Committee Assignments: Law (Chair) and Civic Center

Christopher T. Higgins is serving his second term in the Albany County Legislature as the representative of residents of the 5th Legislative District. The district is comprised of the Washington Park, Center Square, Hudson/Park, Park South and Mansion neighborhoods in the City of Albany and the areas surrounding the governmental and downtown business districts.

Chris is the chair of the law committee in the county legislature. Since his election in 2007, Chris has been the prime sponsor of legislation in Albany County to require the posting of calorie content next to items in chain restaurants, require big box stores to make available recycling for plastic bags, and prohibit text messaging while driving. Chris also created Albany County's first gun buy-back program in connection with a local church. To date, over 250 weapons have been surrendered through the program. The County Sheriff acts as the liaison between the County and participating advocates, ensuring quality control.

Chris is also the prime sponsor and architect of the county restaurant inspection and evaluation system that the Department of Health will be rolling out later in 2012. The system is meant to provide Albany County consumers with pertinent information regarding the cleanliness of restaurants within the county from their most recent health department inspections.

The environment is also a subject area near and dear to Chris's heart. He has pushed for the purchase of more hybrid vehicles in the county fleet and has passed resolutions to  make Albany County and its government buildings more environmentally sustainable and energy efficient.

Chris holds a J.D. degree from Albany Law School of Union University, graduating in 2005 with a concentration in civil litigation. He graduated cum laude from the State University of New York at Albany in 2002 with a B.A. degree. During this time, Chris was a member of the Albany Law School Men's Rugby Team, a member of the American Inns of Court and elected student representative on the Albany Law School Student Bar Association and an elected representative on the University at Albany Student Association.

Active in his community, Chris is a member of the Hudson/Park Neighborhood Association, the Center Square Neighborhood Association and the Lark Street BID Public Safety Committee.

Moving forward in his second term, Chris plans on focusing his time on making Albany County more efficient in light of the County's recent budget constraints.

For regular updates, please visit his Facebook page or visit Chris's website at www.higginsforalbany.com

You can also follow Chris on Twitter under the name @cthiggins