{"id":348826,"date":"2026-09-17T00:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T00:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348826\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T00:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T00:32:09","slug":"energy-rebate-checks-fuel-debates-over-politics-and-policy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348826\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy rebate checks fuel debates over politics and policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Energy rebate checks of up to $200 will soon begin hitting the mailboxes of millions of eligible New York households,<\/a> providing a new flashpoint in the race for governor as candidates battle over the high cost of energy.<\/p>\n

Republican candidate Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman called the checks \u201cpeanuts\u201d this week while Gov. Kathy Hochul insists that New Yorkers will be appreciative to receive the one-time shot when they check their mailboxes, as the state works to implement additional energy policy passed as part of a package negotiated during the state budget process.<\/p>\n

These checks represent the latest in a pattern of Hochul and the Legislature sending direct payments to New Yorkers, which also included a round of one-shot checks last year tied to inflationary increases.<\/p>\n

The programs have resulted in such checks being examined through two different lenses this week: the political context, as candidates argue over the value and convenient timing of checks hitting mailboxes in the fall of an election year and how they fit into campaigning, and the public policy question of whether one-time relief is a useful tool when utility bills remain so high.<\/p>\n

\u201cA billion dollars going out to New Yorkers all across the state,\u201d Hochul said this week, touting the rebate program amid questions over election-year politics, adding \u201cNew Yorkers are not worried about the timing, they\u2019re just delighted to be able to get money directly from the state government in recognition of the fact that the cost of utilities are so high.”<\/p>\n

Blakeman took the opportunity Tuesday to come out in full force against the checks as the cost of energy continues to be a top-tier issue in the race, insisting the direct-to-New Yorkers format falls short of how much New Yorkers have seen their bills rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is she giving us? Peanuts,\u201d Blakeman said while taking the opportunity to hold up a literal jar of peanuts. \u201cShe\u2019s trying to buy votes because she knows her utility rates have skyrocketed.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs fired back at Blakeman for opposing what he described as a means of providing immediate relief amid an affordability crisis tied to a variety of factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been on the wrong side of every single issue particularly as it relates to affordability,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cHe favors the tariffs, he has no problem with that. He has nothing to say about the war in Iran and the impact on gasoline prices here. He doesn\u2019t care about the housing crisis.”<\/p>\n

But outside of candidates exchanging barbs in September of an election year, there is a broader question: Is this good policy? Should that money go exclusively toward longer-term and preventative solutions? It depends on who you ask.<\/p>\n

When Hochul first proposed inflation rebate checks last year, saying, \u201cHard working New Yorkers got slammed\u201d by inflation, lawmakers were divided.<\/p>\n

When the state Legislature released their one house budgets in March, the Assembly chose to include the checks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt polls well,\u201d Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said at the time.<\/p>\n

At first, the Senate pushed back with concerns over the benefits of a one-and-done check compared to more long term investments, and came up with a program of their own though the checks ultimately were part of the final budget deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for a more longer term relief,\u201d Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said early in the process.<\/p>\n

Both houses ultimately jumped on board this year with the Assembly\u2019s proposal for energy rebate checks being embraced by Hochul and the Senate during budget negotiations as part of a broader utility package focused on both short- and long-term relief. Utility concerns were central to state budget negotiations as Hochul pushed for a loosening of the state’s emissions reducing climate law and lawmakers pushed back through a series of initiatives related to utility relief.<\/p>\n

AARP, which represents thousands of New Yorkers dealing with high utility bills, supports the checks in the context of that broader policy work, which included adjustments to how and when the Public Service Commission can hike rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cProviding up to a $200 check to have some relief, AARP is in support of. Reforming a process at the PSC that in AARP\u2019s opinion is clearly flawed and skewed toward utilities, they did address some of that in the state budget,\u201d said Bill Ferris, AARP\u2019s New York state legislative representative.<\/p>\n

The Citizens Budget Commission, meanwhile, argues rebate checks are not a good use of taxpayer dollars when the money is spread so thin.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little bit of relief is helpful, sure, but we need to get value for our dollars and there are people who are really struggling so let’s focus our money there for the time being while we implement programs as we have to reduce auto insurance, improve housing production, be more rational about energy policy,\u201d CBC President Andrew Rein said.<\/p>\n

The checks will begin going out next week. Hochul deflected additional questions about the timing \u2014 with the payments arriving just as election season heats up \u2014 pointing to the late state budget as the reason for the fall mailing date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Energy rebate checks of up to $200 will soon begin hitting the mailboxes of millions of eligible New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[295,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,112,108,87,200],"class_list":["post-348826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-jack-arpey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news","tag-ny-state-of-politics","tag-ny-state-of-politics-blog","tag-politics","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348826","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=348826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}