Hochul’s big affordability push

Aug 08, 2024

Governor Kathy Hochul announces that New York has issued nearly $200 million in food assistance

Gov. Kathy Hochul has recently championed a slew of programs aimed at lowering the cost of living for New York families. | Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

CASH ASSIST: More money for summer groceries. Slashing child care costs. Hundreds of millions in child tax credits.

In the last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul has continued to project a message that she’s focused on affordability for New Yorkers, a leading concern for most voters. But prominent anti-poverty groups say the centrist Democrat isn’t doing enough.

“Your childcare expenses will no longer be $350 a week on average — they'll be capped at $15,” the governor said today, referencing the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. “That's a real difference in people's lives.”

Today’s event celebrated an anti-poverty program that enables low-income families to receive $120 per child in federal EBT funds this summer.

On Monday, she also announced up to $330 in tax credits per child for 1 million eligible families.

And in July, she streamlined access to a program so that the vast majority of families in New York won’t have to pay more than $15 per week in child care costs with state support.

The trio of announcements demonstrate the governor striving to champion affordability. After all, she justified her controversial halting of congestion pricing with New Yorkers’ concerns it would be too costly.

“Given these financial pressures, I cannot add another burden to working- and middle-class New Yorkers — or create another obstacle to continued recovery,” she said in June.

(Whether or not the move will be too much for the MTA to bear since congestion pricing would have funded much-needed capital projects continues to play out.)

But despite Hochul’s focus on affordability, anti-poverty advocates in the state say she needs to do more to correct the problem.

New York has one of the highest child poverty rates in the nation, according to a May report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

“She's positioning herself, in particular, as the first mom governor,” Loris Toribio, senior policy advisor at Robin Hood, a New York organization fighting poverty, told Playbook. “But from what we assessed in the types of policies that have been passed, they are targeted more so towards middle income families,” rather than low-income ones.

Anti-poverty advocates called Hochul’s child tax credits and EBT dollars positive steps, but said they are one-time cash infusions that don’t provide necessary recurring support.

“I think what we need to see is some more intentionality around what are the multiple different ways we can be supporting families,” said Kate Breslin, who sits on the state’s Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council and is the CEO of the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.

“What are the ways we can support families year round, every month and every year going forward? That's what I think we haven't seen yet,” Breslin said.

Advocates are hoping that future anti-poverty efforts can help stem the state’s population loss, a key concern among the Legislature, especially among Republicans. A June report from the Fiscal Policy Institute found that households with young children are 40 percent more likely to leave the state.

“That's very alarming when people feel like they are unable to raise a family and set down roots in New York state,” Toribio said. “That has huge implications for the state's economic future.” — Jason Beeferman

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From the Capitol

A video surveillance camera is installed on the ceiling above a subway platform in New York.

A new report from comptroller Thomas DiNapoli raises concerns with the efficacy of the surveillance systems in the MTA's subway system | Mark Lennihan/AP Photo

WE CAN'T SEE-C-TV: The MTA’s expansive closed circuit camera system is not maintained as required, according to a new audit released Thursday by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The audit found that several projects to upgrade the agency’s security systems have also been delayed.

The reliability of the MTA’s cameras came under scrutiny two years ago when they failed during a 2022 subway shooting in Sunset Park.

“The MTA’s security equipment is vital to riders’ personal safety and critical to Transit and first responders during emergencies and incidents of crime,” DiNapoli said. “The subway is an environment that demands CCTVs and other devices get inspected and maintained regularly. When security equipment fails it can have severe consequences.”

In a letter responding to the audit, the MTA’s New York City Transit agency said that since 2022 it has invested more than $650 million on security camera projects.

“In just the past five years, we have invested in the expansion of cameras by 66 percent, which has facilitated the rollout of an extensive and robust camera network comprised of over 1,000 closed-circuit television (‘CCTV’) systems including over 13,000 cameras,” New York City Transit’s then-President Richard Davey wrote in a May letter responding to the audit. — Ry Rivard

PRAISE FOR UNPAUSE: Attorney General Tish James’ move to not defend New York in two lawsuits opposing Hochul’s “pause” on the congestion pricing toll plan has drawn accolades from the program’s most vocal proponents — and the governor herself.

NY1 reported Wednesday that the Hochul administration is retaining the white shoe firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP to represent the state in two lawsuits opposed to the pause.

James’ office is already representing New York in legal challenges creating a conflict with the pro-congestion pricing lawsuits.

Hochul on Thursday at an unrelated news conference continued to defend the pause placed on the program. She also said James made the right call.

“I’m proud the AG has the integrity that is missing in places like Washington and our Supreme Court, where people should recuse themselves or say there is a conflict (and) do not,” Hochul said. “Representing two sides is a conflict, so I understand the AG’s decision.”

The politically charged debate over the halted $15 toll has continued nearly two months after Hochul announced she was withdrawing her support.

State lawmakers who support congestion pricing to fund major mass transit infrastructure projects, meanwhile, applauded James.

"Congestion pricing is the law, passed by overwhelming majorities in both houses of the State Legislature and signed by the Governor’s predecessor as part of the 2019 State Budget,” state Sen. Liz Krueger said. “I applaud the Attorney General for her correct assertion that defending a unilateral attempt to override state law for political reasons would present a conflict of interest for her office.”

A Siena College poll this week found 59 percent of New York voters do not want the toll program enacted. — Nick Reisman

IN OTHER NEWS...

— SUBWAY CRISIS LOOMS: It’s been seven years since the ‘Summer of Hell’ but the pause of congestion pricing and other fiscal issues mean a dark future could be on the horizon for the MTA. (The New York Times)

— ASSEMBLY LAWSUIT: The Assembly wants a judge to block the state from having a public hearing on a sexual discrimination complaint against Buffalo-area Assemblymember Patrick Burke.. (Buffalo News)

— BIG DEM DONORS: Steve Cohen, Verizon, Airbnb and others are betting big on Democrats. (Gothamist)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? Read it here.

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