What Cuomo left out

Andrew Cuomo is bent on putting the empire back in Empire State. In his state of the state address yesterday, Cuomo spoke of restoring integrity to scandal-scarred Albany. He emphasized the need to work together for ethics reform and the economic health of the state – a message he punctuated with his inclusion of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos as speakers.

Cuomo of course spoke about the tough road that lies ahead. New York is facing a $10 billion deficit. The governor is calling for freezing the salaries of state employees and in a show of leadership has cut his own salary and that of his staff.

Cuomo plans to save the state money through the re-invention of government. Indeed, bureaucracy and inefficiency should always be reduced.

However, the idea that you can belt-tighten and chop away at the budget during an economic crisis without any tax or fee increases sounds like a fantasy. Too many people who depend on critical services would stand to be hurt.

We await more details about how the governor plans to restructure school aid. Any restructuring should be done for the benefit of children most in deed academically and economically.

Cuomo addressed issues of justice and civil rights – from marriage equity for same sex couples to reform of the juvenile justice system. We applaud his firm statement against unnecessarily imprisoning minors to sustain jobs in upstate detention facilities.

Disappointingly, the governor did not talk about immigrants or policies related to them.

Studies from Adelphi University to the Center for an Urban Future to the Fiscal Policy Institute have highlighted the economic strength and potential of immigrant consumers, business owners and workers. We urge the governor to tap that potential. The Empire State needs it.