LOCH SHELDRAKE — New York State Secretary of State Rossana Rosado gave a presentation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2021 proposed budget at SUNY Sullivan on Tuesday to a small crowd of local leaders, SUNY Sullivan employees and the general public.

The presentation detailed the budget outline with a time for a question and answer session at the end.

“[Gov. Cuomo] has tasked us with the mission of spreading the word. The year 2021 is going to be tough. We have two missions with our budget: one is to stay on track financially, but also not to stop being creative and progressive with our goals,” Rosado said.

Gov. Cuomo announced the budget on January 21 and it must be voted on by the state legislature by April 1.

Rosado said the budget is the most aggressive climate change agenda in the nation. There is a $33 billion five-year plan to combat climate change, preserve the environment and create resilient communities.

It will include $3 billion for the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act supplemented by $740 million in additional state funding; $28 billion for green energy; and $1.5 billion for carbon-free transportation.

“The governor has been to Puerto Rico five times in the last year, after Hurricane Maria and also with the recent earthquakes. And so he feels strongly that we need to look at not just rebuilding, but how we live in a world where we have to deal constantly with those changes,” Rosado said.

Other items in the budget include a $275 billion infrastructure program to invest in transit, roads and bridges; $28.5 billion in school aid; expanding free college tuition to more middle class families; and the greatest amount of funding in the state's history for homeless housing.

“New York will continue to lead as the progressive capital,” Rosado said. “The governor believes we have to continue to make progress happen, and he will summarize his clear vision and bold action for 2021.”

Rosado also touched on bail reform, a slate of new laws that went into effect at the beginning of this year and which have come under criticism from law enforcement officials and district attorneys.

“[Bail] reform is an ongoing process; we need to respond to facts, not to politics and not to rhetoric,” Rosado said. “We want to act on information and not on hyperbole. We want to discuss all the issues that are happening right now in Albany. Bail reform was an important accomplishment that we don't want to just undo.”

Rosado said one of the most important things happening in 2020 is the Census. She said there is $2.2 million in the budget for the Hudson Valley in addition to the statewide $60 million campaign to ensure a fair and complete count of every New Yorker.

Some members of the audience expressed concern about the new Medicaid proposal. The Democrat is working on an in-depth story on the proposal and how it will affect Sullivan County; look for it in an upcoming issue.

For more information on the state budget, go to www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-outlines-fy-2021-budget-making-progress-happen.