NY Governor Andrew Cuomo
ALBANY – In the first State of the State address of his second term, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will present a long list of measures including tax cuts for small business, property tax relief, funding for bridges and subways and efforts to improve public schools.
The Governor will deliver his fifth State of the State Wednesday afternoon in Albany before both the Senate and Assembly.
But the State of the State – which was delayed by nearly two weeks due to the death of former governor Mario Cuomo – is only part of Wednesday’s message. The details of how the Cuomo expects to pay for his ambitious 2015 agenda will also be provided when his administration unveils its budget recommendations immediately following the State of the State.
To spur the economy, Cuomo is pitching a small-business tax cut and the creation of a new state office to streamline licensing and permitting. He’s also proposing $1.5 billion for upstate economic development. Seven upstate regions would compete for the funds, which would be disbursed in $500 million prizes to three winning regions.
On taxes, the governor has suggested a $1.66 billion program that would provide property tax relief to homeowners whose property tax burden exceeds 6 percent of their income, so long as their income is below $250,000.
Education is expected to be another key issue for Cuomo, who said Tuesday that he wants to use teacher evaluations to take on a bloated and inefficient public education system. Proponents of charter schools have asked Cuomo and lawmakers to raise a cap on the number of authorized charter schools.
Cuomo has called for an approach to infrastructure that balances upstate and downstate needs. For upstate, that means $500 million for broadband access, along with a promise to avoid toll hikes on the Thruway. Cuomo also vowed to set aside state money to reduce the need for toll increases on the new Tappan Zee Bridge.
Cuomo is expected to use his address to touch on several other recent proposals, including a call to raise the minimum wage from $8.75 to $10.50 per hour and to create a commission to study legislative compensation.
The address is set for 1:30 p.m. in Albany and can be watched at the governor’s live stream web page.
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