ALBANY, N.Y. -
You could say Gov. Andrew Cuomo came out firing in his third State of the State address. He launched a seven-point plan that would give New York the strictest gun laws in the country.
"We must stop the madness," said Cuomo, D-New York.
The plan would:
- give the state the toughest assault weapon ban in the nation
- require federal background checks on private gun sales
- ban high capacity magazines
- tougher penalties for illegal gun use
- keep guns from the mentally ill
- ban direct sales of ammunition online in New York
- and closely monitor all ammo sales in the state
"We need a gun policy in this state that is balanced and reasonable. We respect hunters and sportsmen, this is not about taking away people's guns," Cuomo said.
Also on the governor's agenda-- improving education. His plan is to require kids spend more time in the classroom. He wants pre-kindergarten students to spend a full day in the classroom. Also, Cuomo is asking all school districts to either extend the school year or school day, or a combination of both.
"If they do it, the state will give them 100 percent of the additional costs to give them an incentive to actually do it," Cuomo said.
A potential big economic boost for the North Country-- the governor wants to build three casinos in the upstate region. The idea is stop the 8 million New York City residents and 50 million annual visitors to the city from going to neighboring states to gamble. Towns would get to weigh in on whether they want a casino in their community. Ninety percent of the profits would go to the state education fund; the other 10 percent would provide local tax relief.
"As I have said before, if they visit, they will come back. And I believe casinos in upstate New York will be a great magnet to bring the New York City traffic up," Cuomo said.
"Spent time talking about full day pre-K which is just a critical piece of our education system, being prepared for storms certainly, talked about gun control, see how those bills come out and what that legislation is," said Assemblywoman Janet Duprey, R-Peru.
"I was encouraged by what the governor said and what he would like to see for upstate New York, putting a focus there, if there are going to be casinos there to focus visitors that way," said Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury.
Cuomo also urged lawmakers to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8.75 an hour, decriminalize small amounts of marijuana and tighten up campaign finance rules.
