Today’s budget address by Gov. Cuomo followed an ambitious State of the State address. While it was unfortunate that the governor failed to utter the words “Long Island” once during his previous address, his calls today for lower property taxes and a continued emphasis on quality education were tremendously encouraging.

I was particularly pleased to see the governor present a plan which increases funding for education. However, I hope that this increase will take into account the inequity in funding our schools experience currently, compared to their counterparts in New York City and upstate. I also was glad to see the governor is interested in re-working the Common Core system, and I look forward to facilitating dialogue on this and many other topics with the governor and my colleagues in the Senate over the coming months.