New York Gov. Kathy Hochul laid out her plans for the coming year in a broad-ranging state of the state address in Albany on Jan. 13.
Hochul focused on the affordability of housing and child care. She also highlighted her record on crime and her commitment to push back against President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal funding for state programs and ramped-up immigration enforcement operations.
Immigration, Pushback Against Trump
When the Trump administration challenged the state’s congestion pricing, a toll to enter Manhattan during peak hours, New York “beat them back again and again,” Hochul said.She also questioned Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s arrest of a staffer who works for the New York City Council on Jan. 12. Hochul expressed disbelief that Venezuelan national Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst, was a danger to the community. Federal immigration officials say he has an arrest for assault.
Hochul said she would introduce legislation to shield schools, hospitals, and houses of worship from immigration operations. Officers would be required to obtain a judge’s signature on a warrant before they could enter to enforce civil immigration laws.
She said she will work to pass legislation allowing individuals to bring state-level civil lawsuits against federal officers for violations of their constitutional rights.
The governor also said she would continue to fight for federal funding.
“When they tried to take away funding for first responders and law enforcement, we made them restore it,” she said.
New Housing Construction
Hochul said she will work to stimulate the building of affordable housing, cutting cumbersome regulations.“This year, we’re taking a hard look at environmental review processes that haven’t been updated in literally half a century,” she said. “Right now, they slow down the very projects that help us fight climate change, create housing, and strengthen our communities.”
A study that looked at the environmental review process found that almost none of the more than 1,000 projects examined in the study had an environmental impact. But delays caused by environmental review lasted an average of two years, according to Hochul’s 2026 State of the State book.
Pre-K for All 4-Year-Olds Statewide
Regarding her affordability agenda, Hochul said the state would provide pre-K care for all 4-year-olds by 2028.Hochul said the state will fund the first two years of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to expand the city’s program to 2-year-olds, called 2-Care. She said the state will also support New York City’s child care programs for ages 3 and up, called 3-K.
Hochul said her administration has invested $8 billion in child care since 2022 and is implementing a statewide pilot program for child care for newborns to 3-year-olds. The state will also expand a voucher program to reduce the cost of child care.
“Thanks to our strong economy, we have the revenue to get these initiatives off the ground,” she said.
In a response, Republicans questioned the feasibility of Hochul’s planned spending.
“The governor can’t preach ‘affordability’ at the same time she keeps looking to go on spending taxpayer dollars like there’s not a care in the world,” state Sen. Thomas O'Mara said in a statement following Hochul’s address.
“We’re already at that breaking point in New York State. We have the highest population losses in the nation.”
