Gov. Cuomo Wednesday paid homage to Mayor de Blasio’s call for expanded pre-kindergarten programs but didn’t say he would fund it.
Cuomo, in his fourth State of the State Address, also declared the state will take over the rehabilitation of the city’s two major airports.
And he proposed $2 billion in new borrowing to pay school technology upgrades.
Cuomo’s election-year address looked back at his successes the first three years as much as he looked forward with new initiatives.
“We have made great strides in the past three years, but there is much more to be done,” Cuomo said in a book released just prior to his speech. “Working together, we will build on this progress to create an even brighter future for all New Yorkers.”
With de Blasio sitting in the audience, Cuomo called for a major expansion of pre-kindergarten, saying in his book that “quality early childhood education provides a critical foundation for students’ entire education career.”
He said it’s particularly important in high-need communities.
“It is time to fulfill the state’s goal of truly universal pre-kindergarten’ access for all children,” he said.
De Blasio was in Albany for the first time as mayor meeting before the speech with various legislative conferences to promote his plan seeking state permission to raise the city’s income tax on the wealthy to pay for a pre-K expansion.
But while Cuomo is on board with the concept of more pre-kindergarten programs, he did not say in his speech how he would pay for it. In recent months he has pooh-poohed the idea of raising taxes, and in fact, on Wednesday outlined a $2.2 billion tax relief plan.
Cuomo in his speech said some of the $2 billion in new borrowing for schools could go toward building new pre-K classrooms and related capital upgrades–but not teacher salaries or other bureaucratic costs.
If approved by voters, schools could use their allocations of the money to purchase desktop and laptop computers, tablets that could be used instead of outdated textbooks, new interactive whiteboards to replace chalkboards, and other classroom technology.
Cuomo, as first reported by the Daily News Wednesday morning, also announced the state will take over major rehabilitation projects at LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Cuomo said the plan is designed to speed up the rebuilding process at the airports by circumventing the normal bureaucracy of the bistate Port Authority.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who controls the Port Authority along with Cuomo, is said to have signed off on the deal.
Cuomo is fast-tracking the airport projects in much the same way he accelerated the rebuilding of the timeworn Tappan Zee Bridge.
New York will not have the power to single-handedly approve any new projects or extra funding, but only determine how they are carried out.
Noting that LaGuardia and JFK are consistently ranked among the worst airports in the country, Cuomo said that “it’s time to upgrade these gateways to New York,” he said of the two airports.
The state will oversee the construction of a new central terminal at LaGuardia, which he says “remains frozen in time” with cramped, poorly lit and overcrowded buildings.
The plan is also to reestablish Kennedy airport as a major cargo hub. Cargo volume at the facility has declined by almost a third over the past decade, he said.
Overall, Cuomo’s speech laid out a socially progressive, but more fiscally conservative agenda. He highlighted his push to cap state spending increases at no more than 2% and create a program to increase state exports and foreign investment in New York.
In the wake of legislative scandals last year, Cuomo said he will again push for an ethics reform package.
Cuomo unveiled a number of his high-profile initiatives included in the speech within recent days.
He promoted his decision to allow limited medical marijuana use, his push for more funding for affordable housing and inner city youth jobs, and the state’s post Hurricane Sandy rebuilding plans.
He said he expects the state will sign off in the fall on where four casinos authorized by voters last year will be located upstate and promoted various tourism initiatives.
Cuomo said he will launch a gun-involved violence elimination initiatives and again seek a 10-point women’s equality agenda that failed in the Senate last year over the inclusion a bill to strengthen the state’s abortion laws.
IMAGES: MIKE GROLL/AP
