Students and the State of the State Address

Governor Andrew Cuomo mentioned a few things that may affect HVCC students during his State of the State Address on Jan. 9.

Cuomo said that he wants to reward colleges for getting their students jobs after they graduate, raise minimum wage, advance legislation to assure equality for women, and lower the “open-view” possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a violation.

For those seeking training in the “Green Jobs” field, there will be an annual $150 million to increase solar panel installations for homes and businesses.

Cuomo said, “We want to base the state funding of colleges on a pay for performance model,” explaining how he wants to encourage colleges to place graduates in careers rather than merely to train them for employment.

“There are 210,000 unfilled jobs in New York because the companies can’t find workers with the skills we need,” he said.

The current minimum wage in New York State is $7.25 per hour. Cuomo would like to raise minimum wage to $8.75 per hour to adjust to the increased cost of living.

Cuomo, the father of three daughters, is pushing to level the playing field for both genders on multiple levels with the Women’s Equality Act. The three points on the Governor’s ten point agenda are to pass a real equal pay law, to strengthen employment, lending, and credit discrimination laws, and to enact a Reproductive Health Act.

In New York City alone, there have been over 50,000 arrests over marijuana possession. Cuomo said, “Of those 50,000 arrests, 82% are black and Hispanic. Of the 82% that are black and Hispanic, 69% are under the age of 30 years old. These are young, predominantly Black and Hispanic males.”

This fact is the reason Cuomo wants to abolish “stop and frisk police policies.”

Stop and frisk policies translate to police officers being allowed to stop any person and physically search their body for any incriminating evidence, with or without just cause.

New York State is going to found the Greenbank, a $1 billion dollar bank to leverage public dollars with a match on money from the private sector to encourage the clean economy.