Andrew Cuomo in 2015 Governor's State of the State speeches
On Budget & Economy:
2015 Opportunity Agenda: cut $1.7B taxes; add $1.5B programs
Governor Andrew Cuomo presented his "2015 Opportunity Agenda," designed to restore economic opportunity, improve and reform our education system, and restore the public's confidence and trust in our justice system.
This plan is a bold and comprehensive package of legislative reforms, state actions, and public investments that will increase opportunity for all New Yorkers and keep the State moving forward.-
Proposal #1: Cut small business taxes from 6.5 percent to 2.5 percent
- Proposals #2 & 3: Pass $1.7 billion in property tax relief for homeowners and renters
- Proposal #14: Launch a $1.5 billion Upstate New York Economic Revitalization Competition
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Proposal #24: Create a $35 million Global NY Export-Import Development Program
- Proposal #25: Expand the Unemployment Strike Force to the top ten highest areas of unemployment
- Proposal #66: Provide assistance to our homeless
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Civil Rights:
Pay equity for women; stop pregnancy discrimination
Proposal #64: Stand up for New York's women--pass the Women's Equality Act: The Governor remains deeply committed to advancing sweeping legislative reform to overcome discrimination against women. In years past, New York has served as a model
for gender equality and fairness. Governor Cuomo's plan will return the State to its rightful place as a national leader on women's equality. The Women's Equality Act will:- Achieve pay equity,
- Stop sexual harassment in all workplaces,
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Remove barriers to remedying discrimination,
- End Family Status Discrimination,
- Stop housing discrimination for victims of domestic violence,
- Stop source-of-income discrimination,
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Protect victims of domestic violence by strengthening order-of-protection laws
- Strengthen human trafficking laws
- Stop pregnancy discrimination once and for all, and
- Protect a woman's freedom of choice.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Crime:
Raise the Age: prosecute 16- and 17-year olds as juveniles
Proposal #62: Raise the Age: New York is one of only two states in the nation that has no legal authority to treat 16- and 17-year-olds as juveniles. "Raise the Age" is a movement advocating for juvenile responses to crimes committed by minors.
The governor's Commission recently recommended a comprehensive set of reforms that would change how the justice system treats all youths. They are carefully designed to preserve public safety by maintaining
District Attorney control over serious crimes of violence; allow for violent felony offenses given Youthful Offender status to be considered in sentencing if the youth continues to commit such offenses; and provide for the capacity to impose longer
sentences for the most egregious crimes of violence. The Commission estimates that, if implemented, these reforms will prevent between 1,500 and 2,400 crimes against people every five years across the State.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Crime:
Recruit more minorities into law enforcement
Proposal #63: Restore trust between community and law enforcement: Underlying the American dream of economic opportunity is a foundational belief and trust in our justice system. But that belief and trust has been questioned, presenting a problem in both
perception and in reality. To restore trust and respect between community and law enforcement the Governor proposes a number of recommendations, which include the following:- Create a statewide Reconciliation Commission to address police/community
relations in affected neighborhoods.
- Recruit more minorities into law enforcement.
- Obtain and make publicly available race and ethnic data on summonses, misdemeanors, and other police actions statewide.
- Fund replacement vests, body cameras and
bullet-proof glass for patrol cars in high crime areas.
- District Attorneys may issue a report in police cases where an unarmed civilian dies and the case is not presented to the grand jury or the grand jury fails to indict.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Education:
Invest in the teaching profession, plus teacher evaluations
2015 Opportunity Agenda: proposals involving grade-school education:- Proposal #36: To invest in the teaching profession, create a residency program for teachers
- Proposals #37-41: Strengthen teacher evaluations
- Proposal #42: Create a $20
million Teacher Excellence Fund to support top teachers
- Proposal #43: Make it easier, fairer and faster to remove ineffective teachers from the classroom
- Proposal #44: Implement the Massachusetts Model in NY to transform failing schools
- Proposal
#45: Give students in failing schools a preference
- Proposals #46 & 47: Add another 100 slots to the charter cap and remove the regional limits
- Proposal #48: Propose "anti-creaming" legislation to ensure that charters are providing opportunities for
high-needs populations
- Proposals #49 & 50: Pass the $100 million Education Tax Credit for public and private scholarships to promote choice in education --and pass the DREAM Act, with $27 million in this year's budget to make it a reality
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Education:
Ambitious P-12 agenda to stop NY from falling behind
We will pursue an ambitious P-12 agenda:As of this year, school aid is at its highest level ever and over 65 percent of recent increases were directed to high-need school districts. But New York students are still falling behind:-
New York lags behind 31 other states in student performance in math on "the nation's report card";
- Barely three in four students graduate from high school on time;
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The graduation rate achievement gap between Black and Latino students and white students persists, especially when it comes to the percent of students earning Advanced Degree diplomas.
- Only 38 percent of students who do graduate from high school
are college- and career-ready; and
- Only one-third of students in grades 3-8 scored at the proficient level and above in math and English Language Arts.
It is time for dramatic change and an ambitious P-12 reform agenda.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Education:
MA model for NY: receivership when schools fail for 3 years
"Priority schools" are defined as schools that- are in the bottom 5% of schools statewide, based on combined ELA & math scores, and are not showing progress in test performance or
- have graduation rates that are below 60% for the last 3 years.
77 of these schools have been failing for nearly a decade. At least 250,000 students were enrolled in these 77 schools since they've been failing. To ensure that the most chronically underperforming schools in the state improve at a faster rate, the
Governor proposes legislation modeled after the Massachusetts education receivership model. When a school fails for three years, a nonprofit, another school district, or a turnaround expert must take over the school. That entity will have the
authority to:- Overhaul the curriculum.
- Override agreements to terminate underperforming staff.
