Dear Friend:
This year I proposed new ways to create tens of thousands of new jobs, to reinvent how government operates to get better results and greater efficiencies, and to continue to build upon New York's legacy as the progressive capital of the nation. Here are a few examples:
We propose to build, through private investment, the nation's largest convention center, at the site of the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City, as a major boost to our tourism, competitiveness and job creation. We will then create a master plan to redevelop the current Javits Center site and the surrounding West Side.
We must also invest in the struggling areas of our state. We are proposing to offer up to $1 billion in industry incentives to bring new jobs to Buffalo, which has the third highest poverty rate in the nation. We believe in Buffalo and I know we can make a difference.
We proposed an innovative "New York Works" fund to leverage $15 billion in capital investment to improve our bridges, roadways and other critical infrastructure projects that will create tens of thousands of jobs.
To build on the momentum of our Regional Economic Development Councils, we will offer an additional $200 million in a second competitive round of regional awards.
We must make dramatic changes in our state agencies to ensure they produce the best results at the lowest cost. And we must enact mandate relief for our local governments, including a Tier VI pension to reduce the costs of pensions for future employees.
No initiative is more important than improving our state's education system. Everyone in the education system has a lobbyist in Albany except the students, and Albany has focused too much on the "business" of education and not enough on the education of our children. This year, that will end and I will become the lobbyist for the students, ensuring we have schools that work first and foremost for them, including a real teacher evaluation system and school performance measures.
The address outlined many other important initiatives including a project to combat child hunger and a foreclosure prevention program to help New Yorkers stay in their homes during this national economic crisis.
To learn more, you can watch the entire speech here , or read the State of the State book here .
Last year, we showed the nation how much New York can accomplish by working together. We can all be proud of our progress. This year, we will prove once again that New York gets things done, provides for our people and runs in a fiscally prudent manner.
As always, I thank you for all you do to help make this possible. I look forward to another great year that puts New Yorkers to work and gets New York working.
Sincerely,
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo