Meanwhile Back in Albany (v37)

Sonofa Gov Poster

Andrew Cuomo, New York's Sonova Gov, recently helped save a man who was trapped in an overturned vehicle on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.  A few days later, he visited Puerto Rico after the recent earthquakes.

Meanwhile, Back in Albany between those two early-January activities, he delivered his tenth State of the State address - and, I should note, he was the creative force behind the poster you see here.

Our ship of state is stronger than it has been in decades. But the ocean we navigate is as tempest tossed as we have seen. Waves of anxiety, injustice and frustration are being fanned by winds of anger and division, creating a political and social superstorm.

That 'superstorm' includes school shootings, synagogue massacres, swastikas, turmoil on university campuses, homophobia, the increase in hate crimes... And it's going to get worse, he said, because of impeachment proceedings, divisive campaigns, and increasing global conflict. And those folks in DC? They're making it worse. 

We have a divided nation and a polarized Federal government. Everyone is pointing fingers, but no one is pointing forward and no one is pointing up.

He then recounted how New York has been a leader in the progressive movement, described as "the advancement of social, racial and economic justice, in an effective manner, to bring about meaningful improvement in the lives of aggrieved people and to further the collective interest." He outlined successes including gun safety, marriage equality, minimum wage, paid family leave, infrastructure, pro-union policies, and more.

Taxes went down for the middle class and corporations, and we've limited government spending to a 2% cap. We did all of that already, so what's left?

• Climate change: be ready to handle emergency situations, accelerate the transition to renewables, focusing on upstate opportunities; new transmission lines to get power from upstate to downstate; banning Styrofoam; funding national restoration/resilience programs, and more
• Green economy: expanding electric vehicles, attracting green industry, and putting a Nobel laureate to lead the way
• Taxes: continue growth by cutting small business taxes by 2.5%, cut 'middle class' taxes for individuals making up to $300K a year
• Upstate: continue REDC and DRI funding for economic growth; expand infrastructure investment; move on a host of regional projects from Buffalo to the Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks; additional airport improvements; and more
• Downstate: continue investing in the MTA and Long Island Railroad; banning repeat sex offenders from the MTA; parks and housing initiatives. 

And, there's more:

• ensuring adequate cell service for the entire state; changing how the gig economy classifies workers; expanding paid leave; ensuring banks do business with everyone, or they won't do business with anyone; coordinating with neighboring states on legal marijuana; creating a global cannabis and hemp research center; ending the 'pink tax,' changing rape laws specifically where alcohol is involved
• legalizing 'gestational surrogacy' for same sex couples; expanding the Empire Child Care Tax Credit to include children under four; increased funding for affordable housing, with a demand for a 'higher level of competence, skill and professionalism' from local governments so the money won't be wasted 
• Not allowing guns purchase by people with a deniable conviction in another state; ending school funding disparities; free college tuition for families earning up to $150,000 a year; expanding workforce training programs
• Restricting the sales of all flavored e-cigarettes, restricting advertising on these products, and banning 'dangerous chemicals and products' as well as all variations of Fentanyl and synthetic drugs; expanding access to medication and assisted treatment; funding and other steps to ensure every New Yorker is counted in the upcoming census, and overturning the SALT limitation in the Trump tax code
• Speaking of taxes, all elected officials making over $100K annually must release their New York State taxes; prescription drug reform, medical transparency; passing the ERA; veterans assistance; e-bike laws; voting and election reform; and more.

Now, about that $6B budget gap, what did he have to say? All I can find is this:

• shifting more of the Medicaid burden to municipalities, which has been frozen for six years; and adding more accountability on the municipalities to keep costs down.

He challenged us to end the "American cancer" that is hatred, regardless of who it's against.

 Racism and discrimination are not new... It is this country consuming itself from within. And if we do not confront it, and if we do not defeat it, it will defeat us — there is no nation on this globe that can beat this nation, but this nation can defeat itself. 

New York must be the antidote. 

He said hate crimes would be subject to the "first-in-the-nation domestic terrorism law" and there'd be funding to expand the capacity of the Hate Crimes Task Force and for security grants to schools and places of worship. And, he wants schools to teach civic values and our history on diversity, as well as how immigration was driven by religious freedom, and

How Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity all teach one premise: that the strongest four-letter word is not hate, its love. 

There's also a call to expand the Jewish Museum on the Holocaust to allow it to "host school children all across the state" and make visiting there

part of a rounded education because to know the history of the Jewish people, is to know the history of love and connection, because New York would not be New York without the Jewish community, period.

Finally, he spoke of unity, saying that we should learn from the Pledge of Allegiance.

 It says, "One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all." Justice for all. Not justice for some, not justice for the wealthy, not justice for the well-off, not justice for the well-bred. Justice for all. That's what it says.

To demonstrate what that means to New Yorkers, he wants to add E Pluribus Unum to our state flag.

And then, the closing:

And hear me today, loud and clear. There is no place for hate in our state... When someone attacks one of us, they attack each of us and all of us.

When they attack Muslims, they attack me, and they attack you. When they attack the LGBTQ community, they attack me, and they attack you. When they attack Latinos, they attack me, and they attack you. When they attack Asian Americans, they attack me, and they attack you. When they attack African Americans, they're attacking me, and they're attacking you. When they're attacking Italian Americans, they're attacking me, and they're attacking you. When they're attacking Puerto Ricans, they're attacking me, and they're attacking you. And when they attack Orthodox Jewish people on the seventh night of Hanukkah, in Monsey, in Rockland, in the home of Rabbi Rottenberg, they attack me and they attack you! 

And when you try to divide the great State of New York, we will stand up tall. We will stand up unified. We will stand up and we will fight and we will win! Because we are right! And that is the New York way! Excelsior! Thank you, and God bless you!

And, lest you're wondering, he's not running for president in 2024. At least not yet.