“For too long now, New York has become a more expensive and less safe place to live for residents of all ages. Consequently, we are losing two things critical to our future success —our competitiveness and our people. This must change, and I attended my first State of the State Address hopeful the governor would lay out a bold and dynamic plan for improving the quality of life in communities across our state. Unfortunately, I am as concerned by what I did not hear the governor say as I am by what she unveiled this afternoon.

Billions of dollars have been spent on the disastrous migrant crisis, but the governor made no mention of how local governments and school districts will be made whole, nor what steps have been taken to ensure the safety of our residents as migrants are being resettled into our neighborhoods.

The governor has said she wants to make New York more affordable, and I agree with her that expanding the Child Tax Credit and cutting taxes are good first steps. However, I do not believe mailing reimbursement checks to overtaxed residents will fix our economic woes. We need structural reforms to the state government.

Failure to repeal disastrous laws like bail reform and the Green Light Law will continue to make our families and our seniors less safe in the communities they worked so hard to build. I believe we can restore public safety, but not if we are silent and refuse to revisit these fatally flawed pieces of legislation.

I realize the devil is in the details, and I will approach this fight with optimism. I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work. I just hope the governor and the majority are willing to meet me and the people I represent in the middle.”