Jan 19

Jan 19 Upstate scholars critique Gov. Cuomo's 2020 State of the State By Luke Perry

On January 8 Governor Cuomo delivered the 2020 State of the State Address (full video here). The address dates back to 1777 and served two original purposes, explained Tara Ross, Professor of History at Onondaga Community College, on Ivory Tower (WCNY).. The first was to rally New York in support of independence. The second was to identify current needs of the state. Subsequent governors have followed this format, while adding a third dimension: using the address as an opportunity to reward the party in power for winning elections.

Along those lines, Ross contended that Cuomo’s address provided several broad goals, but few details. Cuomo adopted a “good cop” approach in this speech, Ross explained, likely to be followed by a “bad cop” approach in the forthcoming budget address.

Kristi Andersen, Professor Emeritus in Political Science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, said Cuomo took the unusual step of completely disconnecting the budget from the State of the State. As a result, there was no discussion of how his proposals would be paid for.

There was also no discussion of the $6 billion state deficit, and related challenges, such as rising Medicaid costs. This was “particularly egregious,” according to Andersen, “given that New York is really the only state that doesn’t pay most of Medicaid costs that are taken on by the state. They’re shoving those down to local governments. ” As a result, the counties that pay the highest percentage of money to Medicaid are the poorest counties in the state.

Lisa Dolak, Professor of Law at Syracuse University, said the current deficit is all the more remarkable considering the economy and stock market are doing well, and unemployment is low. Dolak said the problem is with spending because revenues are coming in as expected. Rating agencies point to “poor oversight and financial mismanagement of Medicaid costs,” which is “not surprising given the level of taxation in this state.”

Scholars believed Cuomo did hit some positive notes as well. Ross believed that proposed tweaks to the cash bail law was worthwhile. The state should work to address concerns of local law enforcement while continuing to recognize the bail system is “most harmful to poor people and minorities.”

Ross also supported Cuomo’s proposal to reduce the corporate franchise tax from 6.5 percent to 4 percent and to provide a tax credit for small farmers, who make less $250,000 in net business income. The former would be advantageous for small businesses, while the latter would positively impact about 4,000 New York farmers.

Tim Byrnes, Professor of Political Science at Colgate University, believed the “most important” part of the speech was the $3 billion bond proposal for the environment seeking to reduce flooding and restore wildlife habitat.

“We are in a country where the national leadership doesn’t believe that we have an environment problem,” Byrnes explained. “This is being devolved to the states and Cuomo is taking this seriously.”

Byrnes also supported the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana for criminal justice reasons and economic reasons. Cuomo pledged in his speech that legalization would happen this year, adding an estimated $300 million in annual revenue.

Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College

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