State Senator Marty Golden, possibly the most influential New York City Republican in the state legislature, found Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State speech today to be significantly lacking. The Governor’s presentation, which can be read here, was wide-ranging and touched a wide variety of topics from increasing the casino presence in New York to reducing the poverty rate in Buffalo. However, Senator Golden criticized the lack of focus on public safety and fraud.
“As a former New York City Police Officer, I am disappointed by the Governor’s failure to focus on an agenda to keep New York’s citizens and families safe,” Senator Golden said in a statement. “One of the most basic fundamentals New Yorkers must enjoy is a safe State in which to live, work and raise a family. We can’t ignore the fact that there are areas of criminal justice that must be addressed.”
“The Governor also failed to mention efforts to eliminate Medicaid and auto insurance fraud in our State,” the Senator also argued. “The longer we allow such acts of fraud to continue, the longer we will suffer financially as a government and as consumers.” Senator Golden has been a strong advocate of New York government addressing these issues in the past.
Democrats, who are aiming to defeat Senator Golden for reelection and have already lined up a challenger, may hope to broadly drive a wedge members of the Senate Republican caucus and Governor Cuomo’s popularity, as the two have worked closely together over the past year to pass the governor’s agenda. However, it’s unlikely that they will focus on challenging the former police officer on widely popular issues like public safety.
