Breaking down Hochul's State of the State address

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Andrew Waite

Published January 16, 2026 at 4:40 PM EST

New York Governor Kathy Hochul delivers her State of the State address in Albany.

This week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled her agenda during her fifth State of the State speech. The New York Public News Network's Jimmy Vielkind was there, and he joined WAMC’s Andrew Waite to discuss some of the biggest moments in the address, as well as to break down the reaction from the right and the left.

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Andrew Waite

Andrew Waite is WAMC’s news director. His journalism career dates to 2009, when he was a cub reporter for community newspapers in Montana and Alaska. He has since worked as an editor at the inflight magazine for Seattle-based Alaska Airlines and as the featured news columnist for The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. Andrew has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, an MFA in creative writing from Pacific University and is a proud Albany High School graduate. He's honored to be back home helping to cover news in the Capital Region, where he lives with his wife, daughter and son.

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