Hochul's 'smooth sailing' budget proposal: Funding for popular issues, no big risks
Gov. Kathy Hochul presents her proposed 2026 executive budget in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany on Tuesday. Credit: Office of Governor Kathy Hochul/Mike Groll
ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul's earlier budget proposals always seemed to contain an element destined to rankle some faction of the State Legislature — whether it was an MTA payroll tax, the bail law, local zoning overrides on housing or a significant change in the school funding formula.
Not this year.
Hochul on Tuesday unveiled a budget proposal that, for all of the $252 billion in it, picked no obvious major fights.
Under the governor’s plan, school aid would rise almost 5% with no formula changes that would reduce aid to any district. Free lunches for some school districts would be expanded. And there’s some tax cuts and tax rebate checks. A capital plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a potentially thorny issue, would be addressed another day.
After taking some political lumps on, for example, zoning and school aid in the past, some lawmakers said the Democratic governor has offered a budget aimed at "smooth sailing." They also note Hochul is trying to raise her lagging polling numbers ahead of 2026, when she would be up for reelection.
"The governor, as have we all, learned an important lesson about governance over the recent past years," Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) said. "There are no poison pills in this budget. There will be sufficient funding for health care and education, the two major components of our budget. And while not nearly as deep in dramatics as previous ones, this budget has an infinitely better approach."
Republicans noticed too.
"This is a kinder, nicer governor’s budget because there’s a lot of politics to it," Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) said. "There are no new taxes, we have $10 billion extra [budgetary surplus] and we are spending on programs" that could be widely accepted, such as expanded free school lunches.
"None of those bold initiatives, like the housing initiative, are being proposed, I think, because the governor wants to see a smooth year."
Hochul, beginning her fourth full year in office, proposed a spending plan that includes many ideas that were initially well received.
Besides the school spending hike, she wants to triple the child tax credit for families, earmark a big chunk of the surplus to cover rising Medicaid costs and provide $50 million to expand a program to do housing retrofits and rapid repairs to cope with rising sea levels, natural disasters and other climate change impacts.
She would channel money to pay for police overtime for increased subway patrols, offer free community college tuition for degrees in certain high-demand occupations and offer tax rebate checks of as much as $500 for qualified families.
"I think it’s a very encouraging budget," said Assemb. Judy Griffin (D-Rockville Centre). "I think there’s a lot in there that just makes sense."
Compare that with last year, when Democrats and Republicans, upstate and downstate, blasted Hochul’s proposal to end a practice whereby no school district ever receive less year-to-year aid even if it had long-running enrollment declines. Though the idea might have made budgetary sense, it didn’t fly politically.
Earlier in her tenure, Hochul rankled Long Island Democrats and other suburbanites by proposing a small payroll tax hike to help cover mass transit costs for the MTA. She also made a bid to boost house building by offering incentives, but also proposing zoning overrides if housing goals weren’t met.
Both ideas were dead on arrival in the Democratic-dominated Senate and Assembly.
Hochul eventually changed gears on housing, dropping the zoning override and offering more development incentives. MTA capital funding is still largely up in the air. Her proposal to give judges more authority in setting bail irked progressives, but eventually was accepted.
The governor’s poll numbers also have taken lumps. In a December survey by Siena College, 46% approved of the job Hochul is doing while 49% disapproved. About 39% of those surveyed viewed her favorably, 49% unfavorably. Those numbers were an improvement from November, but political analysts told Newsday that Hochul needed to boost those numbers in 2025 to improve her reelection chances and perhaps fend off a Democratic primary.
This year, the governor has focused on themes of affordability and livability, hence the generous state aid and law enforcement proposals.
She touted reduced unemployment, improved job numbers, newly launched high-tech projects such as manufacturing semiconductors and a decline in overall crime rates.
"Let’s talk about the story of New York’s resurgence. During these years, we’ve become financially stronger, surpassed our recovery targets and accelerated growth in jobs and in the economy," Hochul said in her budget address. "And most importantly, we’ve achieved all this incredible progress without raising income taxes."
Shifting to her 2025 goals, Hochul said: "But the truth is, many people continue to struggle. Nationwide inflation, the rising costs at the grocery store, sky-high rents. Every month, working New Yorkers face difficult choices about how to stretch every dollar. That’s why this budget is laser-focused on putting money back in New Yorkers’ pockets."
Lisa Parshall, a political scientist at Daemen University in Buffalo, said: "The term ‘election-year budget’ comes to mind. She’s definitely playing it safe."
She added that New York, as other states, also must wait to see how the federal budget and policies change under Republican President Donald Trump, who was sworn in Monday. State lawmakers could have to react as the legislative session, which runs until mid-June, moves on.
But for now, Parshall said the budget contains a lot of "small ball."
"By focusing on affordability and livability, she’s responding to critics and to where the voters are," Parshall said. "But she hasn’t responded with big ideas."
ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul's earlier budget proposals always seemed to contain an element destined to rankle some faction of the State Legislature — whether it was an MTA payroll tax, the bail law, local zoning overrides on housing or a significant change in the school funding formula.
Not this year.
Hochul on Tuesday unveiled a budget proposal that, for all of the $252 billion in it, picked no obvious major fights.
Under the governor’s plan, school aid would rise almost 5% with no formula changes that would reduce aid to any district. Free lunches for some school districts would be expanded. And there’s some tax cuts and tax rebate checks. A capital plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a potentially thorny issue, would be addressed another day.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Gov. Hochul on Tuesday unveiled a $252 billion budget proposal that contained many popular items and picked no obvious major fights with the State Legislature.
- Under the plan, school aid would rise almost 5% with no formula changes that would reduce aid to any district. Free lunches for some school districts would be expanded. And there’s some tax cuts and tax rebate checks.
- Some lawmakers said the Democratic governor has offered a budget aimed at "smooth sailing" as she tries to raise her lagging polling numbers ahead of 2026, when she would be up for reelection.
After taking some political lumps on, for example, zoning and school aid in the past, some lawmakers said the Democratic governor has offered a budget aimed at "smooth sailing." They also note Hochul is trying to raise her lagging polling numbers ahead of 2026, when she would be up for reelection.
"The governor, as have we all, learned an important lesson about governance over the recent past years," Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) said. "There are no poison pills in this budget. There will be sufficient funding for health care and education, the two major components of our budget. And while not nearly as deep in dramatics as previous ones, this budget has an infinitely better approach."
Republicans noticed too.
"This is a kinder, nicer governor’s budget because there’s a lot of politics to it," Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) said. "There are no new taxes, we have $10 billion extra [budgetary surplus] and we are spending on programs" that could be widely accepted, such as expanded free school lunches.
"None of those bold initiatives, like the housing initiative, are being proposed, I think, because the governor wants to see a smooth year."
Hochul, beginning her fourth full year in office, proposed a spending plan that includes many ideas that were initially well received.
Besides the school spending hike, she wants to triple the child tax credit for families, earmark a big chunk of the surplus to cover rising Medicaid costs and provide $50 million to expand a program to do housing retrofits and rapid repairs to cope with rising sea levels, natural disasters and other climate change impacts.
She would channel money to pay for police overtime for increased subway patrols, offer free community college tuition for degrees in certain high-demand occupations and offer tax rebate checks of as much as $500 for qualified families.
"I think it’s a very encouraging budget," said Assemb. Judy Griffin (D-Rockville Centre). "I think there’s a lot in there that just makes sense."
Compare that with last year, when Democrats and Republicans, upstate and downstate, blasted Hochul’s proposal to end a practice whereby no school district ever receive less year-to-year aid even if it had long-running enrollment declines. Though the idea might have made budgetary sense, it didn’t fly politically.
Earlier in her tenure, Hochul rankled Long Island Democrats and other suburbanites by proposing a small payroll tax hike to help cover mass transit costs for the MTA. She also made a bid to boost house building by offering incentives, but also proposing zoning overrides if housing goals weren’t met.
Both ideas were dead on arrival in the Democratic-dominated Senate and Assembly.
Hochul eventually changed gears on housing, dropping the zoning override and offering more development incentives. MTA capital funding is still largely up in the air. Her proposal to give judges more authority in setting bail irked progressives, but eventually was accepted.
The governor’s poll numbers also have taken lumps. In a December survey by Siena College, 46% approved of the job Hochul is doing while 49% disapproved. About 39% of those surveyed viewed her favorably, 49% unfavorably. Those numbers were an improvement from November, but political analysts told Newsday that Hochul needed to boost those numbers in 2025 to improve her reelection chances and perhaps fend off a Democratic primary.
This year, the governor has focused on themes of affordability and livability, hence the generous state aid and law enforcement proposals.
She touted reduced unemployment, improved job numbers, newly launched high-tech projects such as manufacturing semiconductors and a decline in overall crime rates.
"Let’s talk about the story of New York’s resurgence. During these years, we’ve become financially stronger, surpassed our recovery targets and accelerated growth in jobs and in the economy," Hochul said in her budget address. "And most importantly, we’ve achieved all this incredible progress without raising income taxes."
Shifting to her 2025 goals, Hochul said: "But the truth is, many people continue to struggle. Nationwide inflation, the rising costs at the grocery store, sky-high rents. Every month, working New Yorkers face difficult choices about how to stretch every dollar. That’s why this budget is laser-focused on putting money back in New Yorkers’ pockets."
Lisa Parshall, a political scientist at Daemen University in Buffalo, said: "The term ‘election-year budget’ comes to mind. She’s definitely playing it safe."
She added that New York, as other states, also must wait to see how the federal budget and policies change under Republican President Donald Trump, who was sworn in Monday. State lawmakers could have to react as the legislative session, which runs until mid-June, moves on.
But for now, Parshall said the budget contains a lot of "small ball."
"By focusing on affordability and livability, she’s responding to critics and to where the voters are," Parshall said. "But she hasn’t responded with big ideas."
LI man admitted killing domestic partner ... 7 charged in money laundering scheme ... Track star can run ... Suffolk CPS investigation
LI man admitted killing domestic partner ... 7 charged in money laundering scheme ... Track star can run ... Suffolk CPS investigation
