Buy, buy the American way – Andy

THE EMPIRE State will soon be American-made — if Gov. Cuomo can get his latest State of the State proposal through the Legislature. Cuomo unveiled a plan Wednesday in Syracuse to have the state government “Buy American” whenever possible on any purchases for goods and services exceeding $100,000.

The governor’s proposal would force state agencies to give preference to all American-made products — not just on large-scale construction projects involving steel and using federal dollars.

“This initiative will reinvest in the talent that made this state and this country what it is today and strengthen our role as a global leader in manufacturing for years to come,” Cuomo said.

New York spends billions annually to buy goods and services for government projects and agencies.

But it is required to “Buy American” only when purchasing steel or signing steel construction contracts worth more than $100,000 for projects funded with federal money.

Now the manufacturing sector — which represents one in every nine upstate New York jobs and more than 5% of the state’s total workforce — will get the same preference on statefunded projects, Cuomo said.

At Nucor steel in upstate Auburn, Cuomo’s initiative was well-received.

“Buy American policies help create high-quality manufacturing jobs that pay good wages. It is absolutely critical that we keep these jobs,” said general manager Drew Wilcox.

The state AFL-CIO, which pushed for the broader “Buy American” mandate for years, also praised the decision.

“Our hard-earned tax dollars, as well as our jobs, should not be sent overseas, particularly when we have the bestskilled workers in the world ready to do the job,” said state AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento.