Governor Hochul: "I want to empower the judges again. They don't have an excuse now - you have to do the right thing I said my number one priority is protecting New Yorkers. And this was part of a holistic approach we took to fighting crime and making sure our streets are safe."
Hochul: "I said I would tackle public safety and affordability first, and minimum wage is part of that...we now instituted a tax credit for families with babies from newborn up to four years old. So we are finding ways to get money in the pockets of New Yorkers."
Earlier this morning, Governor Kathy Hochul joined PIX11 Morning News to discuss the passage of the FY 2024 Budget.
AUDIO is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: Governor, great to have you here in the studio.
Governor Hochul: Thanks. Great to be back in your new space here.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: Yes. So this was a lot of back and forth, right? So let's begin with the big topic of bail reform because that seems to be the headline. It was very contentious back and forth here. What was the final breaking point to roll some of the things back?
Governor Hochul: Well what I wanted to do is what I set out to do, which was to give more discretion back to judges. That was changed, and again, I supported the fundamental premise behind bail reform to say that two people accused of the same offense, one should not go to jail and one sent home because they didn't have money. So that was addressed years ago. I stand with that.
But what happened is judges lost the discretion to really look at all the factors involved with this individual. Are they likely to repeat? And so now we have factors for them to look at. And we took out what was called the least restrictive means, which is what tied their hands to really let loose a lot of people who perhaps otherwise should not have been.
And that's - I want to empower the judges again. They don't have an excuse now - you have to do the right thing. And it was hard fought because there's a lot of emotions around this. And I understand that. But I said my number one priority is protecting New Yorkers. And this was part of a holistic approach we took to fighting crime and making sure our streets are safe.
Hazel Sanchez, PIX11: And that being said, is "dangerous" still a factor for each suspect that's being held?
Governor Hochul: Well, they look at factors and a judge can say, "Is this a repeat offender? Was a gun involved? Did they violate an Order of Protection?" So, we put in the law last year and this year, factors that judges need to look at. But the least restrictive means was one of the reasons we saw some of these horrific headlines where someone accused of an offense - you couldn't figure out why they're back out on the street and able to kill their 15-year-old stepson. And the judge would say, "Well, I had to follow the law which said, least restrictive means to return to court." So now the judges have the discretion to do the right thing.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: Okay. We'll see how all of that plays out. Speaking of public safety, Governor, we've seen this increase in these robberies at these illegal smoke shops -
Governor Hochul: Yes.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: - that are taking place, that are popping up all over New York City, right? So, you have some stuff in the Budget now to address that by imposing some stiffer penalties. Can you talk about what those penalties look like?
Governor Hochul: Yes. And this is so frustrating. There's literally over a thousand of these places where they're selling an illegal product, and the law didn't have the authority for individuals to go in and seize it. So, we've now empowered the State Department of Taxation to go in and search, to seize, and to levy very hefty fines up to $100,000 to shut these down. Also, working with the Mayor to get the landlords to be penalized if they're allowing these shops. These are illegal. The product is not safe. And people need to know that.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: Those are illegal. But some would say that the rollout of the legal shops that's under your purview, right? Is moving a little slow. Are you happy with the speed of how many of these shops are opening?
Governor Hochul: No. No, I'm not happy at all. But there were a lot of factors involved. It's something when I - the first day I became Governor, there had been a logjam. Nothing had been done to get it going. It had been passed, but nothing was happening. So, I had to start from square one, just not that long ago, and to really try to build a whole ecosystem and find the locations and find the individuals who qualify and make sure they have the training and the skills to run one of these shops.
And then you have to get the growers growing the product. There's a lot involved. I'm not satisfied with the pace. I'm pushing it hard. But part of it was a lot of people were saying, "Why would I want to open up a legal shop when I have to compete with all these illegal ones." So, that's one thing we tackled in the Budget.
Hazel Sanchez, PIX11: You mentioned public safety. You'll be making an announcement with Mayor Adams later today.
Governor Hochul: Yes.
