Gov. Andrew Cuomo during his 2014 State of the State address, Jan. 8, 2014 in Albany. (Photo from the governor’s press office)
ALBANY – New York State is on its way to a full recovery, but there is still much work that needs to be done. That was the overall message from Governor Andrew Cuomo during his fourth state of the state address on Wednesday afternoon.
The governor spent the first portion of his speech outlining the improvements the state has seen over the past three years, including the elimination of a $10 billion debt and passage of an on-time budget for three consecutive years – something the state had not done since the 1960s.
“Three years ago, the capitol was literally and figuratively crumbling. Today it is shining brighter than it has in decades,” Cuomo said. “We did what we said we would do and as elected officials there’s no statement that makes you prouder to say than when you look at the people of this state and say, ‘We did what we said we were going to do. We changed the direction of this state for the better.'”
Governor Cuomo also highlighted several new initiatives he’s implemented during the past year, including the StartUp NY economic development initiative. And he pointed out that unemployment has declined and the state is now operating with a $2 Billion surplus.
However, the governor said that much more needs to be done to help make New York a more business-friendly state as well as a state that people want to live in. He said that starts with continuing to strengthen the economy, which would involve a combination of three initiatives: Reducing Taxes, Eliminating Regulatory Barriers and rebuilding and strengthening infrastructure.
The governor said that once again, property taxes remain the number one tax burden in the state. He said part of that reason is that there is too many local governments in the state and its time to take a serious look at government consolidation.
“We have too many local governments and we’ve had them for too long – 10,500 local governments,” the governor said. “These are towns, villages, water districts, fire districts, libraries, sewer districts, one district just to count the other districts! We have a proliferation of government that is exceedingly expensive and costly.”
In order to encourage local government consolidation, Cuomo said he will call for a program that provides aid and incentives to governments that share services or merge together.
The governor also said that he would help to initiative a property tax freeze for any local government that is able to prove it has taken a serious look at cost saving measures.
As for other business incentives, the governor said he would work to reduce the corporate tax rate as well as provide additional tax credits to manufacturers. He also said he would expand the StartUp NY program, encouraging more international businesses to participate in the program.
The governor also spent a significant amount of time on education, saying he wants to create a Smart Schools Initiative, which would involve investing $2 billion in funding for the purpose of upgrading technology in schools. And he said he would offer an incentive program for individual teachers who exhibited the highest performance rate through a newly created Teachers Excellence Fund.
In addition, the governor talked about his effort to improve tourism in the state by expanding current programs and developing new ones through the I Love NY Campaign. He also called for Ethics Reform in state government. And he said that he would push for legalized medicinal marijuana in New York, something that has already been allowed in 20 other states.
WRFA will broadcast the governor’s state of the state in its entirety Thursday Night during Community Matters program (6 p.m.).
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