{"id":1560,"date":"2022-01-11T14:11:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T14:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/?p=1560"},"modified":"2022-01-11T14:11:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T14:11:53","slug":"kowal-hochul-hits-right-notes-in-state-of-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/kowal-hochul-hits-right-notes-in-state-of-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Kowal: Hochul hits right notes in State of the State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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UUP President Fred Kowal applauded Gov. Kathy Hochul for her support of SUNY\u2019s campuses and public teaching hospitals in her Jan. 5 State of the State Address and said UUP is ready to work with her to make her initiatives reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kowal responded positively to Hochul\u2019s tone and words in a Jan. 5 press statement <\/a>, noting that \u201c\u2026 we have a governor who recognizes the value of public higher education to our students, our patients and the citizens of New York state \u2026 we welcome the governor\u2019s agenda and are eager to work with her to break the pattern of 11 years of underfunding for SUNY.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom recruiting and retaining diverse full-time faculty and staff to making SUNY a \u2018nation-leading public higher education system,\u2019 to setting up childcare centers on SUNY campuses, the governor has truly made public higher education in New York state a priority for the first time in decades,\u201d Kowal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of programs and plans that the governor announced in her straightforward, hour-long speech is extensive, but they boil down to two key areas that she plans to correct: shortages of funding; and shortages of people, including medical staff, under-enrollment of students, and a steadily eroding number of full-time faculty members at SUNY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur health care workers showed up,\u201d the governor said. \u201cThey\u2019re not only physically exhausted; they\u2019re emotionally exhausted. We simply do not have enough health care workers in our hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KEEPING, EXPANDING HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

She plans to address the urgent shortage of health care workers with a slew of financial incentives to retain the workers already employed in New York, and to train thousands of desperately needed new doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and other health care staff in a profession that has been racked by early retirements and resignations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And she plans to address the financial straits of the SUNY campuses by making it easier for students to pay for college and to stay in college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UUP has advocated for such steps for years, and it has watched with frustration as the SUNY system has struggled with severe underfunding for more than a decade. Although some programs have made gains, overall, the SUNY four-year campuses and the SUNY hospitals have been reeling in recent years as faculty, programs and medical supplies have all been cut back, even in the face of growing demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A NEW SIGNAL OF HOPE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

But the governor sounded her support for higher education when she invoked her family\u2019s immigrant roots, her grandparents\u2019 eventual settlement in Buffalo, and the college degree that her father earned at night\u2014which set him on a path toward middle-class success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf he had not taken that leap and invested in himself by broadening his horizons, I would be living a very different life today,\u201d Hochul said. \u201cMy whole family would be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A State of the State Address typically lays out bold ideas; the details and financial fine print will come in the governor\u2019s executive budget proposal, which she is expected to release soon. Kowal said UUP continue to strongly advocate for its New York HEALS<\/a> legislative agenda; some of the governor\u2019s initiatives are part of NY HEALS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A LONG LIST OF GOOD IDEAS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Some of the highlights from the governor\u2019s speech that pertain to SUNY and the state\u2019s health care workers include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n