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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. Governor Cuomo’s Synopsis of his State of the State Address Wednesday. January 9, 2019:

For generations, New York has embodied the progressive philosophy — not just with rhetoric, but with results. That is New York — we are idealists and we are realists, we are dreamers and we are doers. We have accomplished more together than we could have imagined and now we are called on by circumstance to do even more. Our current challenges are daunting — but nothing New York can’t handle at her best. This year, as part of my annual State of the State agenda, I’m excited to advance a blueprint to continue New York’s legacy as the progressive capital of the nation. 

Watch the full speech here. What’s next for New York? My proposals for 2020 include:

• Combatting the scourge of violent hate crimes by passing a domestic terrorism law
• Legalizing the adult use of cannabis
• Protecting our environment by passing a $3 billion ‘Restore Mother Nature’ Bond Act
• Expanding the Excelsior Scholarship, New York’s tuition-free college program, to more families
• Enacting legislation to ensure that all workers have Paid Sick Leave
• Achieving 100% statewide cell phone service
• Protecting gig economy workers
• Closing a dangerous loophole that allows rapists to escape justice
• Legalizing surrogacy so that LGBTQ people and couples struggling with fertility can raise a family
• And much, much more

See the full list of State of the State proposals here. I’m confident that we can achieve all this, and more, while continuing our record of fiscal responsibility and lowering middle-class taxes. Unfortunately, these past few years we have witnessed abhorrent acts of racism, discrimination, and anti-Semitism. Only a couple weeks ago, a rabbi and his congregation celebrating Hanukkah were brutally attacked in Monsey, New York. Racism and discrimination are not new. But lately, they have reared their ugly heads again. If we do not confront hate, 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 to this virus. So, as we look to the year ahead, we must remember that there is so much more that unites us than divides us, and we must reaffirm that diversity is our greatest strength, not a weakness. Our nation’s motto is E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. As long as that philosophy guides us, as long as it prevails over the forces of hate, our state and our country will prosper and we will keep on leading the way forward. 

Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo