"The Governor outlined several important ideas today - spending restraint, major property tax reduction, workers' compensation reform, Wicks Law reform and a long list of other government reforms. We've been fighting for these items for years but they've always been dead on arrival in the Majority-controlled Assembly. What's interesting now is that we have a Governor with a big mandate joining our chorus and we're happy to welcome him aboard. Our hope and the hope for all New Yorkers should be that the calls for these reforms become deafening, and the call to action, inevitable. It won't be easy. There are those with a powerful vested interest in keeping the status quo. But the status quo means the highest taxes in the nation, out-of-control spending and waste, fraud and corruption.

"The people are watching. We need wholesale change and dramatic progress. Young people are leaving our state because there aren't enough good jobs. Families and seniors are leaving because property taxes are too high. And as they leave, New York gets left behind.

"It all starts with what we do in Albany, especially when it comes to taxing and spending. To be competitive with other states, our levels of spending and taxing must be at levels comparable to other states. For instance, we only have five percent more population than Florida yet we spend over 60 percent more. The result? Florida has a booming economy, growing population and no income tax. We can't change it overnight but we must work to change it every day and night."