Hazel Sanchez, PIX11: Can you give us a quick preview?
Governor Hochul: We'll be talking about what's in the Budget for the City as well - $750 million we're dedicating to beefing up the district attorneys having more resources. The State Police - more training. The gun violence disruptor programs, the people on the streets, many times, former gang members who can get to the young people before they make the wrong decision. After school programs, jobs for young people. So, it's not just on the prosecution side, but also giving alternatives to young people in particular, so they can lead a healthy, safe life themselves.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: You know what's good news in the Budget too? For the first time in five years, minimum wage workers will be getting a pay raise. So, that's great news here, but some are tying that to the fact that the affordable housing fell short. Because if you can't afford to live in New York City, people are moving out. Why did the housing get yanked from the Budget?
Governor Hochul: Many reasons, but one is I said I would tackle public safety and affordability first, and minimum wage is part of that also. And I'll get to the housing. But as a young father, we now instituted a tax credit for families with babies from newborn up to four years old. So we are finding ways to get money in the pockets of New Yorkers.
But the housing issue - very complicated, but it is an approach that I said was necessary to at least start the conversation. There's a lot of resistance from the suburbs in particular when we said, "We want you to grow. These are your growth targets." Because we are so far behind New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Washington. We have not built anywhere near the scale we need to, to help get more supply, to drive down the prices.
So, I said this was a 10-year plan. I worked on it for the first four months this year. I'm just getting started. There's a lot we need to do to help the City. Look at Midtown - more office spaces are empty, or at least half of buildings. Why not convert that to housing? But there's tax incentives that need to be in place, so you have to make it worth people's while.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: But that was left out.
Governor Hochul: We're talking about getting all that done in the next phase. Okay. Phase two of this. We're going to go at it again. But I'm confident we'll be able to get some significant changes.
Hazel Sanchez, PIX11: Yeah, and we need affordable housing, especially with migrants moving here into this city. Talk about what was added to the Budget to help with that here in the City.
Governor Hochul: A billion dollars. A billion dollars to help the Mayor. And I know he's frustrated. We're all frustrated, afforded more, we're all frustrated.
Hazel Sanchez, PIX11: Yes, and he wanted more.
Governor Hochul: And we need the federal government to step up. And I've had this conversation countless times to say, "Give us the resources." But I put a billion dollars on the table to help with the housing shelters, to help with legal services. When you think about this, these individuals can legally start working after six months if they file the right paperwork. They need lawyers to tell them what to do. They don't know the language, there's a lot of barriers.
When you think about all the businesses, the restaurants, the hotels, all the places where they're looking for workers, these individuals could really help our economy, but they're not here legally yet. So, I'm trying to help the Mayor out with what is a really challenging problem - and he's working hard on it.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: And the Mayor is looking very closely at what's happening in Texas right now. The Governor is saying he's going to be sending more buses to New York City. The Mayor used the word "failure" for the federal government, and actually, there was this whole conversation whether or not FEMA should be sending the buses here to New York City. Do you agree with the failure word of the federal government?
Governor Hochul: The federal government has the responsibility to put forth an immigration plan that works. We've not had a comprehensive immigration plan that mattered since I was a young staffer for Senator Moynihan in 1987. And that's when Democrats and Republicans found a compromise, limited the number of people coming in, but gave a pathway to citizenship for those who are here.
So, it was carrots and sticks. And it worked for a long time, but now there's no political will to get it done - certainly not on the Republican side in Washington. The Democrats want to get this done. So it's frustrating. People are saying, "Fix this." But you have to get both parties to be on the same page, and we haven't had that in a long time. The President's trying, it's frustrating for him as well. But here we are, the City of New York having to deal with the clean-up of this. It is frustrating.
Hazel Sanchez, PIX11: There's so much more included in the Budget, and we would love to talk to you. But unfortunately, we have run out of time. But we so appreciate you coming into the studio.
Governor Hochul: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Dan Mannarino, PIX11: And we'll be there at the announcement later today. Big announcement. Governor, great to see you.