Gotham Gazette

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Kathy Hochul

Kathy Hochul

  • 'It's Incumbent on the State To Do This': Lawmakers ‘Optimistic’ Housing Access Vouchers will be in Budget Deal

    A place to call home (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    As Governor Kathy Hochul tries to convince the Legislature to support her ambitious housing agenda focused on increasing the supply of homes, legislators seem unwilling to do so without including in a state budget deal major protections for current tenants including a new rental voucher program.

    The Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) would provide state-funded rental subsidy vouchers to those experiencing homelessness or facing evictions and at risk of homelessness, regardless of immigration status. The bill is sponsored by

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  • It’s Time for Albany to Expand Educational Choice for New York City Families

    (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    This month, the New York State Legislature has the chance to pass a state budget that will have a profoundly positive impact for thousands of students in New York City.  

    In February, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed lifting the regional cap on charter schools in New York City, and reviving “zombie” charters – a proposal that would finally allow more public charter schools to open their doors. The proposal would mean two things: more good schools in the communities

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  • Hochul, Legislators Look to Pass Holistic Criminal Justice Improvements

     

    (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    While another potential rollback of bail reforms has taken center stage in state budget negotiations for the second straight year, the fates of a swath of other criminal justice programs are being quietly hashed out.

    Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislative leaders are in the midst of pinning down the contours of a roughly $230 billion state budget, already past the April 1 start of the new fiscal year. Even with the focus on bail, all parties are talking about a holistic suite of criminal justice-related policies with hundreds of

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  • For a More Equitable New York City, Reinstate 421-A

    Affordable housing on the docket (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The great strength of New York is our diversity. Strangers from all walks of life share the subway, the sidewalk, and the park. Of course, it’s not perfect: spiking inequality coupled with an acute housing affordability crisis has fostered disparities that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.  But very few large cities anywhere on the planet has our “gorgeous mosaic” of the well-off and the working class; the immigrant and the well-established; the young and the old; the cis- and

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  • The High Stakes of Hochul's Housing Compact

    Gov. Hochul talks housing (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Governor Kathy Hochul is attempting a major course correction in New York’s approach to housing creation in this year’s state budget and the stakes couldn’t be higher. For the governor, weakened after a tighter-than-expected election that won her a first full-term, it could be a major legacy-making achievement even if its effects aren’t felt immediately. And for New Yorkers, it could be the first meaningful step towards truly easing the state’s acute housing shortage and reducing the atmospheric cost of housing in the

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  • 'Those are the Things That Keep States Strong': Senator Krueger on Top Priorities and Budget Negotiations

    Senator Liz Krueger (photo: NY Senate)


    Lawmakers in Albany are in the midst of crafting a new budget, with negotiations now stretching beyond the April 1 start of the new fiscal year. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and the two houses of the State Legislature, both with Democratic supermajorities, are likely to pass a budget “extender” so the state can pay its bills, especially payroll, as they continue negotiations this week.

    State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who leads the Senate’s finance committee, has been at the center of the budget process, co-chairing weeks of legislative hearings on

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  • As State Budget is Negotiated, A Closer Look At Mayor Adams' Albany Agenda

    Mayor Adams & Governor Hochul (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    With a new state budget entering final negotiations, Mayor Eric Adams traveled to the state capital this week to pitch Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature on his administration’s fiscal and policy priorities. Funding for migrant asylum-seekers and the MTA as well as other fiscal matters remain at the top of his list as the mayor has otherwise presented a limited policy agenda in Albany amid attempts to recalibrate his relationship with legislative leaders.

    Last year, Adams’ intergovernmental and Albany

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  • Leaders of Hochul-Adams 'New' New York Panel Push Legislature to Support Housing Proposals in State Budget

    The Governor, Mayor, ABNY leaders, Richard Buery & Dan Doctoroff (photo: Governor's Office)


    As final negotiations over the state budget take place in Albany, a panel of experts convened by Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams are urging the State Legislature to support a series of proposals to tackle the state’s immense need for new housing. 

    In June 2022, the governor and mayor assembled the 'New' New York panel of more than 50 experts and leaders across labor, business, academic, nonprofit, and philanthropic circles to advise them on the future of the city and state. The panel was

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  • Uncertain Future for New Public Campaign Finance System in State Budget Negotiations

    Inside the State Legislature (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    Despite funding in the executive and legislative budget proposals, lawmakers have not ruled out shelving the state's fledgling public campaign finance system for the upcoming election cycle.

    Rumors that lawmakers were considering delaying the new small-dollar matching program as part of budget negotiations have been swirling since such talks were...

  • Max Politics Podcast: Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas on Governor Hochul's 'New York Housing Compact'

    NYS Housing Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    March 29, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas on Governor Hochul's 'New York Housing Compact'

    New York State Housing Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas joined the show to discuss Governor Kathy Hochul's New York Housing Compact proposal, negotiations with the Legislature, meetings around the state to discuss the plan, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can

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  • 20 Issues to Watch as State Budget Negotiations Enter Home Stretch

    Gov. Hochul addresses the Legislature (photo: office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    The Democratic supermajorities in the State Senate and Assembly recently laid their cards on the table with the passage of their chambers' one-house budget resolutions.

