MASSENA -- Mayor Timmy Currier is praising Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address.

He released the following statement on Thursday afternoon:

“I am pleased to see the Governor’s approach of controlling the growth of spending, reducing the tax rate for small businesses, investing in infrastructure and investing in education. This bipartisan approach will help spur further growth throughout the state.

The $ 1.5 billion upstate economic development fund could truly help Northern New York. The Governor feels competition in economic development brings better ideas to fruition, and that’s a hard concept to dispute.

The North Country region is not looking for a hand out. We are looking for opportunity and a level playing field and when those two things occur we can do very well.

In fact, we have done very well, thanks to the efforts of our regional development council, which consistently ranks as the highest performer against other regions. I look forward to our council continuing to put forth more winning plans to improve our communities.

I am really anxious to see the details on the new State-sponsored College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity within SUNY. Public safety continues to be a passion of mine, and keeping New Yorkers safe is a priority we all share.

Another public safety point in the Governor’s budget is the creation of the Sate Operations Response Management System (STORM). Coordinating and uniting our emergency preparedness and response will improve local government ability to respond to emergencies and make us more efficient while we do so.

There is little doubt we can all find issues to raise and areas that have not been addressed in the Governor’s budget. However, I am looking forward to working with the legislature and the governor to keep the North Country moving forward.”