For Immediate Release: January 7, 2015

Contact: Gary Ginsburg | ginsburg@nysenate.gov | 518-455-2415

Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Made The Following Remarks At The Opening Of The 2015-2016
Senate Session
(Albany, NY) Thank you Mr. President and Thank you to all my colleagues.
Thank you to the constituents of my district for re-electing me. And thank you to my
Conference for once again choosing me as your Leader. I am truly honored and humbled by your
support.
I want to welcome some new members to the Democratic Conference.

Senator Leroy Comrie from Queens. A former Deputy Borough President and
Councilmember and a real leader in his community.

Senator Jesse Hamilton an Attorney and MBA from Brooklyn. He has been a community
advocate for so long and has always made sure that those in his community have a voice.
And finally

Senator Marc Panepinto from the Buffalo area an attorney and a long time fighter and
tireless advocate for Western New York.

I would also like to congratulate Senator Klein who has been re-elected as his conferences
leader.
And of course I want to take a moment and congratulate Senator Skelos who has the awesome
task of being the leader of this great house. Senator Skelos and Senator Klein, the Democratic
Conference stands ready to work with you. Now is the time for us to come together.
Elections are at times a restart button and allow us to refresh.
There are times we are going to agree and there are times we are going to vociferously disagree
but let us remember that we are here to serve all the people of New York.
I would also like to congratulate the Governor on his re-election and let him know that we are
looking forward to continuing to work with him as we move the state forward.

So many of us in this room were there yesterday in Manhattan when he gave such a moving
tribute to his father. His words were truly inspiring and heartfelt.
On behalf of the Senate Democratic Conference I would like to once again pass condolences to
the Governor and his entire family for their loss. Mario Cuomo was a great man and a great
Governor. His leadership, vision and ideals are what we all strive toward. As we take a moment
to embrace the memory of this iconic Governor let us do more than remember him but let us look
towards his example as we move forward this legislative session. Sadly, for too many fellow
New Yorkers, the two cities that Governor Cuomo so eloquently spoke of in 1984 still exists
today but we have an opportunity to finally unite them. We can work towards making a more
just and fair society. A society that provides jobs and opportunities to all New Yorkers. A
society that deals with crushing income inequality. Where everyone has a quality education.
Where it doesnt matter if you are from Elmira, or New York City or even Yonkers but you are
given a shot at the American Dream.
I hope that this session will be about making that American Dream a reality for all New Yorkers.
We have a lot of work to do:
o We must honor the memories of Officer Liu and Officer Ramos and ensure that
we provide those protecting us the protections they deserve while at the same time
making real reforms to our criminal justice system so everyone feels they have
equal access to that system.
o We must combat income inequality and one way to do that is enact a real raise to
the minimum wage and help lift over 1 million New Yorkers out of bone
crushing poverty.
o Now is a time for a major re-haul of our outdated ethics laws including public
financing of campaigns. Lets finally make Albany an example of Good
Government.
o We must stand up for the health and equality of the women of New York. Lets
pass the full Womens Equality Act. To my Republican Colleagues remember
that our reproductive rights were first addressed by this chamber, while it was
under Republican leadership, in 1970 with 12 of your party members joining with
Democrats to pass it.
o We have to help those struggling with addiction including the horrible heroin
scourge that is devastating communities across this state.
o We must make sure all New York children have access to the quality education
they deserve and that all our children have access to affordable quality higher
education.
o We must make sure that everyone has a roof over their head and place to call
home. We have to extend and strengthen our rent control laws.
o And finally lets make sure we use the surplus settlement funds in a responsible
manner that will help set New York on an even brighter path. Since so much of
this money was from housing settlements it is crucial we use it to create more
affordable housing across the state. We also need to protect and expand our
infrastructure including the Tappan Zee Bridge and others roads and bridges and
fix our crumbling schools. We can do all this while at the same time providing
relief to local communities and creating jobs across the state.

Senator Skelos, the Democratic Conference stands ready to help you. As I said before we will
support you when we agree, and we will challenge you when we disagree. We will not allow
partisan bickering to obstruct our efforts to serve our constituents and together we will give all
New Yorkers the responsible and productive government they deserve. The Democratic
Conference stands ready to work with all Senators, regardless of party affiliation, so lets get to
work.
Thank you.
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New York State Senate | DemocraticConferenceNews@nysenate.gov | 518-455-2415