Gov. Hochul celebrated the new state budget law as a boon to working New Yorkers at a campaign-style rally in a Manhattan union hall.
Hochul said the $229 billion budget, which hikes the minimum wage and includes fresh funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, aims to “lift up all New Yorkers, but particularly the working men and women of our state.”
“Life is hard here these days because the cost of living just keeps going up and up and up,” the governor told hundreds gathered at the at the Hotel Trades Council building on W. 44th St. “That’s what brings me to the Capitol to work hard on a budget that I needed to deliver for all New Yorkers.”
The budget is set to push the minimum wage downstate from $15 to $17 by 2026. Upstate, the minimum wage is to rise from $14.20 to $16 by 2026. Increases across the state would be tied to inflation after 2026.
Progressive Democrats had pushed for steeper increases, and Republicans had opposed any lift.
The governor also touted her transit initiatives, which include a pilot program of five fare-free bus routes in the city. More subway trains are also expected to run on more than a dozen lines starting this summer.
“I’ve taken the MTA a lot,” said Hochul, who became governor in 2021. “Sometimes I’m wearing a baseball hat, ponytailed, pair of jeans. You probably don’t recognize me a lot, but I’m out there.”
The budget made it through the Democratic-controlled Legislature this week, a month late, after weeks of negotiations between Hochul and lawmakers over housing, bail and education policy.
Hochul came up short on securing an ambitious housing creation plan, hitting resistance in the suburbs.
At a news conference after the Thursday rally, Hochul said she was looking at ways to get parts of the housing blueprint completed outside of the budget.
“It’s a big undertaking,” the governor said.