Statement by Wny Senators Regarding Nysuny 2020

Senator Patrick Gallivan, Senator George Maziarz, Senator Mark Grisanti, Senator Michael Ranzenhofer, Senator Cathy Young and Senator Tim Kennedy--have joined together to release the following statement in support of the signing of the NYSUNY 2020 legislation (S.5855-A/A.8519) into law:

We began the year by working together, across party lines, for the future of public higher education in Western New York, particularly at our university center—the University at Buffalo. Eight months later, after a remarkably productive legislative session, we are still working together for that same goal.

Today, legislation we adopted in June known as NYSUNY 2020 was signed into law by Governor Cuomo. This law will help us achieve many of the things we have been fighting for—namely unprecedented investments in the University at Buffalo as well as a rational tuition policy for all of our SUNY schools.

The NYSUNY 2020 grant program will help UB enhance its importance to higher education and economic growth in our region. Access to significant new capital will undoubtedly lead to impressive and exciting new developments at the school. Furthermore, the rational tuition plan lets all SUNY students and families around the state plan their educational expenses for the next five years, while keeping a focus on affordability and accessibility. Today, we stand united with Governor Cuomo and all those in Western New York who care about the future of public higher education. We applaud the Governor for signing the SUNY2020 legislation into law, and we look forward to continuing to work with him to make SUNY a world class public educational system.