Al Stirpe Biography

A lifelong Central New Yorker, Al Stirpe was raised in Clyde where his family owned and operated Albert’s Restaurant for more than 26 years. After graduating from high school with honors in 1971, Al attended the University of Notre Dame and graduated in 1975 with a degree in economics.

Al was a financial analyst with General Electric in Syracuse and with four partners subsequently spun-off GE’s Electronic Camera Operation to form CID Technologies. CIDTEC manufactures electronic video systems and sensors used primarily in automation, military guidance, nuclear inspection and scientific instrumentation markets. In 1994, the owners sold CIDTEC to Thermo Electron, a Fortune 500 company.

Al formed a new venture, Qube Software, Inc., offering enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and services to small and mid-sized manufacturing companies. As president of the company, he brought Qube from a start-up business to a multi-million dollar organization with 200 customers throughout the United States and Canada.

Al Stirpe ran for Assembly in 2006 because he knows Central New York needs a thoughtful, practical plan that will foster growth in Central New York to stop the exodus of young families. That’s why Al has been a steadfast advocate for small business and the re-growth of the Central New York economy. Stirpe helped reform the Workers Compensation Insurance system, saving businesses over 20 percent on insurance costs. Stirpe has also authored legislation to create $100,000 in grants for Central New York businesses focusing on energy and green technology, as well as, Main Street Center Grants aimed at renovating downtown business districts throughout the region.

Most recently, Stirpe played an integral role in securing critical funding for regional development projects including: $8 million for improving Hancock Air Park to attract major new employers to Cicero, $13 million to save jobs at New Process Gear, and $10 million for the Connective Corridor to enhance Syracuse’s arts and business districts.

Al Stirpe is also a strong advocate for Child Health Plus (CHP) because he knows firsthand the critical importance of improving access to health insurance and quality health care for Central New York’s hardworking families. For more than a decade, Stirpe helped care for his stepdaughter, Jesseca, who now lives in a home for the disabled in Syracuse: he has carried his dedication to his family’s health and care with him to the Assembly, where he has fought to improve access to better health care for all New Yorkers.

Assemblyman Stirpe also understands the burden that high taxes have on working families and worked to create the Middle-Class STAR Rebate program in 2007, putting more money in the wallets of working families. This year, Stirpe fought to make sure eligible seniors saw an increase of 40 percent in their Enhanced STAR Rebate. In addition, Assemblyman Stirpe fought to provide our schools with significant increases in education aid to help give our kids the education they deserve and help prevent property taxes from skyrocketing further. Al also fought against the executive proposals to increase taxes on gasoline and increase the NYS auto insurance fee by $15 a car. Al continues to be a vocal critic of the New York State Thruway Authority Board’s lack of accountability and toll hikes that hurt businesses, our economy and our families.

Al Stirpe has lived in the 121st Assembly District for 26 years. Al, his wife, Chele, and their daughter, Alexandra, 13, live in North Syracuse in Lisi Gardens. His stepson Chris, 25, recently returned home after serving in the Navy aboard the USS Chancellorville, and his stepdaughter, Jesseca, 22, lives in Syracuse.

Al has served on the Board of Directors of Familycapped, a non-profit organization comprised of parents of children with multiple disabilities, formed to expand programs for handicapped children in Central New York. He was directly involved in helping to raise over $1,000,000 to build Casey’s Place, a respite home for families caring for disabled children. Casey’s Place also provides parents with a resource to learn how to navigate the various state and local programs available to them. In addition, Assemblyman Stirpe provided a $10,000 grant this year for the Central New York Library Resources Council to help establish CNY HealthSource, a regional online health information source for Central New Yorkers.

Al’s family has been a tremendous influence in his fight to protect our families and children. That’s why Al fought to protect our children from on-line predators and successfully helped pass the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (E-STOP). This new law will help prevent our most vulnerable population, children, from being targeted by sexual predators on social network sites like MySpace and Facebook. Additionally, Al helped pass the Civil Confinement Act of 2007, ensuring the most dangerous sexual predators will not be back in our neighborhoods. Al has also played a crucial part in protecting the quality of life for senior citizens by helping to pass a new law aimed at protecting seniors from violent attacks. In addition, Stirpe secured $10,000 to help improve the CENTRO’s Senior Transportation Program, making public transportation easier and more readily available for seniors.

As the stepfather of a veteran and a member of the Assembly’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Al continually strives to ensure veterans are aware of the state and federal programs available to them. This year, he fought to provide veterans returning from combat a new tuition grant – up to the value of in-state SUNY undergraduate tuition – which can be used at any public or private university in the state. Al worked to improve the executive proposal to expand the program to cover more combat veterans.

Assemblyman Al Stirpe represents the 121st Assembly District, which is comprised of the towns of Cicero, Clay, Manlius, LaFayette and Pompey in Onondaga County Central New York.