Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at the New York State Public Employee Conference Legislative Breakfast

Earlier today, Governor Hochul delivered remarks at the New York State Public Employee Conference Legislative Breakfast.

VIDEO of the event is available on Youtube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you for the warm, warm welcome, Peter. It's always great to be with you in this incredible organization. I want to thank Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato, and I want to thank our great, great Mayor of the City of Albany, Kathy Sheehan. We are very fortunate to have her leadership as well. Peter, I love this organization because I'm looking at individuals who represent the hardest working, toughest men and women in the entire State of New York. Because so many of you have said yes to jobs that have been out there are available, but it takes a special kind of person to oftentimes put on a uniform, sometimes go into harm's way or do the jobs that others say, “I don't know that I have the guts to do that.” So, I'm looking at a lot of courageous people. And as the leader of this State, our State is nothing without the powerhouses that you represent, the organizations that each and every one of you represent. I want to thank you for all you do for every single one of us. Give yourselves a round of applause. I could not be prouder to be your Governor.

And I've got these fancy remarks from my staff – they do a hard job. I used to be a staffer, so I want to say thank you, but I'm going to just go from my heart. I spent a lot of time in local government, 14 years as a Town Board Member, and one of my most serious responsibilities was selecting the people who would be members of our workforce and interviewing them and going through the process and having to take off the list and trying to, especially when it came to our local police officers, making sure that I had people that had the toughness that's required, but also the sense of compassion to other fellow human beings. And I know how hard it is sometimes to be in those roles, and I want to give a special shout out to Tommy Shevlin for putting a spotlight on the challenges that so many people endure, but often don't know that there's an environment that'll allow them to come forward and talk about it.

And Tommy, where are you? I think you're in the room. Tommy? Tommy? Thank you. Thank you, Tommy. Because we've done a— we've talked a lot about mental health and how no Governor before has actually said, we have a mental health crisis in our State, but we're not just talking about the homeless on the streets of New York or in the cities like Albany or Buffalo.

We're not just talking about young kids in schools who are feeling the effects of being isolated during the pandemic. If you have kids or grandkids or nieces or nephews, you know what I'm talking about. It has not been the same. But also no one has ever talked about the effect of seeing sometimes humanity at its worst – the greatest challenges, the fear, the unknown that our law enforcement and uniformed officers and firefighters have to endure day to day. And it takes a toll because yes, they're superheroes, but they're also human beings. And for Tommy to come to us with a proposal that says, let's start talking about this. And I think this organization is a place to start, to have the conversation, no matter what line of work you are in or you represent, are there people that are struggling? And there's a fear of coming forward and talking about it because people say, well, if you ask for help, they may not ask you to come back to work the next day.

It exposes a vulnerability – except, that's where most New Yorkers and Americans are today. They need that little extra hand to get them through a tough time. So I said, “Tommy, we're going to work on this. We'll work on this together.” And I talked about it in my State of the State. And again, thank you Peter, for attending.

We're putting $13 million behind studying and understanding what training programs could be out there to normalize the conversations around the people that you represent who might need help so they can lead a healthy life, go back to their jobs and perform the great work they do. So that's a new chapter of what we're talking about.

Yes, I'll continue to fight to get more people to join your ranks. Unlike when I was growing up and everybody wanted to be a state worker and the lists were long, you might have to wait years before they ever got to your name on a list, there's a different environment now. I can't explain why it happened, it's just that's the reality I'm dealing with.

We had a hiring freeze. Hiring freeze didn't help us expand our workforce at all. So I was very proud to get rid of the hiring freeze. And now I have 12,500 open jobs between the State of New York and our SUNY institutions. I need more people. So I said, why is civil service so hard? Why is it just a nightmare to take the test?

Why is it only in this one location just a few times a year? Let's simplify that. If you've had a chance to meet my Commissioner of Civil Service, Tim Hogues, he's an incredible leader. He's going in there and shaking the whole thing up. The status quo is not okay with me. It's too much of a barrier keeping people out of these jobs because I want to see more members. I want you to have more members in your ranks. And we need the services for our citizens. So that's what we're also focusing on.

And workforce safety, as the mayor was talking about. We have so many people who are exposed in tough situations, and even just last year, we changed the law so uniformed court and peace officers could get disability retirement if they're assaulted on the job.

Someone has to explain to me why that wasn't the case all along. Right? Common sense. Common sense. But also, right now I've got a dual crisis. Separate from the public sector, I have 460,000 open jobs in the State of New York. Now, when I was growing up in Buffalo and my whole family had to move away because there were no jobs, it was a different world.

But our world today says we need to have more people come here. Now, I didn't ask for this crisis at the border. I want them to stop it. And if you know any of your elected officials who represent us in Washington, tell them to sign up for stopping the border and stop being cowards.

Let's just say we're done. We're at capacity now. I have 172,432 people here, living here, who came for a job, okay?

And if you know any of your elected officials who represent us in Washington, tell them to sign up for stopping the border and stop being cowards. Let's just say we're done. We're at capacity now. I have 172,432 people living here who came for a job, okay? How you got here? I don't choose to make a decision on that. You're here, but I have jobs. So, I said, “Why don't we open up the state workforce to those who are here, again, legally, because you have to step in with legal authorization to seek asylum.

But once you get that work authorization, why don't I expand your ranks by 4,000 people? And some of these people might have been in law enforcement or policing or corrections or providing all kinds of services, sanitation in their home countries. And why don't we figure out a way to bring them in? Because where else are we going to get the people unless you can tell me something? Because I don't think there's any population boom going on. I don't think the families are getting bigger. I don't think the number of 18- and 24-year-olds is getting larger. We have to be smart about how we're adjusting to these changes because what you do is so critical. We need to still perform these services.

So, let's figure this out. Peter, we can figure this out. We can find ways to get people to training. Lets you expand your numbers, lets you expand your influence, which I would tell you as the Governor of the State of New York is pretty influential. And just ask Karen Persichilli Keogh. Make sure you say hi to her. She's the Secretary to the Governor, who all of you have her on speed dial. I know, Karen, thank you for all you do.

But I have a lot of policies I can talk about, but I'm going to say one word, and that is respect. The enormous respect I have for you in your roles as leaders of your unions, but also the men and women you represent. I was just on a cable news show this morning. I'm sure you all watch Morning Joe every day, right? I do. There you go, Peter does. The opposite of Fox. Okay. Whatever your choice is, do whatever you like. But on there they said, “What is the message we should be giving our police officers in the City of New York after they've been assaulted in Times Square by migrants?” I said, “You tell them we have their back; we have their backs and I'll have all your backs.” I said, “You have a right to go to your jobs and safety. And yes, they can be tough, challenging jobs and you don't feel that respect. You don't feel that your government leaders have your backs, but that era is over. I'll protect you because you stood up and said, ‘Yes, yes. I want to be a member of the New York State workforce,’ and I honor you and respect you for that.” And you'll always have the support of this Governor.

So, thank you. Thank you to all of you for your advocacy. Thank you for your voices and thank you for the work you do lifting up the people of the State every single day. I could not be more grateful. Thank you.