Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her fourth State of the State tackle in Albany on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
Mike Groll/Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
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In her fourth State of the State tackle on Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged to deal with New Yorkers’ rising issues over the state’s skyrocketing value of residing and high-profile crimes as a probable powerful re-election struggle in 2026 looms on the horizon.
Hochul’s roughly hour-long speech, which she delivered at Albany’s Hart Theatre on Jan. 14, appeared, partly, to react to President-elect Donald Trump’s vital features within the Empire State throughout final 12 months’s election. Whereas Trump nonetheless misplaced by a wholesome margin in November, many citizens defected to him, citing challenges just like the excessive value of on a regular basis objects and issues over New York turning into much less secure because the central causes.
It additionally seemed to be Hochul’s response to her potential reelection opponents, together with US Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) and Mike Lawler (R-Hudson Valley), who’ve already begun attacking her document on each fronts.
Legislators take heed to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State tackle on Jan. 14, 2025.Mike Groll/Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
The governor, sounding very very like Mayor Eric Adams in his State of the Metropolis speech final week, mentioned she goes into 2025 with a concentrate on making New York livable for households.
“Our future depends on the ability of every family to afford the essentials of life and our ability to protect the safety and security of our residents,” Hochul mentioned. “But we will not achieve these goals without a fight. So my commitment to every New Yorker is this: Your family is my fight. That has been the inspiration and impetus for everything we have done for the last three years.”
To attain that objective, Hochul rolled out affordability proposals corresponding to reducing taxes for the center class, making college meals free to all New York state college students, and funding free affiliate diploma applications for college kids pursuing levels in sure “high-demand” fields.
In relation to public security, Hochul proposed making it simpler to involuntarily hospitalize severely mentally unwell people, placing a cop on each New York Metropolis subway automobile in a single day, and tweaking the state’s pretrial discovery legal guidelines.
Affordability
Hochul’s marquee proposal to deal with the state’s excessive value of residing is a tax reduce for the center class.
The governor proposed slicing earnings taxes by a collective $1 billion for 8.3 million tax filers making as much as $323,000 yearly. She mentioned that after the tax reduce is totally phased in, 77% of New Yorkers will save tons of of {dollars} in earnings tax funds.
If handed by the state legislature this 12 months, the discount would apply within the present tax 12 months, in response to the governor’s workplace.
“The tax cut I propose today and will fight for in the coming months will deliver the lowest tax rates in 70 years,” Hochul mentioned. “By itself, it’s a monumental win for New Yorkers in the battle for affordability, but that’s just the start.”
Forward of her State of the State tackle on Jan. 14, Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced her free college breakfast and lunch initiative throughout a go to to a college in Westbury, LI on Jan. 10.Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
Moreover, the governor proposed making public college breakfasts and lunches free for all college students at colleges throughout the state. This system would save New York households a median of $165 on their grocery payments a month, in response to Hochul’s workplace.
The governor additionally unveiled a measure to make State College of New York and Metropolis College of New York applications free for these between ages 25 and 55 pursuing associates levels in “high demand” fields. The topic areas embrace nursing, expertise, and engineering.
Hochul additionally talked about beforehand introduced affordability proposals like giving New Yorkers one-time stimulus checks as much as $500 and expnading the state’s household tax credit score to as a lot as $1,000 per little one for households below 4.
Nonetheless, as Jasmine Gripper and Ana Maria Archila, the co-executive administrators of the New York Working Households Get together, see it, Hochul’s proposals for making New York extra inexpensive don’t go far sufficient. Particularly, they mentioned her middle-class tax reduce wouldn’t be efficient with out concurrently elevating taxes on the ultra-wealthy.
Public Security
A Nationwide Guard soldier on project within the NYC subways.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
The governor additionally devoted a big swath of her speech to plans geared toward assuaging New York Metropolis residents’ issues about violent crimes on town’s streets and subways.
On condition that these with extreme psychological sickness commit many violent incidents on town’s subways, Hochul mentioned she desires to work with the state legislature to broaden the factors for involuntary hospitalizations. In impact, Hochul endorsed increasing involuntary removals from those that pose an imminent hazard to themselves or others to additionally embrace those that are unable to are inclined to primary wants like feeding and sheltering themselves.
“Critics will say this criminalizes poverty or homelessness, I say that is flat out wrong,” the governor mentioned. “There’s nothing compassionate about letting people suffer without treatment on the streets, and there’s nothing compassionate about letting people put themselves or others at risk.”
The governor’s dedication seemed to be a direct reply to Mayor Eric Adams’ very public calls since late 2022 for the state to broaden involuntary hospitalizations.
“Our administration has publicly called for and urged the state to take action that will make it easier for the city to help those suffering from severe mental illness — even in cases when an individual does not recognize that they need assistance — and we are encouraged that the governor was vocal in her support for these measures in her address today,” Adams mentioned in an announcement.
Moreover, Hochul pledged to work with Adams to position a police officer on each metropolis subway automobile between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. for the subsequent six months. She mentioned the MTA may even set up LED lighting in all subway stations and add platform edge obstacles to a further 100 by the top of the 12 months.
However the group Communities United for Police Reform, in an announcement, argued that Hochul’s plans will solely serve to criminalize psychological sickness with out addressing the difficulty’s root causes.
“These removals disproportionately impact communities of color – especially Black people – and do not address the root causes of why so many New Yorkers struggle with their mental health and cannot access healthcare services,” the group mentioned. “Expanding involuntary removals further criminalizes people who are unhoused and those living with mental health complexities. Once again, flooding more officers into the subways will only compound this.”
