Governor Hochul is a Guest on LI News Radio With Jay Oliver
Earlier today, Governor Hochul was a guest on LI News Radio with Jay Oliver.
AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Alrighty, ladies and gentlemen, always great having her. Yeah, we're six and a half weeks or so to the big general election, and she will be front and center without question. Who am I talking about? Of course, Governor Kathy Hochul. Nice enough to give us a couple of minutes here on this Friday morning, early it is, in mid-September. Governor, great having you back. How you been?
Governor Hochul: I'm doing great, Jay. And you told me to call you whenever I get to Long Island. I haven't done it every time — I was there about a week and a half ago, and I was there two weeks before that. But I'm coming back this morning to do something that we've all been waiting for, which is the rebirth of the world-class, brand new Belmont Park. And so —
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: There you go.
Governor Hochul: I'll find my way to that area, to that incredible sporting venue that is not just for horse racing, it is year-round entertainment and great access for people to see and come visit horses if they want to bring their families. So I'm excited about that investment because it returns a lot more money in tax dollars and jobs to our community. So I'm heading out your way once again.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: I'll tell you, nothing against Saratoga, it's going to be great to have those Belmont Stakes back where it belongs in 2027, I'll tell you that much,
Governor Hochul: That's right. We're getting the Breeders' Cup coming, which is a big deal. We haven't had that nationally watched event since 2005 because people before me let Belmont deteriorate. And I'm going to — I'm willing to make the investments, whether it's long overdue investments in the Long Island Rail Road, whether it's redoing and bringing back to life Belmont Park. It's been there since the 1700s with their horse racing. And I'm excited about just doing what's right and moving the state forward.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: That's great stuff. If I had to bet, I'm going to say you might have been at that new Highmark Stadium last night. Now, I'll tell you this: I got a new son-in-law who is from Buffalo, okay? And I went to visit yesterday just for a couple of minutes and I said to my daughter and my son-in-law, I said, "You know what? Bills’ going to win by ten. Ten. Mark it down, ten." And they won by, I believe, ten. Yeah, 41-31. It wasn't even that close. Were you at that stadium last night?
Governor Hochul: Jay, Jay, how did you know that? How, I actually have to know. Can you tell me if they're going to win the Super Bowl this year?
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: I'm going to tell you right now, they're going to be in the Super Bowl. I don't know if they're going to win it. They're going to be in the Super Bowl, you better believe it. Were you there last night, though?
Governor Hochul: Of course I was there, which is why I have a little bit of a hoarse voice —
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: I figured.
Governor Hochul: I was, didn't get back until after midnight. But you know what? It's huge for the economy of Upstate New York. It's an investment that'll pay dividends over and over again. And I also said this, "I cannot be the Governor who loses the team that plays in New York." I love my Jets and Giants, but if we lost the Bills because they couldn't get support from the state, even though it's only 29 percent of the total cost is from the State of New York right now, and that's what we calculated.
I need to make that investment because basically, and people are criticizing — Jay, it's that time of year — and people are just, "Oh no, you shouldn't have done that." Guess what? In about less than half of the lease, I will have paid back every penny back to the state in terms of us collecting state income tax because those highly paid athletes come to town, and we collect sales tax, or we collect income tax on their revenues, on their incomes, and so it's $300 million economic impact to the local economy in upstate.
So I'm fighting for the economy on Long Island, and I have got to fight for the economy in upstate New York as well.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: How close were you ever to think that you might put a roof on that place? Obviously, the area it's in, it's going to be football mainly — you'll have a couple of concerts there — but you want to certainly provide events, I would think, in the winter, dead of winter want to. How close were you to thinking that, Governor?
Governor Hochul: That was certainly on the table, and that was a decision made not by the ownership, not by me, but by the fans.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Okay.
Governor Hochul: This fan base is intense. They're around the country. There are Bills bars in every community, it seems. And they surveyed them, and they didn't want to give up that tough, gritty image they have of being willing to play out there, and the teams, but also the fans sitting there during a blizzard and keeping their shirts off and writing the word Bills on their chest.
