Photos Courtesy of the Office of the Governor
The governor broke with tradition, laying out his legislative agenda in December instead of waiting until the State of the State address to enable the Legislature to commence action on what he considers top priorities within the first 100 days of the next legislative session.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday unveiled a package of 20 ambitious proposals—including legalizing adult use of recreational marijuana; passing the Dream Act and Child Victims Act; and adopting a congestion pricing plan to help pay for the overhaul of the city subway system—that he wants the State Legislature to tackle during the first 100 days of the new session next year.
Officially dubbed his “2019 Justice Agenda,” Cuomo also characterized the proposals as “New York’s Declaration of Independence from Washington.” This year, the governor broke with tradition, laying out his aggressive legislative agenda in December 2018 at the Roosevelt Institute in Manhattan, instead of waiting until the State of the State address to enable the Legislature to commence action on these top priorities immediately upon convening.
“We declare independence from this federal government’s policies. We disconnect from the nationalism, and the racism, and the chaos, and the xenophobia, and the misogyny, and the discrimination, and the dissembling of this Washington administration,” Cuomo said. “We proclaim our federal government’s policy not only regressive, not only repugnant to New York values, we declare it un-American. Let us pass this ambitious progressive agenda as New York’s restoration of true democracy, restoring fairness, progress and pride.”
Highlights of the 2019 Justice Agenda include:
Cuomo said he will end the disproportionatea criminalization of one race over another by regulating, legalizing, and taxing adult use of recreational marijuana.
The governor pledged to fight to ensure that society holds those who abuse children accountable criminally and civilly by passing the Child Victims Act “once and for all.”
“While the federal government has declared war on new immigrants, New York is standing up for our immigrant communities. This year, New York will pass the Dream Act once and for all to ensure a higher education system that opens the door of opportunity to all of our children,” Cuomo promised.
The governor also bluntly stated that “after decades of neglect and diffused responsibility, the MTA is in dire need of funding and reorganization.” Cuomo said Albany will fix the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by passing congestion pricing and overhauling the outdated structure of the authority in order to build a reliable, state of the art mass transit system with a steady funding stream and a structure that supports operational excellence.
The Justice Agenda also calls for the Empire State to “once again lead the nation on gun safety” by banning bump stocks and extending the waiting period for purchasing a gun from three days to 10 days.
The governor said on Monday that he wants to expand on New York’s $100 billion infrastructure plan—building new airports, bridges and train stations all across the state—by investing an additional $150 billion in our infrastructure that, according to Cuomo, will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Governor Cuomo said 2019 is the year that NY must launch the Green New Deal: “The federal government still denies climate change, remarkably turning a blind eye to their own government’s scientific report. New York will be the most progressive state in the nation in moving to renewables and growing the new sustainable green economy. The Green New Deal will make New York’s electricity 100-percent carbon neutral by 2040 and put the state on the path to eliminating its carbon footprint.”
To “improve our democracy,” Cuomo said the Justice Agenda calls for encouraging citizens to engage in the democratic process by allowing voting by mail, enacting early voting, instituting same day and automatic voter registration, synchronizing federal and state elections and making Election Day a State Holiday to ensure as many people as possible participate in the democratic process.
In his remarks on Monday, the governor also addressed equal protection in NY’s criminal justice system. He promised that by next year the State will end cash bail and enact speedy trial and discovery reforms.
Cuomo also pledged to codify the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act into State law and end conversion therapy. And the governor said he and the Democrat-led State Legislature will “fight to pass the Reproductive Health Act and the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act within the first 30 days of the new session.”
Cuomo also said that he will work to codify the health exchange into law and pass a law to ensure pre-existing conditions continue to be covered by insurance companies regardless of what happens at the federal level.
“Let us show this nation what we can get done, the change we can make, the lives we can better. Let us remind people there’s nothing that we can’t accomplish when we work together,” the governor said as he concluded his remarks on Monday.
