A STATEMENT FROM SENATOR SUE SERINO

Susan Serino

January 8, 2020

ALBANY, NY—Senator Sue Serino released the following statement in response to the Governor’s State of the State address:

The Governor centered his speech today on the need to ground legislative proposals in reality, and you can bet I will be working throughout the session to hold Albany to that promise.

As always, the devil is in the details when it comes to the proposals put forth today. However, what stands out to me are not necessarily the proposals we heard today, but those we did not. While I was encouraged to hear that there is a desire to tangibly reduce taxes on small businesses and middle class New Yorkers, to close the education funding gap, and to invest in the health of our environment, I did not hear a real solution to close the over $6 billion deficit our state is facing; or proposals to right the wrongs caused by the bail ‘reform’ law; or those that would empower our veterans, address the Lyme disease epidemic, support our seniors, or significantly increase access to mental health services. These are the kinds of issues that I am hearing about every day from my neighbors in the Hudson Valley and these are the issues I will work to bring more attention to as the session progresses.

The reality is, New York is facing unprecedented outmigration, and I did not hear anything today that would reverse that trend. While Albany continues to live in a bubble, I will continue pushing for initiatives that directly reflect the very real challenges confronted by those I serve.”

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