Welcome Letter

Welcome to our New York State Assembly page for the 108th Assembly District.

Our hope is that this page can be a resource for you and your family to keep updated on what is happening in the NYS Assembly and how best to navigate state programs and systems.

As a Cohoes native, I have a long history with our area and do my best to stay connected to the people who live here. I am honored to represent diverse citizens of the five cities, two towns, and three villages in the three counties that comprise this district.I use this page to let you know my legislative priorities and the issues that the 108th district has shown me are important. Our common goal is to pass laws designed to build a stronger, healthier, and more vibrant New York. My focus is on what I know best: local government, healthcare, and small business; as well as working on the issues that affect households across our state including taxes, jobs, education, and healthcare.

Please feel free to contact my office by phone at 518-455-4474 or email me directly at mcdonaldj@nyassembly.gov with concerns, legislation you support or oppose, or ideas to help make our community stronger. This site is updated frequently, so please visit to keep yourself up to date on various issues, news and legislative hearings. Thank you for visiting!

Sincerely,
John T. McDonald III
Member of Assembly
108th District

Biography

Assemblymember  John T. McDonald III

John T. McDonald III, RPh has served in the New York State Assembly representing the 108th Assembly District since 2013, which consists of parts of Albany, Rensselaer, and Saratoga counties, including the City of Cohoes, his hometown where he previously served as Mayor for 13 years, and the communities of Green Island, North Greenbush, East Greenbush, Rensselaer, Waterford, and the cities of Troy and Watervliet.

A life-long resident of Cohoes, John is a graduate of Keveny Memorial Academy and the Albany College of Pharmacy where he received a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1985 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities. John is a practicing pharmacist and an experienced small businessman as the previous owner of Marra's Pharmacy, his family business now celebrating 92 years in downtown Cohoes and serving the Capital Region.

As Mayor of the City of Cohoes, John focused on financial accountability, improving quality of life, and expanding economic opportunity. He pursued an aggressive economic development agenda centered on downtown revitalization, adaptive reuse of historic buildings, Hudson and Mohawk Riverfront developments, and gateway improvements. John created a platform for a more transparent and open process for conducting city business, which increased the city's financial stability when he left office in 2012. Just as importantly during John's tenure, the City of Cohoes' population grew by more than 8% which was the first population increase for the City of Cohoes since 1930.

John has also been an active member of the New York State Conference of Mayors where he previously served as President of the statewide organization. He has also chaired the Capital District Transportation Committee, RiverSpark, the Cohoes Industrial Development Agency and the Cohoes Local Development Corporation. John has served on the boards of the New York State Heritage Areas Advisory Board, New York State Workforce Investment Board, State Comptroller's Local Advisory Team, the NYS Local Government Records Management Council and the Board of Governors for the New York State Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, and many other regional councils and commissions. John currently serves on the board of the Albany Convention Center Authority and is a member of the NYS Department of Financial Services Drug Accountability Board. John serves as an Executive Committee member for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

As a member of the NYS Assembly, John serves as the Chair of the Governmental Operations Committee. John is a member of the following NYS Assembly Committees: Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, Health, Higher Education, and Ways and Means. John focuses on his strengths in local government, health care, and small business. John has sponsored and passed legislation into law to reduce unfunded mandates to local governments, control the cost of property taxes, support job growth and workforce development, strengthen access to health care, and address the opioid crisis.

District Map