Hochul Pitches Tying Minimum Wage To Inflation, Ban On Natural Gas

NEW YORK — Kathy Hochul, the 57th governor of the state of New York and the first woman and mother to hold the post, delivered her State of the State address Tuesday from Albany with a focus on making New York safer and more affordable — and reducing greenhouse emissions by shifting to electric, not natural gas, in all new buildings moving forward.

She also pitched a plan to help those struggling with escalating costs that would tie the minimum wage to inflation.

Emerging from the pandemic, Hochul said the "state of our state is strong, but we have work to do." New Yorkers, she said, proved to the world that when they get knocked down, they always get back up.

Addressing the key points of her plans for this year, Hochul discussed public safety, housing, a sweeping mental health initiative, and an effort to decrease greenhouse emissions in the face of looming climate change.

"We are ready to scale mountains this year," she said.

When residents don't feel safe and can't afford to buy or rent, the state could see signs of migration. "We can't ignore that," she said."The good news is, it does not have to be that way."

Her key policies involve making New York more affordable, more livable and safer.

Minimum Wage

Hochul proposed increasing the current $15 per hour minimum wage to keep pace with inflation.

"Low-wage workers have been hit the hardest by inflation," she said. Under her plan, "If costs go up, so do wages. Our families deserve this."

Safety

Her No. 1 priority is and has always been safety, Hochul said. Addressing the controversial issue of bail reform, Hochul said the goal of the initiative was that "the size of someone's bank account should not determine if they sit in jail or go home before they are convicted."

She added that she believes bail reform is not the primary driver of the national crime wave; that was caused by a convergence of factors, including the pandemic.

However, she said, "We can agree bail reform laws leave room for improvement."

With crime the top concern for New Yorkers, there's a need to move forward with "thoughtful conversations" to discuss what can be done to address the law, she said.

Hochul addressed the state's gun involvement elimination initiative, or GIVE, which she said has saved lives in communities hardest hit by gun violence. On Long Island, shootings are down 29 percent, Hochul said, and in Westchester, 27 percent; shootings are down 32 percent in Buffalo, she added.

Mental Health

Critical to addressing crime is a focus on fixing New York's mental health care system, something Hochul said is essential and long overdue.

"Even before COVID the rates of mental illness were on the rise, but since the pandemic, more than 1 in 3 New Yorkers have sought mental health care or know someone who has. That's staggering," Hochul said. "We have underestimated in mental health care for so long, and the situation is so dire, that it's a public safety crisis." New Yorkers are afraid on the subways, and in other public spaces, she said.

"I'm declaring the era of ignoring the needs of these individuals is over," Hochul said. "Our success as government leaders is measured by our ability to lift up and support all our constituents."

Tuesday, she said, marked a dramatic reversal in the state's approach to mental health care, the most "monumental shift" since the deinstitutionalization of the mental health services that began in the 1970s.

With 3,200 New Yorkers struggling with severe mental illness or addiction living on the streets or in the subway, Hochul called for the addition of 1,000 psychiatric beds back online. Supportive housing is also an important tool, and Hochul called for the building of 3,500 residential units supported by intensive mental health services for those being discharged from the hospital. She also said children must receive mental health support in school, preventative measures before they become an intense future need.

Hochul also said there would be a continued effort to stem the flow of opioids statewide and to stamp out deadly additives such as fentanyl and xylazene.

Housing

The housing crisis statewide needs immediate attention, Hochul said. While over the last decade, New York has created 1.2 million jobs, only 400,000 new homes have been built. Land-use policies statewide are some of the most restrictive in the nation, she said.

"Through zoning, local communities hold enormous power to block growth of multi-family housing and make it almost impossible to build new homes," she said. "People want to live here and have jobs here but, because of local decisions, they cannot."

On Long Island, between 2010 and 2018 Suffolk and Nassau Counties permitted fewer housing permits per capita than suburban communities in other areas across the country; Seattle permitted four times as many, she said.

Last year, Hochul unveiled a $25 billion, five-year housing plan that would create and preserve 100,0000 affordable homes in both urban and rural communities throughout the state.

On Tuesday, she presented the New York Housing Compact, a "groundbreaking plan" that would lead to 800,000 new homes built over the next decade.

The intent is for each locality to have a target, with upstate expected to see housing stock grow 1 percent every three years and downstate, to see growth of 3 percent every three years.

Local governments will all have to reach a target and can do that by reinventing old malls and office parks, incentivizing new houses, or updating their zoning codes, Hochul said, adding that local government will also see help from the state via funding and by cutting through the red tape to allow projects to move more quickly.

"Doing nothing is an abdication of our responsibility to act in times of crisis," Hochul said.

With a focus on transit-oriented development, any community with a train station will be able to rezone areas within a half mile to allow for creation of new housing over the next three years, she said.

Energy

With energy costs 20 to 30 percent higher this year, Hochul suggested banning natural gas in new buildings and transitioning to electric.

Her plan also includes offering programs to retrofit older homes with insulation.

Her "Cap and Invest" program aims to wean the state from fossil fuels; Hochul proposed a ban to end the sale of new fossil-powered heating for all new construction.

"I'm calling for all new construction to be zero-emission, starting in 2025 for small buildings and 2028 for large buildings. We are taking these actions because climate change remains the greatest threat to our planet, and to our children and grandchildren," she said.

Beginning immediately, the Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will design a program that sets an annual cap on the amount of pollution allowed to be emitted in New York, as recommended in the recently finalized Climate Action Council Scoping Plan, she said.

Every year, the emissions cap will be reduced, setting the state on a trajectory to meet its Climate Act requirements of 40 percent in emissions by 2030, and at least 85 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.

Child Care

Hochul said as the "first mother to lead this state," she knows what the lack of affordable childcare can do to a family. Last year she announced $7 billion over four years to focus on affordable childcare, but said so far only 10 percent of those who are eligible have enrolled. The goal is to streamline the application process, expand access and increase income eligibility, she said.