B-Roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: As New York Students Return to the Classroom, Governor Hochul Signs Legislation to Support Students and Parents

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation that will support students and parents. Legislation S.9701/A.10209 makes it easier for parents to save for their child's college tuition by allowing for expanded uses of 529 accounts, in alignment with federal tax law. Legislation S.9018A/A.9855A amends current law to require all school districts containing a high school to establish a process to include at least one ex-officio, non-voting student member on the board of education. The bill also removes the current law requirement that such a student member seat be authorized by referendum of the voters of the district. Legislation S.9016/A.9934 reestablishes the name of the Syracuse Comprehensive Education and Workforce Training Center as the Syracuse Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) High School.

B-ROLL of the Governor's visit is available on YouTube and B-Roll in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format is available.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Hello, everyone. I want to thank our Superintendent, Donna Desiato, for her not just serving in such an important role in our community, but also serving on the Micron Community Engagement Board to help facilitate Micron's relationship with the greater Syracuse community. I want to thank her. I also want to thank our principal here at the East Syracuse Minoa Central High School, Eddie Michalenko. Where is he? I want to thank him, wherever he is. Thank you for hosting us here today.

This is a difficult day. I just walked through the halls of this great school, had a chance to engage with some really smart young people who are so excited and energetic and happy to be back at school with an extraordinary teacher teaching them coding and teaching them cyber and teaching them everything they need to know in the space of computer science.

But you turn on the news and you are stunned to see yet another school shooting in the United States of America. It hurts on so many levels. As a parent who, for many years, sent my children off to school, I know the inherent anxiety as soon as your beloved children are out of your sight. And then to see news stories where a 14 year old has access to an assault-style weapon, a military-style assault weapon - how he got his hands on that remains a question. But to gun down students in a school, two students, two adults, wounding nine more, we've had enough. This nation has seen enough.

We have done a lot in the State of New York to protect our citizens from gun violence. We have tough laws, some of the toughest in the nation. We feel confident that they do protect our citizens and especially the enhancements we made in the aftermath of the brutal slaying of 10 Western New Yorkers shopping at a Tops Grocery Store. Many of them are neighbors, my neighbors.

We enhanced our Red Flag laws. Red Flag laws are the early warning system that is necessary for law enforcement to understand that there could be someone who would do harm to themselves or to others, and intervene before you have a tragedy like we saw in Georgia. Where they can appeal to getting the hand - if there's access to guns, getting them out of the hands of an individual who could do harm to others.

That should be a national policy. There should be a national Red Flag law or extreme risk order of protection. We have issued over 20,000 in the State of New York in the last two years. That's up from about a thousand before we changed the law and put the onus on law enforcement to really engage and be held responsible for taking the steps necessary.

When the red flag is risen, go to that person's home, see if there's access to guns, see what they're saying online. Do everything you can to preemptively, proactively prevent violence and the slaughter of innocent citizens, especially our children in schools.

We also need a national assault weapons ban. We had one in place. We'll never know how many lives could've been saved because we have them so readily accessible where an 18-year-old in New York State could walk into a store and buy it on his birthday. We have to regain our sensibilities here in America. We really do. And that's why I'm calling for national action.

I know that the Biden-Harris administration wants to do more. I know that the Senate, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, wants to do more. And I'm calling on the Republican-led House Representatives to stop putting up roadblocks to saving children's lives.

How many more deaths will it take? How many more wake-up calls do we have to have? How many more times do we have to turn on a television and just have that gut-wrenching feeling in our hearts that something has to change? And it hasn't.

So, coming to a school today brings all that to mind for me. It's been a great experience coming here seeing young people in a safe environment, a learning environment, a place they're going to learn skills that are going to help them step into the jobs that are not that far off in the future. This is what Micron has done.

Just two years ago, October 2022, we announced the deal that they were coming here. I'm so proud of the support of the Biden-Harris Administration working together with us here in New York to create the incentives necessary to say, "This is the largest private sector investment in American history," and it's going to happen right in the heart of our State in Central New York. It's changed everything. And so, what we also have to do is we have to change as well. And that means changing the curriculum we're teaching in the schools in the surrounding area.

And that's exactly what's happening here at this high school. And Micron is working with us. We've committed $4 million. We've partnered with the teachers' union to say, "Let's move quickly, let's move with urgency to start making sure that the schools where we're more likely to draw applicants from in the next couple of years, in the Syracuse area, that those students are ready and educated."

They have great teachers here, I saw that in action. Saw the way he inspired these young people to think, be creative, solve problems and to be ready for those jobs that are waiting for them.

So, I want to thank everyone for inviting me here today. We also had a chance to sign a number of bills that will make it easier for parents and young people to pay for higher education. Use your 529 plans, which you start saving as early as you possibly can - using them to help pay off student loans. I think it's great.

I want to thank our local representatives for helping support that. Also having students involved in the governing process, the political process. Allowing non-voting students to participate on school boards across the State of New York.

What an education in democracy that'll be for them, hopefully inspiring them to know that each of us have a right of citizenship to participate. Whether it's school boards, town boards, higher office, everyone has a responsibility, and at minimum responsibility to vote.

And also making sure that the Central Tech High School is renamed as the Syracuse STEAM School. I've toured this facility, it's come a long way. It is going to be an epicenter of engagement and opportunities for students as well, as we try to inspire more people to go into these fields.

So, it was a great day here.

Contact the Governor's Press Office