It's wild where I come from. But you have to be tough to survive, and our fans did not want a dome stadium, and they wanted to keep it out in the suburbs — they could've had it downtown Buffalo — because they want to make sure there's enough parking lot for what is ritual here in Western New York is the incredible tailgating. People literally jump on card tables off the back of their trucks and cars, and it's just, you watch this online, it's like, “Yeah, they're a little crazy, but they sure have fun.”
So I was there. The venue is gorgeous. It is extraordinary. And, I need to deliver for all parts of my state, whether it's Belmont on Long Island, which they needed, and it'll be huge for the economy there and the Bills' stadium, meanwhile, delivering for individual New Yorkers as we deal with an affordability crisis. I just want to make sure people know we're fighting for them in every respect.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Listen, and I know you care about the Island, and — oh, first I want to say I've read about those rebates, the rebate checks went out already, correct?
Governor Hochul: They're coming out starting Monday.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Okay.
Governor Hochul: So these — this is a billion dollars that we worked on with the Legislature. It's really a continuation of what I've done in my five years as Governor. My first year, we cut middle class tax rates to the lowest they've been in 70 years. We gave some tax refund — rebates back to people, and we did the inflation rebates to send money back when we realized because everything went up, so much higher prices and everything, we collected more in sales tax than we expected. And I said, "This doesn't belong to us. It belongs to New Yorkers, so give it back." And so we gave rebates for that. So this is a rebate to help people with their utility bills upwards of $200 for a family.
And I think it's just another way of saying, "You know what? We hear you. We're trying to help out. We're holding utility companies accountable." We passed a Ratepayer Protection Plan to say, “You cannot go over a certain increase.” We're holding the line on that. But also I was — on Long Island, I'll be doing this again today on Long Island, but also in Buffalo yesterday, is giving people information on how people earning up to $300,000 a year can get their utility bills lower every single month by signing up for our Energy Assistance Program.
So I'm hitting it on many fronts. This is a real frustrating point for families when they open up the bills at the end of the month, and I'm trying to help there. What I cannot control is the fact that it is now almost $4.50 a gallon to be able to drive on Long Island and across the state. And that's a result of the war with Iran. No one understands it, but it was supposed to be over in a couple of weeks, and look what's been happening to the price of gasoline on the global market, and we're feeling it right home. We're getting kicked in the teeth when you have to — a community like Long Island where people drive. We got the Long Island Railroad. That's great for you, but you're going to drive to the mall, you're going to drop your kids off at their soccer match. And $75 to fill up a tank of gas now just to do your errands and it's really hard on our families.
And so I'm fighting, but there's just some things that should not be. People should stand up and call that out and try to stop it. Be able to at least say to the President, say, "Why are you doing this?" But — you can agree with the President on a lot of things, but it's hard. Some people do, that's fine. I respect that. But no one can think it's a good idea to be at a war which is driving up the cost of everything. Now, we have inflation rate — I'm sorry, not just inflation going up, but interest rates.
Jay, we know how expensive it is to get a home in Nassau County or Suffolk County. It is much higher than the national average. But now you — to be able to buy a new home, the interest rates are going to be heading upwards? It's a tough environment, and that's why I feel keeping affordability front and center, whether it's covering, helping cover the cost of childcare, covering breakfasts and lunches for kids — that saves $1,700 per child in a family. You got a couple of kids, that's $3,400 back in your pockets every year. So that's how we're trying to give some relief to people. That's what I have to do.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Absolutely. And listen, affordability is going to be front and center, Governor, there's no doubt about it. You bring it up. How do we get down some of the taxes? New York pays some of the highest taxes out there. Utility rates, we know, are not easy here, and just overall living expenses. Is there anything you can do, Governor Hochul, to help that cause?
Governor Hochul: Absolutely. Living within our means. We've been able to expand programs in a smart way without raising taxes. I have said I am not raising taxes on successful New Yorkers and giving them a reason to move to Florida, right? It’s, I'm just not doing that. Or corporate taxes, I want businesses to be here. A lot of what I was doing at the game last night, I was talking to CEOs of companies and encouraging them to expand or to come to New York. This is how I transact some business: "Come on, I've got a great deal for you. Come to New York, create thousands of jobs," and we've been successful at that.
So one way we can continue to do it is to focus on property taxes. Your biggest tax bill, I guarantee, is not your income tax, it is your property tax that is levied by the counties, the County Legislators, the County Executives. And places like Nassau, they have some of the highest property taxes, not just in New York, but in the entire country. So if you look at a pie chart of where your highest taxes are coming from, I can guarantee that it is your local property taxes, your local school taxes, which is why we have been really supporting schools all over the state. But, $211 million more for Long Island schools just this year's Budget, and that's on top of everything else we do. So what we think, here's what should be happening, Jay — you should call people out on this — that we give you money from the state. A lot of these school districts have surpluses beyond what they're allowed to keep. They should be returning that back to their taxpayers, right?
This is how I think it should work: We help you with your, cover your school costs; you have extra money; let's help out the taxpayers and encourage the County Executives to find ways to cut costs, watch their spending and allow the property taxes locally to start going down. I spent 14 years in local government. I understand how that's done, and that's exactly what should be happening.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: No, I get it. Nassau kind of stays somewhat stagnant in that regard. But, you look at New York, they're right behind, I think, Hawaii and California as far as taxes. Listen, I would just love to see that rate, which is around 11 percent, I'd love to see that rate go down. I love the rebate checks, don't get me wrong, but man, I'll tell you, Governor, if there was any way to lower those taxes instead of the checks, I might lean to lower, to lowering those taxes. But I get where you're coming from.
Governor Hochul: No, plus Jay, I said at the outset, when I first became Governor, I lowered the middle-class tax rate to the lowest rate it's been in 70 years. So we took that on day one, even before all these inflationary pressures and everybody was talking about affordability.
You know what they were talking about when I first got elected? All anybody talked about was crime, remember that? Crime was going up exponentially all over the country after the pandemic and during the pandemic. It started going higher and higher when I was Governor early on, and I said no, “This cannot be sustained." So I've invested $4 billion to help our local law enforcement. I've been out at events. I was out at the Suffolk County PBA just about two weeks ago. They wanted me on their podcast to talk about all my investments in local law enforcement. And because of that, because of the strong commitment in changing the bail laws, which we did, or changing what they call the discovery laws, and a lot of cases are being dismissed when they're being brought.
How frustrating for law enforcement. You bring a case, you prosecute it — my husband was a prosecutor for 30 years, my son's a prosecutor — and then have it dismissed by a judge on some technicality. I got rid of that, too. So you'll see crime rates now historically low all over the state. Murders and shootings and this is the safest summer we've ever had in the subway system and on our railroads.
When you think about where we spend our money, I think that was a good well-spent $4 billion to give people the comfort that when you go into the city or you're walking your streets, that you and your kids and your grandparents are going to be safe.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: No, I get it. And, let's face it, we have discussed a lot on this program, Governor, as far as where they are, kind of discussed from a central point in Albany. We talk about the bail laws, but, to me, I'd love to see a change regarding Raise the Age. I don't think we're tough enough as far as that group is concerned. I think we need to be a little tougher. Judges, the word dangerousness, we've spoke about that in the past. So yes strides have been made, I'd like to see a little bit more, though.
Governor Hochul: Okay. Jay, I'm always refining, okay? But, on the dangerousness standard, what I did was I put in five criteria for a judge to be able to use to evaluate whether or not a person is dangerous or not. Before I made these changes, all the, all a judge could calculate on deciding whether someone should be held or free pending their trial was whether or not they would be likely to escape, whether they would come back to court or not.
That's all the judges were able to be able to use. And I said, "No, that's crazy. Let's look at: Was there a prior offense? Was there a gun involved?" So I literally spelled out in the law what I expected judges to look at. And you know what makes me crazy? When I see an article in the paper like the Post that says a judge looked at all these factors and still let somebody out. I can't stop that. That is what a judge does. But we gave them the tools that they needed that were taken away a few years ago, and I fought hard and they are now back in our statutes.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: I always go back to that Tessa Majors case. Stabbed in Morningside Park and at the helm of it all were 13 or 14-year-olds, and that's what really has accentuated that discussion, in my opinion, you know? But —
Governor Hochul: I understand, this is my ongoing mission, to focus on public safety. We've had great success, but we're not done yet.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Couple of more things before we have to let you go. The one — now, I know you love Long Island, you're going to be there today. The 150 million, you and I discussed this, the hookup of the railroad to the terminal at MacArthur, one of the — you know it has a chance to be as maybe voted upon as the best small airport in this country. Could you give us a little more insight as far as that? We've asked around. It's been kind of a ping-pong match trying to get an answer. I figured I'd go to the source. Can you help me out on that?
