As she prepares for a reelection battle, Gov. Kathy Hochul focused on lowering costs for families, pushing back on President Donald Trump’s agenda and fighting his immigration crackdown in remarks prepared for her fifth State of the State address Tuesday.

The governor delivered her speech Tuesday afternoon at The Egg in Albany — kicking off her legislative priorities for the next budget cycle. 

“I need to level with you: This moment carries real threats from Donald Trump and his enablers in Congress,” Hochul said, according to remarks provided ahead of her speech. “Driving up costs on everything from groceries to farm equipment through reckless tariffs, killing major infrastructure projects that put union members to work. Tearing nursing immigrant mothers from their babies and calling it public safety.”

FEDERAL GOV’T PUSHBACK

IMMIGRATION

Hochul will mandate federal immigration officials who work with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement to carry a judicial warrant when carrying out enforcement actions in sensitive areas, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals, as first reported by NY1.

In her speech, the governor mentioned the death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis last week.

“That never should have happened…left a child without a mother, and a community, and indeed a nation, shattered,” Hochul said. “It’s all part of an agenda that only makes our lives harder. Well, here’s the thing about New Yorkers. We don’t back down. We rise up.”

A proposal to allow New Yorkers to sue federal agents in state court for constitutional violations
Legislation to establish buffer zones around houses of worship and health care facilities to protect New Yorkers from harassment and intimidation

AFFORDABILITY

CHILD CARE/EDUCATION

Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday introduced a program to give New York City parents access to free child care for their 2-year-olds
The city’s rollout is part of a larger push to make child care universal statewide within four years
Expanded universal pre-K for 4-year-olds by the 2028-29 school year

INSURANCE

Hochul proposed to change New York’s comparative negligence standard to reduce fraudulent car insurance claims and lower auto insurance costs
Hochul remains adamantly against raising income taxes, including calls from progressive Democrats to increase taxes on the rich. The governor said her agenda can be achieved without new taxes

“We’re putting the brakes on fraud and ending a system that rewards illegal behavior,” the governor said. “If you were driving drunk, driving without a license or committing a felony at the time of a crash, you should not get a payday. This is about finally standing up for millions of New York drivers who deserve a break.”

The New York Trial Lawyers Association is fighting the proposal Hochul will put in her executive budget next week — arguing the governor’s idea only shifts costs from big insurance companies to taxpayers.

But Assembly Insurance Committee chair David Weprin says the insurance reform is the right way to reduce costs for ratepayers.

“We have the highest rate of auto insurance in the country and that’s not acceptable,” Weprin told Spectrum News 1. “And it’s not that New Yorkers are bad drivers, it’s just the insurance companies have kept the premiums very high in automobile insurance and we have to do something to stop that.”

HOUSING & BUILDING

The governor announced $250 million for grants to build affordable housing
$100 million to scale innovating manufactured housing
Update tax incentive for repairs of rent-regulated buildings
Increase penalties on predatory landlords
Strengthen rent relief for seniors and the disabled
And a proposal to update the state’s lengthy environmental review process that can delay construction projects and increase costs.

“When a community says ‘yes’ to housing or infrastructure, we’re going to let them build… when a town or city decides to move forward they should not get caught in regulatory hell,” Hochul said.

 

ENERGY

New Yorkers are grappling with higher utility costs as the state struggles to meet the emission reduction and all-electric benchmarks required under the 2019 Climate Act.

Hochul proposed a “Nuclear Reliability Backbone,” which she says will help ensure reliability and advance her push for an “all of the above” approach to energy
Expand the state’s nuclear power capacity from 3.4 gigawatts currently to 8.4 gigawatts, as first reported by Syracuse.com
Developed by a new Department of Public Service process
Nuclear initiatives would seek to support a “resilient, flexible and zero-emission grid” and expand on the one gigawatt project Hochul announced earlier this year

ADDITIONAL PROPOSALS

Last week, the governor announced several of her State of the State proposals, including:

Legislation to crack down on ghost guns, and make it a crime for a person to intentionally sell, distribute or possess digital instructions to illegally manufacture or produce a firearm or components without a license
To mandate the reporting of 3D printed guns to the Criminal Gun Clearinghouse database maintained by the New York State Police
New legislation aimed at protecting children from online predators, scammers and artificial intelligence chatbots on online platforms
A measure which would eliminate taxes on tips

Republicans were unimpressed by Hochul’s speech — saying she’s bowing to pressure from New York City, arguing the governor’s proposals won’t address the state’s high taxes.

“The governor has just concluded her speech, and it’s the same talk, different year,” state Sen. Steve Chan, a Republican from Brooklyn, said in a recorded rebuttal to Hochul’s State of the State address. “New Yorkers should be very concerned. Nothing has changed…If one thing is clear, it’s that New York state does not have leadership. New York is not being led. The governor is not steering the ship — she is being steered by extremists, socialists who are promising everything to everyone for free.”

All proposals included in the governor’s State of the State agenda typically lack detail each year. More is expected when Hochul releases her executive budget next week.