{"id":103990,"date":"2026-01-18T15:23:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T15:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/103990\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T15:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T15:23:12","slug":"gov-hochul-unveils-new-affordability-agenda-heres-how-it-could-save-new-yorkers-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/103990\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Hochul unveils new affordability agenda; Here\u2019s how it could save New Yorkers money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Governor Kathy Hochul rolled out a package of affordability proposals during her 2026 State of the State address, designed to reduce expenses for New York families.<\/p>\n

The proposals, which still need to be included in the state budget to take effect,<\/a> feature universal child care, changes to home and auto insurance, expanded renter protections and the elimination of state income tax on certain wages.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers deserve a state where they can raise a family, keep the lights on, and stay rooted in the communities they love,\u201d Hochul said in an official statement. \u201cThat is why I am committed to lowering the costs that hit working families the hardest \u2014 child care, energy, housing, transportation and groceries. Together we will ensure that our government works for working people and expands opportunities for all New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For child care, the governor proposed a $1.7 billion funding increase, bringing total investment to $4.5 billion. The plan aims to provide universal pre-K for all four-year-olds statewide and expand subsidies to nearly 100,000 children. This follows the recent announcement of a plan with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to offer free child care for 2-year-olds across New York City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On insurance, Hochul\u2019s plan tackles auto coverage costs by cracking down on staged accident fraud. According to the Insurance Information Institute, accident fraud can add approximately $300 annually to individual auto insurance premiums. For homeowners, the governor proposed requiring insurers with more than two consecutive years of outsized profits to either reduce rates or justify their profitability.<\/p>\n

The new agenda would also strengthen protections for renters by enforcing tougher criminal penalties for landlords who systematically harass tenants. The plan would increase income eligibility for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption and Disability Rent Increase Exemption programs from $50,000 to $75,000 in the five boroughs. Tenants would also gain protection from utility shutoffs when landlords fail to pay bills.<\/p>\n

To address food insecurity, the governor will push to upgrade the state\u2019s EBT cards to chip-based technology as well as establish a new grant program that would help food pantries. The tax relief component focuses on eliminating state income taxes on up to $25,000 of tipped income.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Governor Kathy Hochul rolled out a package of affordability proposals during her 2026 State of the State address,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-103990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-the-bronx","13":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","14":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}