Saul Weprin

Saul Weprin
Saul Weprin
118th Speaker of the New York State Assembly
	In office; December 16, 1991 – February 11, 1994
Governor	Mario Cuomo
Preceded by	Mel Miller
Succeeded by	Sheldon Silver
Member of the New York State Assembly; from the 24th district
	In office; December 1, 1971 – February 11, 1994
Preceded by	Martin Rodell
Succeeded by	Mark Weprin
Personal details
Born	August 5, 1927; Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Died	February 11, 1994 (aged 66); Queens, New York City, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Brooklyn College (BA); Brooklyn Law School (JD)

Saul Weprin (August 5, 1927 – February 11, 1994) was an American attorney and politician. He was a

Speaker

from December 1991 until his death.

Biography

Saul Weprin was born in

Speaker of the New York State Assembly in 1991. He served in the United States Coast Guard in 1945.^[1]

In the late 1950s he became president of his cooperative apartment board in

Speaker after Stanley Fink announced his resignation, but lost to Mel Miller. In 1987, he got the post of Ways and Means Committee chairman, and was instrumental in developing the Tax Reform and Reduction Act, one of the largest tax cuts in American history. On December 16, 1991, he was elected Speaker "after a lightning-like round of politicking by telephone among the Democrats in the Assembly",^[2] after Speaker Mel Miller had lost his seat in the Assembly upon being convicted on federal fraud charges, later overturned on appeal.^[3]

Weprin was an opponent of the death penalty and a supporter of abortion rights. He pushed the first gay rights bill through the Assembly, sought to increase state aid for schools in New York, and defended the state's Medicaid and welfare programs against cuts proposed by the Republican-controlled Senate.[1]

Personal life

Weprin married Sylvia Matz in 1950, a biology teacher, who was born in Cuba and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1938,^[4] when she was eight years old.^[5] He died on February 11, 1994, at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens from complications resulting from a stroke.^[1]

The couple had three sons, Barry Weprin, an attorney in New York, Mark Weprin, who won his father's former seat, and served in the Assembly until January 2010, when he was elected to the New York City Council seat vacated by his brother David Weprin, who, after an unsuccessful run for New York City Comptroller, succeeded him in the Assembly in 2010.

References

^
New York Times
. p. 10; Column 1.
^ ^a ^b Verhovek, Sam Howe (December 15, 1991). "Cuomo Ally Seals Race for Speaker in New York State". New York Times.
^ Verhovek, Sam Howe (December 17, 1991). "Man in the News: Saul Weprin; A Quiet Conciliator". New York Times.
^ Lombardi, Frank (March 1, 2002). "Applicant Stirs Council Caucus". New York Daily News.
^ "Sylvia Weprin Feinstein Receives Award at Somos Conference". Room8. April 13, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012.

New York State Assembly
Preceded by Martin Rodell	Member of the New York State Assembly from the 21st district 1971–1972	Succeeded by George J. Farrell, Jr.
Preceded by Arthur J. Cooperman	Member of the New York State Assembly from the 24th district 1973–1994	Succeeded by Mark Weprin
Preceded by Arthur J. Kremer	Chairman of the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee 1987–1991	Succeeded by Sheldon Silver
Political offices
Preceded by Mel Miller	Speaker of the New York State Assembly 1991–1994	Succeeded by Sheldon Silver

[NYTimes-Weprin-dead-1] 
New York Times
. p. 10; Column 1.

[NYT-Race-2] Verhovek, Sam Howe (December 15, 1991). "Cuomo Ally Seals Race for Speaker in New York State". New York Times.

[NYTimes-Speaker-3] Verhovek, Sam Howe (December 17, 1991). "Man in the News: Saul Weprin; A Quiet Conciliator". New York Times.

[NYDN-Caucas-4] Lombardi, Frank (March 1, 2002). "Applicant Stirs Council Caucus". New York Daily News.

[r8ny-5] "Sylvia Weprin Feinstein Receives Award at Somos Conference". Room8. April 13, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012.

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