Ira Silverstein - Senate Career

Senate Career

Silverstein was elected to his position in 1999. His election was an upset, as he was the first non-party endorsed Democrat to be nominated for a northside senate seat since Dawn Clark Netsch in 1972.

Silverstein’s father was a public school teacher, and partly because of that, Silverstein has worked for increased funding for schools. Early in his career as a senator, Silverstein earmarked the largest share of his legislative grants to public schools in his district. Silverstein supported a bill for tax credits for private school tuition, which was signed into law in 1999.

In March 2006, Silverstein sponsored a bill to provide additional benefits to those who are diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders, the most commonly known is autism. This bill allowed more doctor’s visits and increased coverage for speech therapy.

Recently, Silverstein has worked to change the laws regarding identity theft to make it harder for personal information to be shared. Prior to this bill, names and passwords on the computer; cell phone records; e-mails; instant messages; and records of websites visited by an individual were not considered “personal identifying information.” This bill would include that information as private and would prohibit such personal information by brokers.

Silverstein is the Chairman of the Senate Executive Committee, and he serves on the Senate Judiciary and Licensed Activities committees, and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR). JCAR reviews regulations imposed by state departments on business and citizens to ensure they are in accordance with the department’s legal authority.