Sunday, January 20, 2008

State of the State

Vision Long Island recently had the opportunity to visit the capital for the State of the State address. We were very happy with the tone and themes of cooperation and a number of creative initiatives for the State in the areas of energy policy and affordable housing. Some critics were questioning the lack of specific priorities for Long Island and it is true that Long Island was only mentioned once or twice in the State of the State. In our view, a speech is simply that, a speech, and budget and legislative priorities will have to be waded through in order to properly analyze the benefits for Long Island.

Issues that were not addressed, but we have hope they will be tackled in the next legislative session, budget cycle or by executive order, include the restructuring of NYS DOT Region 10, incentives for downtown revitalization from the NYS ESDC and a program for transit oriented development out of the MTA. Assemblyman Sam Hoyt's Public Infrastructure Act, in whatever form it takes, is also a priority for advocates of Smart Growth. Furthermore, the creation of a Smart Growth Cabinet, that was developed in the fall of 2007, allows for the opportunity for the State to audit its operations and focus on actions that encourage Smart Growth planning. We are looking forward to that discussion as well as working with legislators on bills for housing and infrastructure incentives in the coming term. Rest assured it will not be boring, so stay tuned.

Posted by Eric at 12:02:50 AM in Blog (23) | Comments (0)

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