In an energetic speech centered around affordability, the Democrat proposed nearly tripling the child tax credit, cutting taxes for the middle class, handing out “inflation refund checks” to New Yorkers, and offering universal free meals in public schools.
"Many Americans, not just New Yorkers, have been hit hard by inflation since COVID," said Hochul. "Since prices went up, our sales tax revenue went up as well. But I believe this: that extra money does not belong in state coffers. It belongs back in your pocket."
But not everyone is impressed. Some Republican lawmakers have questioned how helpful (and expensive) Hochul’s proposals might be. Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican from the 17th District, was in Albany to deliver a rebuttal before Hochul even took to the podium on Tuesday.
“Taking thousands of dollars out of New Yorkers’ left pocket and then putting $500 in their right pocket is not a tax cut," said Lawler. "It’s an insult."
Lawler is considered a contender to run for governor in 2026.
In Ulster County, Hochul’s address fared better with State Senator Michelle Hinchey, a Democrat from the 41st District. Hinchey gave her own speech recapping 2024 and the state of her district at an Ulster County Chamber of Commerce meeting Wednesday. Hinchey, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, says her team has been fighting to expand universal school meals in New York for three years.
“She took our proposal!" says Hinchey. "We will now be negotiating it through the next couple of months. But by the end of this year and into the next school year, we should have universal free meals for every student across the state.”
Hinchey says multiple school districts in Ulster County are already providing free meals. Next, she wants to expand New York’s farm-to-school program to bring produce from local farms in for school breakfasts. Right now, Hinchey says the program is complicated and only applies to lunch, causing few schools to use it at all — but she says it could be a good opportunity for farmers and students alike.
“Because you know that you cannot teach a hungry kid, and that food is a source of medicine," she adds.
In a statement, 96th District Assemblyman Patrick Carroll also praised Hochul’s plans to expand universal school meals and the child tax credit, but he called for more focus on rail service west of the Hudson River. Hochul’s address proposed multiple investments in Hudson Valley transit, in a bid to, perhaps, assuage lawmakers upset by the MTA’s new congestion pricing toll in lower Manhattan. But Carroll says the toll is still unfair to Rockland County commuters, who don’t have a direct train line into Manhattan.
“People in Rockland don’t get the services back, but we pay a lot," he tells WAMC. "And adding another $9 fee on top of it, it might sound small, but it adds up.”
Hochul’s proposals include a study looking at ways to improve transit west of the Hudson.
Speaking to WAMC in a blustery Pougheepsie Wednesday, Assemblymember Didi Barrett, a Democrat from the 106th District, says she would like to have more conversations around how New York plans to achieve its goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The CLCPA aims to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, and 85 percent by 2050.
But overall, Barrett says she’s excited by Hochul’s ideas on affordability and education.
“And I love what she was saying about the community colleges, and creating opportunities for adults to go back and train in a number of different fields where we really have a workforce shortage, but they’re great jobs, and have that be tuition-free," says Barrett. "I think [it's] a wonderful idea.”
In other reviews, Republican State Senator Peter Oberacker of the 51st District described Hochul’s address as “underwhelming”, adding in a statement her proposals “focused on appearances more than addressing the real crises facing communities.”
Hochul is set to deliver her budget plan in the coming days. Last year’s final budget totaled roughly $237 billion.