SUNY needs state’s help

Dear Editor:

The State University of New York is a tried and true engine of job creation and economic growth, yet Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been starving the system of funding for a decade while funneling money to questionable economic development schemes. He feigns support for the system’s 400,000 students, but much of this is fiscal sleight of hand.

Take, for example, the “TAP Gap.” The Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) was designed to fully fund tuition costs at state universities for qualifying students. But the governor engineered it such that tuition rises while TAP funding remains flat. SUNY colleges admit the students but don’t receive the tuition funds needed to cover the costs of educating them. The result: Campuses are forced to eat the loss, ultimately diminishing the quality of the education that these very students receive. Perhaps this should come as no surprise given Cuomo’s penchant for rigging numbers and denying wrongdoing.

More than ever, we need our state legislators to step up and fill the leadership void left by our scandal-plagued governor. The Legislature has moved to close the TAP Gap by taxing ultrarich New Yorkers who have made a fortune during the pandemic. In the final budget negotiations with the governor, we need lawmakers like Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, to fight to keep these measures in place. It is time to invest in SUNY.

Brian Obach

New Paltz