and substantial debt. Rivera won the Democratic primary for New York City's 2nd City Council district in 2017 with 60.54% of the vote (8,354 votes). She went on to win the general election with 82.86% of the vote against Republican and perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan and several third-party candidates. Tenure In 2019, as a co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, Rivera was involved in securing $250,000 for the New York Abortion Access Fund to provide abortions for women not covered by insurance or Medicaid, including for those who travel from out-of-state. This funding made New York City the first to allocate money directly to abortion procedures. She has called for more aid to reach the city’s public hospital system, including funding and programs around reproductive healthcare. She also introduced a legislation to create a patient advocate’s office within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to help New Yorkers navigate the healthcare system. In the same year, Rivera introduced legislations to create an Office of Active Transportation and Office of Pedestrians to assess conditions for safe biking and walking in the city and make recommendations for improvements. She introduced and passed a legislation to strengthen protections for renters during periods of maintenance, renovation, and construction. She introduced a legislation to require child protective specialists to explain to parents or caretakers about their rights during initial contact of an ACS investigation. and passed bills to outlaw the sale of foie gras and outlaw pigeon trafficking. In an effort to crack down on illegal hotel operators, she introduced a bill in June 2018 to require short-term rental companies such as Airbnb to report host data to the city. The bill passed the Council 45–0 and was signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio on August 6, 2018. She was listed on City & State’s 2020’s Above and Beyond for her work on strengthening abortions rights and combating sexual harassment. In June 2022, Rivera voted for a controversial $101 billion budget that will cut funding for the city's Department of Education by $600 million, citing "fundamental flaws" in the Fair Student Funding formula. Rivera is Chair of the Council’s Committee on Hospitals and member of the Council's Women's Caucus, Progressive Caucus, and Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus. 2022 Congressional campaign Rivera announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in early June 2022 to represent the newly redistricted New York's 10th congressional