{"id":2351,"date":"2020-01-13T08:07:30","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T13:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/?p=2351"},"modified":"2020-01-13T08:07:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-13T13:07:30","slug":"the-state-of-new-york-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/the-state-of-new-york-state\/","title":{"rendered":"The State of New York State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In many ways, Governor Cuomo\u2019s 2020 State of\nthe State address last week was like many that have preceded it.  In modern times, the state of the State\naddress mimics the pomp of the national State of the Union address: lots of\nrhetorical flourishes, calls for actions on important issues, with little in\nthe way of real details.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When governors first get elected, their State\nof the State addresses are forward looking and reformist.  Particularly if they are replacing a predecessor\nfrom a different political party or one tarred with scandal, new governors tend\nto offer what they characterize as a \u201cbold, new\u201d approach to the issues facing\nthe state while also bashing the previous officeholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As governors remain in office the State of the\nState becomes more and more about the Administration\u2019s successes and less and\nless about specific reforms.  The\nlong-serving governor has become the status quo and reforms imply his\/her own policy\nfailures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governor Cuomo\u2019s 2020 address spent much of\nits time on successes, much of which he can rightfully claim, ideas for the\nvarious regions of the state and some ideas to grapple with problems.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He contrasted the successes of New York with\nthe gridlock, partisan sniping, and \u2013 frankly \u2013 the \u201ccircus\u201d of noise that emanates\nfrom the national government.  His nearly\n80-minute address spent most of the time on his achievements and how New York\nunder his leadership contrasts with Washington. \nIt wasn\u2019t until the first hour of speech was over that he raised the\nlooming projected $6 billion deficit facing the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While admitting that the problem existed, the\ngovernor spent little time discussing how it would be addressed.  State of the State addresses are generally\n\u201cgood news\u201d presentations; the \u201cbad news\u201d is found in the budget, usually a\ncouple of weeks later.  This year looks\nto be no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governor spent considerable time on a growing\npublic safety threat from domestic terrorists, particularly those involved in\nhate crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the governor\u2019s new ideas touched on\nimportant issues.  Here are a few of the\nissues mentioned in his speech and included in his 317-page briefing book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The governor is proposing a\n$3 billion environmental bond act. \nCalling his proposal the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act, the plan \u2014 which\nwould need the approval of voters this November \u2013 would fund natural\nrestoration and resiliency programs across the state.  The governor proposes to use the money to\nrestore habitats for fish and wildlife, fight invasive species, protect against\nflooding, boost fish production at fisheries and double the state’s artificial\nreef in the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound.<\/li>
  2. He called for support to\nallow for the legal sale of marijuana without a prescription in New York.  If approved the Administration believes that\nit would raise $300 million when fully implemented.<\/li>
  3. He proposed that lawmakers\napprove a plan to require that all elected officials making over $100,000\npublicly disclose their tax returns.<\/li>
  4. He called for various tax cuts\nfor small businesses and middle-income individuals.  How these are paid for with a\nmulti-billion-dollar deficit remains to be seen.<\/li>
  5. Lastly, he vowed to fight\nfor greater equity in state funding for K-12 schools.  How that will be funded in the context of a\nbudget deficit is unknown.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The governor also called for action to\n\u201cprevent the blocking, throttling and paid prioritization of online content \u2014\npractices that undermine a free and open internet.\u201d  He called for an expansion of the state\u2019s\ncollege financial aid program, known as the Excelsior Scholarship, to families\nwith incomes up to $150,000.  He called\nfor tools to better regulate robocalls and \u201cpredatory\u201d debt collectors.  He called for greater voting protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A big issue left out of the governor\u2019s speech\nand briefing book was how to overhaul New York\u2019s much-maligned ethics oversight\nentity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But the big issue for 2020 remains:  How will the state balance its fiscal books\nand eliminate a significant shortfall? \nThis being an election year, how that question gets answered may well best\ntell New Yorkers the state of their state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In many ways, Governor Cuomo\u2019s 2020 State of the State address last week was like many that have preceded it.  In modern times, the state of the State address mimics the pomp of the national State of the Union address: lots of rhetorical flourishes, calls for actions on important issues, with little in the way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2352,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351\/revisions\/2352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}