ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address not only received high marks from his fellow members of the Democratic Party, much of it was also well received by Republicans across the state.
The region’s state Senator, Cathy Young (R-Olean), said that she was pleased the governor spent a great deal of time acknowledging that New York needs to be more “business friendly” and will work to initiate programs that do just that.
“Many of the governor’s proposals actually mirror what we’ve put together as Senate Republicans, so I’m very excited about that fact,” Young told reporters following the governor’s address on Jan. 8. “We need to make sure that we’re doing all that we can to cut taxes. He talked about property tax relief, corporate taxes and relieving those, and working together to relieve jobs.”
The region’s representative in Congress, Tom Reed (R-Corning), was also pleased to see the governor mention the need to make New York a more business-friendly climate in the coming years. “When I heard the governor’s proposals in regards to focusing on upstate manufacturing and creating an environment in which upstate manufacturing can stay competitive by building it hear and selling it there, I’m on board with that. So I’m supportive of those policies and I’m glad to see the governor embracing that policy and I will stand with him to promote upstate and especially upstate manufacturing.”
While the governor is getting passing grades for his effort to address business concerns across upstate New York, some Republicans are still critical of him for his failure to address other issues. Among the key GOP issues the governor failed to acknowledge were concerns with the Common Core learning curriculum, a repeal or scaling back of the Safe Act and whether or not he will lift the moratorium on hydrofracking in New York state – something that has been in place for over five years.
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