Read New York Republican reaction
From the Office of NY State Senator Borrello, the Office of NY State Assemblyman Phil Palmesano
Statement from Senator George Borrello on Governor Hochul’s State of the State Address
“New York State remains one of the highest-taxed and least affordable states in the nation, putting growing pressure on families, businesses, and communities. Too many people feel squeezed, and too many employers are questioning whether they can keep growing here. Governor Hochul’s State of the State rightly focused on affordability, and there are areas of agreement, including cracking down on car insurance fraud and joining the federal “no tax on tips” initiative. But we did not hear anything about the broad-based tax cuts or structural reforms needed to change the state’s direction or reverse the outmigration that is hollowing out our economy. Instead, we heard once again that the answer is to spend billions more of New Yorkers’ hard-earned dollars.
On energy and utility costs, I support the Governor’s focus on developing more nuclear power, but that is at least a decade away and will not help families today. If the Governor is serious about lowering costs and improving reliability, she should expand access to natural gas and dependable baseload energy instead of waging war against them. Proposals like scrutinizing executive pay or creating an “affordability monitor” are window dressing. Utility rates are soaring because of Albany Democrats’ failed energy policies: the CLCPA, the all-electric building mandate, and the push toward costly, unreliable wind and solar. Until the Governor turns away from these policies, utility costs will remain a relentless burden for New Yorkers.
These same policies are also driving New York’s housing affordability crisis. The Governor’s housing initiative will not reach its needed goals while the all-electric mandate remains in place and without restoring common sense rules like the 100-foot gas service standard. As long as Albany restricts access to natural gas, housing will remain more expensive to build, rent, and own. Period.
Finally, on public safety, it was disappointing that the Governor did not address the state’s disastrous bail and discovery “reforms” and other pro-criminal laws that continue to harm public safety and deny justice to victims. The high car insurance rates the Governor wants to fix are due, in large part, to soaring motor vehicle thefts, which rose more than 180 percent between 2019 and 2023, and to the state’s failure to close glaring loopholes in its drugged driving laws. In addition, most categories of crime remain higher than they were before the bail and discovery changes, yet the Governor and legislative Democrats seem content to normalize that reality rather than fix it, while continuing to push the same misguided approach of restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Yorkers. On top of that, it was troubling to hear the Governor’s anti-law enforcement rhetoric and her insistence on a policy of “non-cooperation” with federal authorities, an approach that does nothing to make our communities safer.
Yesterday, our conference released our Save New York agenda. It offers the real prescription for turning this state around: a comprehensive, commonsense plan to cut taxes, lower energy, housing, and childcare costs, roll back costly mandates, restore public safety, and make New York affordable and livable again for hardworking families, seniors, and small businesses.
In the coming days, we’ll take a closer look at Governor Hochul’s proposals, and especially her Executive Budget, which will be the real blueprint for what she wants to achieve. I agree with the Governor when she says ‘government should be a force for good.’ However, we disagree on what is truly ‘good’ for New York.”
Statement by Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning)
“Gov. Hochul delivered her annual State of the State Address today and outlined her priorities for the upcoming legislative session. I look forward to hearing more specific details about her agenda when she presents her Executive Budget Proposal next week.
“It is no secret New York is facing not only an affordability crisis, but a quality-of-life crisis as well. We cannot afford yet another year of the bloated spending, high taxes, bureaucratic red tape and rising energy costs that are being pushed forward in Albany.
“I, along with my Assembly Republican colleagues, will continue to push back against these policies as well as advocate for fiscal responsibility and common-sense public safety policies.
“If Gov. Hochul is serious about reversing the affordability, public safety and quality-of-life crisis facing our state, she will present a budget that is not only responsible but works for all New Yorkers, not just progressive elites. I urge the governor and legislative leaders to work across the aisle to achieve this goal.”