- Provide salary incentives to recruit high-performing educators.
- Obtain priority over community schools and other State grant programs.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Education:
Expand charter schools: more lotteries; 100 more slots
- Give students in failing schools a preference: To provide students in failing schools with additional options in the short-term the Governor will create a preference in the charter school lottery for such students.
- Add another 100 slots to the
charter cap and remove the regional limits. The number of charters in New York is capped at 460 and New York City currently has only 24 charters remaining under the cap.
The Governor proposes that we make the overall cap statewide instead of artificially restricting it by region.
- Propose "anti-creaming" legislation to ensure that charters are providing opportunities for high-needs populations: To ensure that charter
school student populations reflect the communities that they serve, we will create an "anti-creaming" provision in law that requires charters to submit enrollment rates to SED for Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) students.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Education:
Full SUNY or CUNY tuition for schoolteachers
2015 Opportunity Agenda involving colleges:- Proposal #10: $110 million round of NYSUNY2020 and NYCUNY2020
- Proposal #12: Align community colleges with the Regional Economic Development Councils
- Proposal #35: Pay full SUNY or CUNY tuition for
the top graduate program candidates who commit to teaching in NY for at least 5 years
- Proposal #57: Invest $15 million to open the nation's first emergency preparedness college
- Proposal #65: Expand SUNY Sexual Assault Policy statewide
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Environment:
$172M for Environmental Protection Fund
Proposal #15: Increase the Environmental Protection Fund to $172 million: In the 2015-16 Executive Budget, the Governor proposes to raise the Environmental Protection Fund to $172 million dollars, an increase of 28 percent since he took office.
The $10 million increase will support increases in fourteen categories, including land conservation, stewardship, and invasive species control and prevention. The increase includes a new sub-allocation for capacity grants to State Parks friends' groups.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Foreign Policy:
Trade mission to Cuba across a multitude of sectors
Governor Cuomo will lead international trade missions to markets including Mexico, Canada, Italy, China, Israel, and Cuba. Cuba is unique. Since 1960, trade and travel to and from Cuba have been largely restricted. Now, the doors to this market
of more than 11 million people are being opened to New Yorkers, and New York businesses. In the coming weeks, Governor Cuomo will lead a special trade mission to Cuba to expand opportunities for New York's businesses across a multitude of sectors.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Free Trade:
$35M for New York export-import program
Proposal #24: Create a $35 million Global NY Export-Import Development Program: Governor Cuomo will launch a $35 million Global NY Development Program to encourage more New York-based companies to export their products to established and emerging markets
around the globe. The Global NY Development Program will provide grants and loans to help small- and medium-sized businesses based in the State explore new exporting opportunities or global expansion with financing to grow and compete.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Government Reform:
Campaign contributions only for election-related expenses
Proposal #61: Pass real campaign finance reform to reduce the influence of money on our government:
New York's laws regarding how campaign funds can be spent are among the most lax in the nation, allowing candidates and former public officials to spend funds on personal expenses with no real connection to candidacy or public office.
Under the Governor's reforms, contributions could be used only for expenses that are directly related to elections or public duties.
Expenditures for the exclusive personal benefit of the candidate or office-holder would be prohibited and a long list of expressly prohibited expenditures would be memorialized in statute.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Homeland Security:
$80M investment in emergency response
2015 Opportunity Agenda: proposals involving Homeland Security:- Conduct a review of our counter-terrorism capacity
- Invest $15 million to open the nation's first emergency preparedness college
- Creating a $15 million Statewide Targeted
Operations Response Management (STORM) online system to coordinate federal, State & local efforts.
- Strengthen local governments in state-of-the-art emergency response techniques
- Invest $50 million in new emergency vehicles and GPS systems
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Local Issues:
$1.5 billion Upstate NY Economic Revitalization Competition
2015 Opportunity Agenda involving local issues:- Proposal #11: Double the NY State Venture Capital Fund
- Proposal #13: Continue the progress of the Regional Economic Development Councils
- Proposal #14: Launch a $1.5 billion Upstate New
York Economic Revitalization Competition
- Proposal #23: Continue to bring international attention to Upstate NY with our challenges and $25 million investment in our "I LOVE NY" campaign
- Proposal #26: Create the Rochester Anti-Poverty Task Force
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Technology:
$291M for road & airport infrastructure improvements
2015 Opportunity Agenda: proposals involving infrastructure:- Proposal #4: Modernize JFK, LGA, Stewart and Republic Airports
- Proposal #5: Propose making Republic and Stewart Airports tax-free zones through START-UP NY
- Proposal #6: Build New
Metro-North Stations in the Bronx and Extend Access to Penn Station
- Proposal #7: Invest $150 million to construct vertical parking structures at strategic locations on Long Island and Westchester
- Proposal #8: Invest in the New NY Bridge and
stabilize the NYS Thruway
- Proposal #9: Ensure statewide high-speed broadband access by the end of 2018
- Proposal #19: Launch 76West, a clean energy business competition in the Southern Tier
- Proposal #20: Invest $65 million in ports and rail hub
infrastructure
- Proposal #21: Invest $50 million to transform our State Fairgrounds into a year-round, premier multi-use facility
- Proposal #22: Spend $1.5 million to purchase land for training and $25 million for improvements along Route 26
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
On Welfare & Poverty:
Establish office of Faith-Based community development
Proposals #27-34: Enact an economic mobility agenda to give every New Yorker a chance:- Raise the minimum wage
- Combat hunger
- Invest in affordable housing and community development
- Expand Urban Youth Jobs Program
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Increase MWBE business opportunities
- Provide student loan relief to graduates with high debt
- Establish the Office of Faith-Based Community Development Services
Source: State of the State address to 2015 New York Legislature
Jan 21, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018