Cuomo Proposes Raft of Anti-Hate Bills in Annual Address

Albany – Tackling hate-based violence, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared in his annual State of the State address Wednesday afternoon that he would seek to pass a bundle of bills in the upcoming legislative session to combat a rising number of anti-Semitic incidents.

Speaking at Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany, the Democratic governor proposed passage of the Hate Crime Anti-Terrorism Act, a first-in-the-nation domestic terrorism law that would label mass violence motivated by hate as terrorism. It would also make it a felony punishable by up to life in prison without parole.

Among other legislative ideas are that schools across New York add a curriculum that teaches civic values and the state’s history of diversity and religious freedom. Lesson plans would also be developed by the Museum of Jewish Heritage on the Holocaust to be a learning destination for schoolchildren across the state.
“While we have had a disturbing number of discrimination attacks, the greatest increase has been in the number of anti-Semitic incidents,” Cuomo said. “Government’s first responsibility is to protect our people, and we will. We will prosecute these crimes to the greatest extent of the law, and we must now change the law to address this new and growing threat.”

In other items, Cuomo wants to again try legalizing marijuana, a year after his first attempt failed over concern by safety groups that it would cause an increase in road accidents. Another obstacle was an insistence by progressive groups that blacks and Hispanics get an edge in selling the products.

Cuomo also wants to expand the Empire Child tax credit to also include families with children up to the age of 3 that earn under $50,000. This will provide an average of a $400 benefit per family to nearly 400,000 working class families. It is currently limited to children aged 4-16.
One of the most ambitious plans have to do with infrastructure, including enlarging Penne Station and redoing the Erie Canal, the oldest manmade waterway in the world.

Cuomo wants to redevelop the full block south of Penn Station to add rail capacity of another 40 percent by adding at least eight new tracks to the existing 21 tracks. This would potentially require purchasing Madison Square Garden.

Regarding the Erie Canal, Cuomo is recommending that the New York Power Authority approve a $300 million investment over the next five years at the board’s January meeting. A $100 million economic development fund will be invested in communities along the Canal and a separate $65 million investment will be devoted to solutions that will help prevent ice jams and related flooding in the Schenectady area.

Cuomo is proposing several laws to protect the environment, including banning use of expanded polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam, single-use food containers and packaging materials by Jan. 1, 2022, and building a stronger network of chargers for electric vehicles.