Governor Hochul: I want this to happen so badly. Yeah. I was there to announce it with Supervisor Angie Carpenter and Ed Romaine, great public servants. And it is being tied up with the town board. I'm told it's tied up with the town board, and I'm not sure there's not a bit of politics being played here. Okay? So I've said I want this to go forward. The money is still there. I'm not taking the money back. But the local government has to figure it all out and really should be supporting the supervisor's plan instead of throwing roadblocks in the way.
I, like I said, I spent 14 years in local government. I know how to make a project go and go fast, or you can drag your feet and make it difficult and sometimes it just walks away. I can't let that happen. But, call out the local officials there. Tell them to work with the plan that we unveiled with Angie and with Ed. What are you doing here? Come on.
So that's frustrating. I always can, you know, I can break through most barriers, and I'm a pit bull when I want something done, but I've got to get the cooperation of local government. Just do it.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: No question. We talked about affordability before. You and I have spoken about this MTA. You know how I feel about it. They're about $176 million, Governor, over budget. How do we rein them in? Because, I look at another fare hike coming for our great commuters come March of 2027. I don't want that to happen. I think it will. But how do we fix the MTA? That's a tough one. Let me hear.
Governor Hochul: Here's the problem.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Yeah.
Governor Hochul: It was ignored. Nobody invested in it for decades. So what happens? You have to redo the tracks. The signals have to be redone. It's not handicap accessible. There's all these failures of a lack of investment. So I had to come in — and no one thought I would do this. They said, “You're from upstate, you don't understand how important this is." I said, "No, I was Lieutenant Governor for 8 years. I spent a lot of time on that subway and downstate, so believe me, I know. It is the lifeline of our region."
And I had to come up with state dollars. I had to find more funding sources, and we've done that. We've structured a plan to literally stop the MTA from going off the fiscal cliff, because can you imagine if we had to start cutting back services because we didn't have enough money to fund it? And I'm not exaggerating, we were that close to having that happen. And I said, "No, not under my watch."
So I had to come up with more money. We're trying very hard to get them to rein in their costs. I told them, "I will come up with state money. You have to save upwards of $500 million in your expenses. Cut it. Cut the fat." And they did. That was the deal. So more can be done on the overtime, no doubt about it, and we're trying to find ways to stop the fare evaders whether they're out on the railroad or whether they're in the subways. And some revenues are being left out there, and we're coming up with all kinds of new technologies to make that happen. But I'm just as frustrated as you, Jay. I'm —
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: No, I know.
Governor Hochul: I've invested in even more, but we've made great progress, that's for sure.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: No question. And people always talk about congestion pricing, Governor, because the review of the air proved not to be a major component as far as fixing from a couple of weeks ago. But certainly, that is a category that I think needs to be discussed in the future.
Before I let you go, six and a half weeks out, I asked you this last time, as far as, what we have seen kind of permeating throughout this country, even in New York State for that matter, as far as, the discussion of socialism and whatnot, and we know that Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is somewhat a leader there. We saw that in the primaries June 23rd, and I asked you this, I said, "Were you a little bit ambivalent as far as all that's going on as, as the attachment to the Mayor?" Now, I know the bailout, New York City, $128 billion budget, and of course you have been very generous plugging those holes. But in essence, how do you feel about the alignment, Mayor Mamdani and those associated with him?
Governor Hochul: I want to say this. My job as an elected official is to work with whomever the voters put in office. So I want New York City to succeed. That means I have to roll up my sleeves and work on areas where I have common interests with the Mayor, whether it's focusing on childcare so families can have one less major cost that they have to worry about and make New York State more affordable, and I'm doing that. And that is going to be a great magnet for families, those who are thinking of leaving because of cost. If you don't have to cover the cost of pre-K or childcare, that's a game changer, Jay.
