New York’s second-in-command swung by Saranac Lake to talk with students about political engagement, the power of money in politics and his hip-hop career. He also wanted to tell them he read their letters — a thick stack of them about the state’s budget and the housing crisis, hand delivered to Delgado by SLHS teacher Dwight Stevenson in Albany earlier this year.

“I gave him a stack of student papers and was like, ‘Hey, these kids don’t think government responds. Prove them wrong,'” Stevenson said.

Stevenson teaches social studies and government at SLHS. He had been leading student discussions about the then-proposed state budget when he went down with the NYSUT teacher’s union for a lobbying day in Albany in March. Specifically, his “Participation in Government” class was talking about how housing was taking a “back seat” in the budget and about the governor’s planned reduction in state aid for schools. Their letters described how the housing crisis impacts them and what changes to state aid would mean for their education.

Delgado responded in person and heard students talk about the issues they see in their lives. Stevenson said he hopes the students saw how taking a risk and speaking up can pay off.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado fields questions from students at Saranac Lake High School Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

The lobbying he participated in around Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed elimination of the state’s “save harmless” provision — which would have cut an estimated $1,469,668 in state aid for SLCSD — sucessfully held off the state aid change in the final budget.

Delgado said the formula the state uses to calculate school aid is “outdated” and contributes to inequity in public funding of schools. He said the changes to the state formula proposed this year didn’t happen, and a big reason was people speaking out.

Stevenson said he was a “proud teacher” seeing the power of his student’s words.

They are active participants in government, he added. After the talk with the lieutenant governor, several seniors walked outside the auditorium to cast ballots in the school election and budget vote, which was also held on Tuesday.

Delgado said he likes to talk with young people about government whenever he can.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado fields questions from students at Saranac Lake High School Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“It’s very important for young people to get proximity to power,” Delgado said.

Students used the opportunity to bring their concerns to someone in that sphere of power.

Delgado spent most of the time fielding questions from the students, who asked about some of the toughest issues the state is dealing with, most of which impact their lives. Students asked what the state’s doing about the high cost of living, how it is funding rural school districts like theirs and how it is combating the opioid epidemic.

Delgado had a focus in his answers on how money in politics keeps wealth inequality going.

“It’s not rocket science. If you have more and more inequality, fewer and fewer folks have money. But money is what’s driving the political decisions. That means fewer and fewer people are making decisions on behalf of the great many,” he said.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado fields questions from students at Saranac Lake High School Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

The top 1% wealthiest people in the nation hold more money than the entire middle class, he said.

One student asked about the state’s spending on music and the arts in schools. Delgado said they need to invest more. He said schools should give students as many opportunities to find their passion and success as possible.

But investment in these programs and extracurriculars has plateaued or declined, he said. The cause is greed, he said, a focus on private interests at the expense of public goods like schools.

New York has some of the highest taxes in the country, Delgado said, but he said there are improvements needed on how that large pot of money is spent.

The problem with money in politics, Delgado said, is it puts people in power “upstream” from the rest of the people. Trickle down economics means the majority of people just get a trickle of the wealth, he said.

He described how when the government works on issues like housing, the main people it works with have concentrated power and wealth. This means taxpayer money gets spent on improving things for the lower class but is ultimately funneled back up to the wealthy.

The solution, he said, is to give the money to local communities, who better know how to spend it, who to give it to and who can be held accountable. Delgado said the state’s new “pro-housing community” program, which Saranac Lake is a part of, works on this principal. This program gives local governments access to chunks of money for housing projects.

One student asked about social security and disability not providing enough to live. The student said his brother works two days a week and gets money from the government, but if he makes too much money, the state stops giving him benefit checks. He’s not able to work enough to live comfortably.

Delgado said this is called the “benefits cliff.” He said money in politics hurts the most vulnerable in society.

One student asked about the war on drugs and the opioid epidemic.

Delgado said he was glad the state has moved away from criminalizing addiction, but said this is still baked into culture. Now, he said the state has to focus on stopping addiction by increasing treatment.

Some students wanted to hear more about Delgado’s time as a rapper before getting into politics.

After earning a law degree he became a hip-hop artist in Los Angeles for five years in the late 2000s as a conscious rapper writing about racism, sexism, climate change, war and political corruption under the name “A.D. The Voice.” He said he was not very financially successful, and eventually got back into law to support his family, eventually getting elected to Congress representing his region of New York.

Delgado said he had always looked at politicians sideways, considering them “spin doctors” — people in their public positions for the wrong reasons. There are plenty of spin doctors out there, he said, but he said there are also elected officials working for the people.

Earlier this year, he started the Office of Civic Engagement with the goal of getting young people involved in paid and volunteer service. He said he hopes this will increase people’s involvement in government, elections and the political process.

Delgado told the young citizens to stay inspired. He said if cynicism won out in the past, the world wouldn’t be where it is today.