Local Leaders React to the State-of-the-State Address

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing spending hundreds of millions of dollars from windfall legal settlements with financial institutions to pay for a flurry of road and bridge repairs and improvements around the state.

In his combined State-of-the-State and Budget Address January 13, the governor also proposed a historic $25 billion in spending on education in the state.  The $1 billion increase in public school aid, however is less than half what groups like the State Board of Regents said was needed.

Local reaction to the Governor’s speech is cautiously optimistic.  Newly elected State Senator Fred Akshar says while he was glad to hear the governor talk about adjustments to Common Core education standards, he was “very disappointed he didn’t address the heroin and opioid epidemic.”

Other local leaders said it was nice to hear the governor plan more initiatives, especially infrastructure, for upstate instead of the usual focus on New York City.  One of those leaders was Republican Broome County Executive Debra Preston, who said she wants to see more about the Democrat Governor’s proposal for mandate relief and consolidation or sharing services.