Government

Governor Cuomo announced Thursday that he’s rescinding a state regulation that requires food stamp recipients be fingerprinted, saying the poor and hungry are not criminals.

Governor Cuomo, speaking by phone to a gathering of advocates for the poor, says he’s rescinded a 14 year old state regulation that required food stamp recipients be subject to fingerprinting before receiving benefits.  

“Poverty and hunger are not crimes,” said Cuomo. “So we shouldn’t treat the poor or the hungry as criminals.”

The governor says he doesn’t think the finger printing deters fraud.

“It’s not necessary,” Cuomo said.

Governor Cuomo is calling on the state Legislature to act on a proposal to create a justice center in the state for people with special needs.

Cuomo says the bill addresses an ongoing problem of abuse by employees in state mental health and special needs facilities.

The Governor says the new center will set up two justice mechanisms, "One, for really serious offenses, a special prosecutor who can bring criminal charges, specializing in justice area dealing with justice population and becoming expert in the challenges that are presented here."

Cuomo says the Justice Center will also have an effective administrative mechanism that sanctions or terminates employees who abuse trust.

Governor Cuomo is pleased with the outcome of Tuesday’s state wide school budget vote,  but teachers and school board leaders see some disturbing trends.

This year’s school budget vote was the first to take place after Governor Andrew Cuomo convinced the legislature to adopt the property tax cap. The governor says the tax cap imposed “fiscal discipline” . He says he’s  pleased  that few schools attempted to override the cap, and  that most schools kept tax increases to a minimum, and were approved by voters. He says tax payers, as well as state government, are tapped out.

“At one point, there is no more money, and that’s where we are now,” said Cuomo. “The answer is not ‘put your hand in the pocket of the taxpayer’ anymore.”

The state’s September primary is going to be delayed by two days, now that the legislature has agreed to move the date from Tuesday September 11th to Thursday September 13th.

Legislative leaders say firefighter groups and others who plan annual memorials for September 11th requested that the scheduled primary be delayed two days, until Thursday September 13th, and they have agreed.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whose district includes the World Trade Center site where the planes hit the towers on September 11th 2001, says it was the right thing to do.

“We think September 11th should remain as a day of memorial,” said Silver.

Democrats in the State Assembly were debating a  bill to increase the state’s minimum wage. The Republican leader of the State Senate offered a spirited defense of his position opposing the measure, but did not rule the issue out altogether.

Democrats in the Assembly were set to approve a bill to increase the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour.  Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has championed the measure, calls it a “moral imperative”.

“It is, I keep saying it, a moral issue,” said Silver.