With a Democratic-controlled state government for the first time during his tenure, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday proposed a $178 billion spending plan that hikes education spending by $956 million and seeks to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana and codify aspects of the federal Affordable Care Act into state law while adhering to a 2 percent cap on year-over-year state spending.

HIGHLIGHTS: CUOMO'S PROPOSALS FOR THE 100 DAYS OF THE 2019 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

• Increase education funding by $956 million

• Legalize adult-use recreational marijuana

• Codify the Affordable Care Act into state law and preserve the mandate to cover pre-existing conditions

• Codify Roe v. Wade into New York law (this would require a constitutional amendment approved by voters)

• Eliminate cash bail, have speedy trials, and pass Discovery Reform

• Enshrine gender equality into law

• Have polls open at 6 a.m. across upstate like they do in New York City, and make Election Day a state holiday

• Ban bump stocks, and extend the waiting period for purchasing a gun from three days to 10 days

• Pass the Child Victims Act

• Pass the DREAM Act

• Close the LLC loophole, ban corporate campaign contributions, and install a public-matching system for elections similar to New York City's

• A $2.5 billion investment in clean water infrastructure, and mandate 100 percent clean power in New York by 2040

• Authorize sports betting at existing upstate casinos

AN INCREASE IN EDUCATION FUNDING

Cuomo's education spending proposal calls for increasing aid by $956 million for a total of $27.7 billion, including another $338 million in Foundation Aid, which is the general operating funding for school districts. The total for Foundation Aid is far short of what education advocates are seeking to fund schools.

The governor is also seeking to change how individual school districts fund poorer schools, pledging to push for equity on the local level.

CUOMO BACKS RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

After calling marijuana a "gateway drug" about a year ago, governor is backing the legalization of adult-use marijuana, estimating $300 million in revenue. Adult-use marijuana would be limited to those over age 21 and local governments would be allowed to opt out. In a radio interview Monday, the governor said he thinks local governments should have power to ban retail marijuana shops within in their boundaries.

Cuomo also pledged to aid communities that have been impacted by harsh drug laws with the legalized marijuana law.

Cuomo wants to permit personal use as well as retail sales. Marijuana would be subject to taxes at the cultivation and wholesale level as well as a 20 percent tax on retail sales, the governor said.

Democratic state legislative leaders have expressed their support for legalizing recreational pot this year. If that happens, New York would be the 11th state to legalize marijuana and the second largest after California.

A PLASTIC BAG BAN/BOTTLE BILL

The governor said he also wants the state to expand the bottle bill to include five-cent deposits on most non-alcoholic containers such as sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit and vegetable beverages, and ready-to-drink bottled tea and coffee. Dairy milk, milk substitutes, infant formula, syrups, and flavorings would be exempted.

Cuomo says the state should ban the use of single-use plastic bags at stores across New York and add a 5-cent deposit to most non-alcoholic beverages not already included in the state's bottle bill.

Cuomo's effort to get a plastic bag ban passed last year was shot down by the then-Republican-controlled Senate.

His bottle bill expansion would include sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit and vegetable beverages, and ready-to-drink bottled tea and coffee. Products such as dairy milk and infant formula would be exempted.

Cuomo wants to spend another $500 million for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and allocate an additional $110 million in capital funding for state parks and historic sites.

A RAPID TIMETABLE FOR LEGISLATION

Ultimately, lawmakers may pass some of the proposals in Cuomo's agenda before the budget is even due.

In previous years, lawmakers usually did note vote on significant bills until the budget, which is due April 1, was hammered out.

Things are different this year, however, because Democrats control both the state Assembly and Senate. The party won the Senate in November elections, and by a comfortable margin. Only 32 Senate seats are needed to form a majority, but Democrats have 39 members, which makes passing legislation much easier. In the Assembly, Democrats hold 106 of 150 seats.

Looking to capitalize on their newfound power immediately, then, the Senate and Assembly on Monday, the first day of the 2019 legislative session, approved a slew of voting reforms that the previous Republican-controlled state Senate had blocked. Among them are early voting that would require counties to allow New Yorkers to vote in person up to 10 days before an election, holding all state primaries in June instead of September, and preregistering 16- and 17-year olds when they sign up for a driving permit so they would automatically be registered when they turn 18.

The legislature is also beginning the process of passing constitutional amendments for same-day voter registration and no-fault absentee ballots to allow people to vote by mail. Possible constitutional changes must pass the legislature twice before going to the voters, meaning those questions could not appear on a ballot until at least 2021.

The election reform bills passed both chambers easily and with bipartisan support. The measure now goes to Cuomo, who said he supports the idea.

LAWMAKERS APPROVE PROTECTIONS FOR GENDER EXPRESSION, TRANSGENDER NEW YORKERS

Before the speech Tuesday, the legislature passed legislation that would create legal protections for transgender New Yorkers and gender expression, the most significant piece of LGBTQ rights bill to be approved in the last seven years.

Cheers erupted in the state Senate shortly after the 42-19 vote was announced.

"When we're able to pass marriage equality, none of us thought it would take eight years to get to today," Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins said. "But we are here."

Cuomo is expected to sign the measure into law.

Aspects of the bill were first approved in the state's civil rights regulation by Cuomo in 2015 after Republicans, who controlled the Senate at the time, declined to take up the bill.

"The passage of GENDA [the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act] — 16 years in the making — will codify our progressive reputation and ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation are treated equally and with respect," State Sen. Brad Hoylman said.

Lawmakers had previously in 2002 approved the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, but advocates have argued the legislation fell short of protections for transgender and gender expression when it comes to housing, the workplace, and other facets of life.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.