    The resolutions serve as opening counter-offers to Governor Kathy Hochul's $227 billion executive budget and sweeping policy agenda, marking battle lines and raising the stakes on a number of key issues. They followed weeks of legislative hearings on the governor's

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  • Getting to a Deal on the Housing Compact New York Needs

    Gov. Hochul addresses the state (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    Policymakers in Albany sent a clear message to their constituents last week: we are not serious about solving the housing shortage that is driving rents up, causing extreme housing insecurity, and keeping our communities segregated. The housing growth strategy outlined in both the Senate and Assembly one-house budget resolutions is a weak, incentive-driven approach that replicates housing policies that have been tried and failed. Localities that want to remain exclusionary and not add housing can still

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  • As Psychiatric Beds are Brought Back into Service Slowly, Officials Point to Workforce Shortage

    Gov. Hochul visits a hospital (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Hospital administrators and state regulators say a severe workforce shortage has stymied efforts to restore a majority of the 1,050 inpatient psychiatric beds removed across the state during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

    Three years later, over 600 beds remain offline, according to the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), despite a $55 million infusion in last year's state budget and another $9 million to support the staffing pipeline.

    The beds have become a focal point for Governor Kathy Hochul

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on State Budget Negotiations

    State Senator Liz Krueger, center-right, with other state leaders (photo: NYS Senate)


    March 20, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on State Budget Negotiations

    State Senator Liz Krueger, chair of the Senate finance committee, joined the show to discuss state budget negotiations with under two weeks before the April 1 deadline for a new spending plan.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the

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  • Make Hochul’s Housing Compact Tougher, Not Weaker

    Gov. Hochul pitches her housing plan (photo: Governor's Office)


    You can’t talk seriously about Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed New York Housing Compact without acknowledging with respect that she is the first Governor in decades to try to get localities in the state to take on at least some of their fair share of housing need.

    It is also clear from examining one set of her proposed “preferred actions” that she understands the exclusionary effect of lot-size minimums, height limits, lot coverage restrictions, and parking

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  • Making a Down Payment on New York City’s Future

    The co-authors: Richard Buery, left, & Dan Doctoroff, second from right (photo: Governor's Office)


    In 2022, we co-chaired an extraordinary group of New Yorkers tasked by Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams to rethink the city’s commercial districts. When the plan was announced in December, the once-in-a-generation alignment between our political leaders was on full display as they affirmed 40 specific initiatives in an action plan and policy agenda called...

  • NYCHA Rent Arrears Crisis Shifts Budget Focus from Capital Needs to Operating Assistance

    Governor Hochul makes a NYCHA announcement (photo: Governor's Office)


    After decades of neglect and underinvestment at every level of government, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) continues to struggle to fund its annual operating expenses and massive infrastructure repair needs.

    While the city and state have made some recent investments in the public housing authority’s capital infrastructure needs, the pandemic blew a hole in its operating budget as rent revenue plummeted and its roughly 500,000 residents were

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  • Max Politics Podcast: UFT President Mike Mulgrew on Contract Negotiations, Charter Schools, & More

    UFT President Michael Mulgrew (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    February 28, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: UFT President Mike Mulgrew on Contract Negotiations, Charter Schools, & More

    Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), joined the show to discuss his union's contract negotiations with the city, the governor's charter school expansion proposal, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the

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  • After Hochul’s 2022 Veto, Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Protect Freelance Workers Statewide

    (photo: @Sen_Gounardes)


    The pandemic changed employment patterns across the country, with more and more Americans turning to freelance or independent work to make a living — only hastening a trend many years along. But New York State still lacks wage protections for freelance and independent workers, something two lawmakers are hoping to remedy after last year’s attempt to do so was vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat.

    This week, Brooklyn State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Harry Bronson of Rochester reintroduced the ...

  • 6 State Budget Proposals Where Hochul and Adams are At Odds

    Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have a strong working relationship, one that they have repeatedly emphasized at joint announcements, news conferences, and speeches. It’s in clear contrast to their predecessors, who spent years squabbling over many issues, both parochial and consequential to New Yorkers. But with the recent release of the governor’s budget plan, the two first-term Democrats find themselves at odds over various cuts, cost shifts, and unfunded mandates for New York City that the mayor is none too

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  • In 2023 Agenda, Hochul Vows to Make State Government Work Better for New Yorkers

    Gov. Hochul delivers remarks (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    When she released her 2023 agenda in January, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a multi-pronged effort to “make government work better for New Yorkers” through improved access to government services and public benefits. How New Yorkers interact with state government will be overhauled and modernized, according to Hochul, in her 277-page State of the Statepolicy book...

  • As Prosecutors Get Budget Boost, Public Defenders Seek More Funding Too

    Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams, both first-term Democrats, double down this year on their focus on public safety and crime in New York, both have emphasized the need to give prosecutors and defense attorneys more resources to do their jobs. Both leaders have said the funding is necessary to abide by recent state criminal justice reforms and reduce court backlogs. But, while prosecutors across the state may soon be bolstered with more funding, public defenders say they aren’t aren’t receiving commensurate financial

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  • In Albany, Mayor Adams Testifies on Governor Hochul's Budget, State Priorities

    Mayor Adams and top aides in Albany (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Mayor Eric Adams trekked to the State Capitol in Albany on Wednesday, testifying before the State Legislature on Governor Kathy Hochul’s $227 billionexecutive budget proposal for the state’s 2024 fiscal year, which starts April 1, and outlining some of his administration’s state-level priorities.

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  • How New York Will Implement the $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act Passed by Voters in 2022

    Projects underway (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    After voters overwhelmingly approved it last fall, state officials expect to issue the first bonds under the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins April 1. It will take years to spend the entire sum, aimed at addressing some of the state's most dire climate and environmental needs.

    The bond act authorizes the state to raise its general obligation debt to support public works in four broad categories: climate change mitigation, flood risk reduction, water quality improvement, and land

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  • Officials, Advocates Analyze Implications of Hochul's 'Housing Compact' on New York City

    Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams & others at ground-breaking (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Last month, in herState of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a “Housing Compact” to build 800,000 units of housing across the state over the next ten years. It is an ambitious plan that aims to tackle the state’s dire housing shortage by leveraging private

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