA.

Prior to his election, Steve assisted in coordinating Congressional hearings for the U.S. House Select Committee on Aging, focusing on the issues of elder abuse, long-term care and health and legal services for Long Island’s senior citizens. Steve graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans and received his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich., graduating Cum Laude. Steve is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA), awarded through the National Elder Law Foundation, and he has also established the Idie Fund Charity with the Long Island Community Foundation. Steve is admitted to practice law in New York and Florida. In addition, he has served as an adjunct professor at Touro School of Law, is a past trustee of the Multiple Sclerosis Society-Long Island Chapter and a past Vice President of the Suffolk Y JCC. Steve is also a coach in the Half Hollow Hills Little League. He has been featured in Newsday, The New York Times, News 12 Long Island, and has been named one of Long Island’s Top 40 rising leaders under the age of 40 by Long Island Business News.

Steve resides in Dix Hills with his wife, Meredith, and their two young children.