Dear Friends,
Today, Democrats from around the state came together in Suffolk County to send a strong message about the values we share as New Yorkers. I was honored to be nominated for re-election by Mayor Bill de Blasio, President Bill Clinton, and friends from throughout the State. In his message, President Clinton highlighted some of those important shared values.
New York has gone through our share of challenges these past several years, but we have responded the way that only New York can — united and with resolve. We put our state first, putting aside politics, and acted together— as New Yorkers. This action not only empowered our state to overcome adversity, but enabled us to thrive and build back better than before.
New York has made great progress over the last four years. We have had four on-time, honestly balanced budgets that have restored fiscal discipline to the State. We turned a $10 billion deficit into a $2 billion surplus.
We tackled the State's high taxes head on. New Yorkers are now paying the lowest middle class income tax rate since 1953. And to create jobs, corporate and manufacturing taxes have been reduced to their lowest level in decades. We enacted the State's first property tax cap and under the recently enacted budget homeowners will have their property taxes frozen and then cut over the next few years.
We redesigned our State's economic development strategies to create jobs, and the economy is coming back strong. New York has created 440,000 private sector jobs over the past three years and has the second highest net job growth of any state in the nation since the recession. Unemployment is down in every region of the state and the overall rate stands at 6.7 percent, the lowest in over five years.
New York is once again seen as the progressive capital of the nation on issues like marriage equality, sensible gun control, affordable housing, and public education.
These results aren't ordinary, but neither are the conviction and spirit of New Yorkers. By working together, New York is on the move— consistently striving, improving and setting the example for progressive leadership. Democrats in New York have much to be proud of and much to work towards in the future.
Join me and Democrats around the state in making sure that our New York remains the home of the values we hold dear for future generations.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo