Susan John (D) represents the 131st Assembly District in the New York State Assembly. Susan has represented the 131st Assembly District, incorporating the City of Rochester and the towns of Chili and Wheatland, since 1991. She chairs the Legislative Commission on Solid Waste Management and sub-committees on Public School Violence and Constitutional Amendments. She is a member of the Judiciary, Education, Codes, Governmental Operations and Energy Standing Committees. Susan serves on Assembly task forces for workers' compensation and criminal justice reform, and as a member of the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Advisory Council.
Susan has successfully advocated for funding for domestic violence shelters, breast cancer awareness education, rape crisis centers, family support services, early direction childhood programs and teen pregnancy prevention. Susan was the author of New York State's Stalking Law (1992), the Health Care Facilities Anti-Violence Act (1993, 1994, 1995) and the School Safety Act (1994, 1995). She sponsored bills, now law, that protect a woman's civil right to breast feed her child, require insurance companies to reimburse for pap smears and to provide coverage for infants from birth, reform the BOCES system, require disclosure of the potential hazards of breast implants and extend the opportunity to file for damages for injuries related to silicone gel and Dalkin Shield implants.
Susan John graduated from George Washington University (B.A. Public Affairs) in Washington, D.C. As an undergraduate, she worked on the staff of Congressman Paul Simon and the staff of Senator Adlai Stevenson, -two people whom she credits as being major influences on her political thinking. She graduated with honors from Syracuse University Law School and subsequently joined the firm of Phillips, Lytle, Hitchcock, Huber and Blaine in Rochester, New York. Susan serves on the boards of directors of Foodlink and the American Cancer Society (Monroe County Unit) and is a member of Planned Parenthood Capital Campaign Honorary Committee, The Greater Rochester Coalition for Choice, the Rochester Chapter of the Na tional Organization for Women, Greater Rochester Association of Women Attorneys and the American, New York State and Monroe County Bar Associations. Susan is the past chair of the Monroe County Bar's Legislative Committee and has served as an attorney for the Volunteer Legal Services Project. Prior to her election to the state Assembly, Susan volunteered her services each election day to draft court petitions to vote for those who had been turned away at the polls. Susan has been active in numerous national, state and local political campaigns. She was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention, serving as both a delegation whip and New York State's pro-choice whip. She is a member of the 24th Legislative District Committee in Monroe County.
