Andrew Cuomo was shouting.
Finger-pointing.
Cheering on the good guys.
Berating the bad guys.
Poking fun at his potential nemeses.
Urging his team on.
It was a pep rally for the state of New York.
His words hung in the air: “We need radical reform nowwwwwww!”
Cuomo spoke as a populist governor in his first State of the State address last week pitting special interest groups and ethically challenged lawmakers against the will of New Yorkers, saying the old way of doing government would no longer be tolerated.
He set the stage, literally, for his address populating the audience with hundreds of regular New Yorkers in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany, rather than the legislative chambers where only a couple dozen invited everyday folks manage to watch in person. It was the first time since Al Smith was governor that the State of the State address was given outside the Capitol building.
Newly minted President and Majority Leader of the state Senate Dean Skelos sat next to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, both facing the audience. Knowing the two could be potential agents provocateurs in the budget process, Cuomo noted a video screen above the stage that showed ships passing in the night. After he asked that the image be enlarged, it showed Silver and Skelos as captains of two small ships, both bows aimed at a much larger vessel being captained by Cuomo. A “special interests” jet fighter then came on the screen and fired missiles at Cuomo”™s ship. The blatant reference to who has been controlling the state budget drew laughs.
But Cuomo knows all the players on the Albany team and just wanted to fire a cannon over the bow in a preemptive show of strength.
He also knows all the problems the state faces, from a looming and ballooning budget deficit to skyrocketing taxes and a hellish business climate.
Noting that a vibrant private sector is what made New York the Empire State, Cuomo pitched a plan that would basically force sectors of the state to battle it out over creating the best business plan to attract out-of-state companies and then fund the most creative plans.
Called Economic Development Councils, Cuomo said they would work with state agencies to allocate resources. To ensure that state agencies and the councils are working to create jobs, Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy would lead the councils that would be drawn from the private sector, local governments, state agencies and academic institutions.
Not a big supporter of the new Excelsior Tax Credit Program, which replaced the Empire Zones, Cuomo proposed revisions “to produce better results for New Yorkers.”
His proposals would change the value and length of the tax credit to provide greater incentives for job creation; restructure incentives for improving properties; pay credits as job-creation milestones are met rather than at the end; expand research and development tax credits; and streamline the application and approval process.
Prior to his speech, the governor issued an executive order creating The Mandate Relief Redesign Team whose purpose is to review unfunded and underfunded mandates imposed by the state on school districts, local governments and other taxing districts. The team is chaired by Senior Adviser to the Governor Larry Schwartz. It will include representatives from private industry, education, labor and government. It must submit a first set of recommendations to Cuomo by March 1 for consideration in the 2011-12 budget process.
There”™s a lot more on his plate, but let”™s get the business end right first.
He”™s got the tough, fight-team-fight spirit and winning attitude. But it has to be more than “we must seize this moment to build a new New York for future generations.” He has to seize the bull by the horns, and that bull remains the dysfunctional Legislature.
