As a result of the governor’s unorthodox Western New York regional State of the State Address set to take place next Monday when the legislature is in session, Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) has sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Long Island), Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), Gov. Cuomo and Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,C,I,Ref-Canandaigua) calling for a joint legislative session for the governor to address the Legislature directly.

“It is disrespectful and irresponsible to force me to choose between serving my constituents in Albany on a mandated session day and be present for our local state of the state address,” Hawley said. “I am writing to respectfully urge you to convene a joint session of the New York State Legislature and request that Gov. Cuomo communicate directly to the State Legislature his message regarding the condition of the State…” Hawley wrote in the letter.

Gov. Cuomo plans to bring his annual State of the State message to regional locations statewide beginning January 9. The projected stops include: New York City, Western New York, the Hudson Valley, Long Island, the Capital Region and Central New York. Western New York’s presentation will be at 3 p.m. on January 9.

“While I understand the importance and benefit of going public and bringing a tailored message directly to constituent groups with varying local interests, I contend that these regional State of the State Addresses ignore the group which the message was originally intended for, the New York State Legislature,” Hawley said. “We are the group that is directly responsible for reviewing and voting on legislation and moving bills through the process, so to ignore us as a whole would be grossly irresponsible.”