So that's something that the mayor and I are committed. He's also committed to working with the Commissioner, who I said, "I need you to keep Jessica Tisch. I think she's doing a great job as our Police Commissioner." I said, "It'd be — you need to keep her in office," and he did. And crime is going down, and he's working collaboratively with her. He's at a lot of events.
So listen, I don't defend anybody from the White House on down. I just say, "I have to make it work." And I have to be able to call the Mayor, work with him. I have to call the President and work with him sometimes when I'm not opposing his overaggressive tactics on ICE or withholding $187 million of Homeland Security money that belongs to our police and firefighters. He did that, and I had to be able to call him, saying, "Mr. President, are you defunding the police? What are you doing here?" So I believe in relationships that are productive for the community that someone represents
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Governor, you know I'm a city boy. I've — New Yorker, born and bred. I've gone to other parts of the country in and around. I'll always be a New Yorker. I hate to see people leave, though, because they can't afford it. How do we lure back the hundreds and hundreds of thousands that have made an exodus out of the state of New York? What are the plans going into 2027 for that? I know you're concerned.
Governor Hochul: That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about reducing the cost of living, not increasing taxes, the middle-class tax rate cuts, helping with childcare, helping with energy costs. We start driving down costs, but one of the big drivers of cost today, and again, Nassau and Suffolk are among the highest priced houses in the country, I have to build more housing supply.
When I come out to Long Island, more often than not, it is for opening a brand-new beautiful housing project, and that's how we start building more supply. Long Island has to open up to more opportunities, and I'm getting more people paying attention because, families that raise their kids on Long Island, those kids grow up. They want to come back and raise their kids at the same amazing school. We have incredible schools on Long Island. They want to have that same safe feeling. They want to be near grandparents, and they can't. So I'm focused on building more housing and helping drive down costs, and that's just not a dream. I've seen that happen in other parts of the state when they open up to just all kinds of housing, whether it's market rate or something that's affordable, so police officers and teachers can afford to live there.
That's how you change it. So I'm laser-focused on that. But, it was the state and local tax deduction, when that was wiped out under the first Trump administration, that was the beginning of the exodus of the state. High-net-worth people said, "I'm going to Florida where I don't have to pay taxes."
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Now you got the 40k in that ceiling, though. Yeah, now you got the 40k, which, you know, helped.
Governor Hochul: That's an improvement, but what I'm trying to — I think the people who have the biggest tax revenues coming to the state, the most successful New Yorkers, I'd like them to come back and have the President repeal in its entirety the state and local tax hike. That job is not done. That should be back to where we were in 2016, and then we start seeing more people wanting to come back here. That's what has to happen.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Gov, last one —
Governor Hochul: They’re not done with their job in Congress.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Yep. Are you feeling good? How do you feel six and a half weeks out?
Governor Hochul: Listen, I'm a Buffalo Bills fan, I'm always — I run like the mentality of an underdog. I run hard, you have to hold onto the ball and sometimes you get knocked down, you get back up, and you run into the end zone. I'm a tough fighter when it comes to elections.
So I take nothing for granted, but it is the highest honor of my life. Something that, where my family started — my parents lived in a trailer park when my dad worked at the steel plant. When you come from a place like Buffalo no one ever expects you to end up being the Governor. So I cherish this. I love being able to help people, so I do every single day. And, I'd be honored to have the support of voters once again, and I'm going to fight hard to earn their support.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Governor I appreciate when you are on Long Island, you are thinking of us, LI News Radio in the Morning.
Governor Hochul: I will be all over Mineola and communities up and down Long Island today, and I'm looking forward to stopping in and seeing a lot of friends. And people have been so warm and welcoming when I come to Long Island. It's been beautiful. Thank you.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: Always a pleasure to have you. You know that.
Governor Hochul: All right. Thank you. We'll talk to you soon. Bye-bye.
Jay Oliver, LI News Radio: You got it.
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