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ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo, in his first State of the State Address, will grimly warn today that New York faces massive losses of private-sector jobs and population unless it drastically cuts spending and consolidates government agencies.
In a unique audio/visual presentation utilizing state-of-the-art graphics projected on at least three large screens, Cuomo will outline a “comprehensive management plan” for dealing with the state’s $10 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year beginning April 1, a source familiar with the speech said.
Cuomo contended that while he’ll present a picture of a state in dire fiscal straits, it would be wrong to call New York’s picture “grim.”
“If I thought it was grim, I wouldn’t have run for the office. I would have moved,” said Cuomo.
“I believe there’s actually an opportunity for us. I believe change comes when the planets line up, and I believe the planets have lined up,” Cuomo continued on Albany’s Talk1300-AM radio.
Cuomo, just five days into his first term, will contend that the state isn’t getting its money’s worth from the tens of billions of dollars being spent on Medicaid and school aid.
Cuomo won’t present details on how he’ll close the deficit, saving specifics for the budget he’ll present to the Legislature at the end of the month.
The Post disclosed yesterday that Cuomo would propose combining the state Banking and Insurance departments and the Consumer Protection Board into a single office, a disclosure the governor later confirmed.
For the first time since 1923, the governor’s address won’t be delivered in the relatively small Assembly chamber. It will be delivered instead adjacent to the Capitol in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center, which can hold up to 2,000 people.
Cuomo, in another first, will have Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who is expected to lead opposition to the governor’s refusal to raise taxes to help balance the budget, and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) deliver brief speeches of their own.
“I’m going to present a broad-stroke invitation for us all to work together to resolve the fiscal challenges and talk about transparency, accountability, redistricting, ethics reform and government consolidation,” said Silver.
Republican Skelos is expected to strongly endorse Democrat Cuomo’s call for spending cuts and back his plan to allow the existing “millionaire’s tax” — which kicks in at $200,000 for some earners — to expire at the end of the year.