By Susan Arbetter New York State PUBLISHED 5:21 PM ET Feb. 23, 2021 PUBLISHED 5:21 PM EST Feb. 23, 2021 SHARE Bronx Democrat and Dominican native, Assemblymember Karines Reyes, is a registered nurse who moonlights at a hospital in her district to help in the fight against COVID-19. Reyes has seen first-hand the cost paid by frontline workers who lack protections against COVID-19. It’s the primary reason she is sponsoring the NY HERO Act (S.1034 – A.2681), a bill requiring businesses to have enforceable safety standards to prevent the spread of COVID-19. "During the pandemic, we have seen profits rise at the expense of the health of our essential workers who do not receive essential protections," Reyes stated. "We must pass the NY HERO Act to ensure that corporations profiting off of the labor of our communities are doing their fair share in ensuring that those workers are able to do their jobs safely."