Governor Cuomo is delivering his State of the State address on Wednesday. But how does that affect your life? We spoke with New Yorkers to find out. 

Sometimes it's easy to think state government doesn't have any impact on your life. Lydia Santiago of Brooklyn certainly thinks so. 

"Nothing. Nothing at all," she said. "I'm getting out of here."

But what happens in the state Capitol building every year does indeed matter and can affect your life.  

Every year lawmakers and Gov. Cuomo spend more than $150 billion of your money on schools and health care. Lawmakers consider tax hikes and minimum wage increases. They decide whether marijuana should be legalized, and how to punish people who commit crimes. We spoke with New Yorkers in recent weeks like Lexington Malcolm Fields of Albany about what he thinks state government needs to more of this year.  

"I'd like to see something more directed towards the people. I always feel that's kind of dismissed, kind of gone over at times," he said. 

And sometimes what happens in state government can affect where you work.  

"I work in the farm distilling world and what state government does really impacts what goes on as well as the idea of changing the infrastructure and supporting mass transit," Sherwood Ludwig said. 

And as Cuomo prepares his priorities for the 2020 legislative session, activists like Kassandra Frederique are preparing too. She says activists and lawmakers alike need to tell New Yorkers why state government matters. 

"Albany is not a far away place," she said. "It impacts our everyday lives and I think it's really important for people to understand how central it is to the quality of life they have in New York."

Ultimately it's up you, the citizen, to stay involved, stay informed and, of course, show up to the polls.