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Binghamton
Gov. Andrew Cuomo will visit Binghamton Thursday to give a variation of his budget address.
The governor’s office confirmed Cuomo will speak at 11 a.m. at the Riverwalk Hotel — the former Regency — on Water Street. The event is hosted by the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce and will be attended by members of the local business community, according to an invitation sent to county legislators. It is by invitation only.
The governor has presented his proposed budget in municipalities across the state in recent weeks, including Jamestown, Poughkeepsie and Long Island, where he spoke Wednesday.
While the audience locally will be hand-selected by the Chamber, Cuomo will have a different group out on the street: a throng of protesters with a variety of agendas.
Citizens Action, New York State United Teachers, the Alliance for Quality Education, labor groups across Broome and Tioga counties and natural gas drilling opponents all have plans to protest before Cuomo delivers his speech.
The governor’s proposed budget contains deep cuts across state agencies and departments to close a $10 billion gap, including $1 billion and $1.5 billion cuts to Medicaid and education spending, respectively. He has threatened to lay off up to 9,800 state employees if the labor unions can’t come up with $450 million in concessions.
Frank Maurizio, a spokesman for NYSUT, said the union is encouraging retirees, family members and friends to attend because school is in session during the visit.
“We’re anticipating, based on what’s going on in other parts of the state, that there will be a respectable showing and a respectful showing, as well,” Maurizio said. “We’re just letting the governor know that there are people out there who recognize his proposed education budget is draconian and hurtful to the students in New York.”
Thursday’s visit will be Cuomo’s first to the Greater Binghamton area since he took office in January. He made campaign appearances in both Binghamton and Ithaca last fall.
