Five years ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York delivered her first State of the State address after her abrupt ascension following the shocking resignation of Andrew M. Cuomo amid sexual harassment allegations.
On Tuesday, as she enters the last year of her first full term as governor, Ms. Hochul will give her fifth such address, highlighting her priorities and accomplishments as she faces a contested primary and general election.
The address comes at a critical time for Ms. Hochul, who must navigate shifting and complex political winds in New York. The state just elected a progressive Democrat, Zohran Mamdani, as the mayor of New York City, but also contains vast rural areas, where many voters supported President Trump last year.
In her address, Ms. Hochul will seek to highlight her successes and further her priorities, among them safety and, embracing Mr. Mamdani’s central platform, affordability.
She will formally debut what may be the most consequential of all her initiatives, and one strongly supported by Mr. Mamdani: $1.7 billion in new funds she says will put the state on a path to providing universal child care, beginning in New York City.
The initiative, which the governor announced with Mr. Mamdani last week, would make child care available to 100,000 additional children in the next year. The initiative will begin in New York City by shoring up existing prekindergarten and 3-K programs and by expanding care to children as young as 2. The governor has also proposed bolstering funds for pre-K outside the city, as part of an effort to provide universal care in the state within four years.
Other elements of her speech are expected to dovetail with the affordability messaging that dominated last year’s New York City mayoral race. Ms. Hochul has already announced that she will make $50 million in funds available for New Yorkers struggling to pay their heating bills.
Unlike Mr. Mamdani, however, Ms. Hochul is expected to avoid castigating wealthy New Yorkers, or calling for additional income taxes. Indeed, she said little about how she would pay for her expansive vision, preferring to leave the nuts and bolts to the state budget presentation next week.
The actions of federal immigration officials — who just last week shot a Minneapolis woman in the face in broad daylight — are also expected to feature in Ms. Hochul’s address.
The governor has condemned the killing, criticizing immigration agents who hide their faces and suggesting that there should be more accountability for their behavior. Many will be watching to see if she goes further in her address today and backs a measure that bars state and local authorities from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
While most localities have relatively limited interactions with immigrations agents, a handful of counties and towns have taken the opposite approach, proactively signing agreements guaranteeing that they will work with ICE. One of those places is Nassau County, outside New York City, where Ms. Hochul’s presumptive Republican opponent, Bruce Blakeman, serves as county executive.
The governor is also expected to highlight her efforts to protect children and families, including by banning cellphones in schools and imposing restrictions on social media companies. She will seek to build on her successes in regulating social media and artificial intelligence by calling for new restrictions designed to protect children from online exploitation.
Ms. Hochul faces a primary challenge from her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, who has attacked her record on climate issues, among other issues. In addition, Ms. Hochul, the leader of the state Democratic Party, will be thinking about the ways in which her agenda will help or hurt Democrats running for Congress in contested districts.
The address is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the iconic Egg auditorium in Albany, where nearly 1,000 lawmakers, lobbyists, advocates and business and community leaders are already gathering in anticipation.
Grace Ashford covers New York government and politics for The Times.
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