Mayor De Blasio Delivers Annual 'State Of The City' Address
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – After a pair of major announcements earlier this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered his annual State of the City address on Thursday.
Full Video: Mayor Bill de Blasio Delivers 'State of the City' Address
In the lead-up to his address, de Blasio introduced two new initiatives for his administration this year.
"It's 2019, it's time to treat people decently," he said Wednesday.
WATCH: Hofstra Political Analyst Larry Levy Breaks Down Mayor De Blasio's State Of The City
The mayor announced his goal of making New York City the first in the nation to require employers to provide paid vacation to both full-time and part-time employees.
Watch: Mayor Bill de Blasio Proposes Mandate On Paid Vacation Time
"It's time to value people, not just see them as cogs in the machine," he said.
Most people who work 40 hours a week in the city already receive paid vacation time, but about half a million – around 11 percent of the workforce – do not.
De Blasio is pushing for those people to get 10 paid vacation days, on top of the five paid sick days they already receive.
It would impact businesses with more than five employees. Workers would have to be employed for four months to qualify.
The other proposal the mayor will talk about in his address is what he's calling the "largest, most comprehensive plan" to ensure health care for everyone.
Watch: Mayor Bill de Blasio Calls For Health Care For All New Yorkers
"Health care is a human right. In this city, we're going to make that a reality," he said Tuesday.
De Blasio said his goal is to get the 600,000 New Yorkers without health care – about half undocumented immigrants – access to a primary care doctor and specialty care, prescription drugs and mental health services.
The mayor believes this will be cheaper than having the uninsured go to emergency rooms for care.
The city estimates this will cost approximately $100 million.
As CBS2's Janelle Burrell reports, there are still many questions that have to be answered about the two proposals, like the cost and eligibility requirements for health care and the impact the vacation time mandate would have on small businesses.
