Governor Hochul Is a Guest on PIX11

This evening, Governor Hochul was a guest on PIX11's “PIX on Politics with Dan Mannarino.”

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

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

Dan Marino, PIX 11: And Governor Hochul is now joining me back here on PIX on Politics in the New Year. Great to see you Governor, Happy New Year.

Governor Hochul: Thank you very much Dan, good to be back.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: I want to begin, obviously a big announcement on universal child care, but at the same time there's big news playing out nationally that is having ripple effects here in New York with what played out in Minneapolis with the killing of this woman by an ICE agent. In fact, Kristi Noem was just here in New York City saying ICE is going to remain in New York. When you look at this, first and foremost what was your reaction to them shooting and should ICE be charged and prosecuted?

Governor Hochul: It was inevitable that something like this would happen. So you have to go back to the primary question, why are they still in places like Minneapolis? 2000 ICE agents, they have been aggressively going after the residents of that city in that region for a long time. And if your effort is to get rid of the worst of the worst, the baddest of the bad — this is what the president promised us — you should identify them and remove them. I'm okay with that. But why do you have to be around and just harass people and continue this onslaught on people that are just trying to make a living for themselves and their families? No, I'm shocked at that but what hurts even more — Dan you're a parent —

Dan Marino, PIX 11: Yeah.

Governor Hochul: There's a 6-year-old who woke up yesterday with a mom and went to bed as an orphan getting raised by a grandfather — a father she lost. I cannot even comprehend the pain in that family where the child's going to grow up without parents because of the untrained, in my opinion, behavior. Law enforcement— legitimate law enforcement who take longer training and are committed to their work — this doesn't happen with them, or it's very rare because they know how to deescalate. You deescalate, you don't go up there and be aggressive.

This is something that we do not want to see in New York. I'd be very opposed to any escalation in the number of ICE agents coming here. But they're just running a muck around this country, so we don't really know what their next maniacal design is on a place like New York City — we just don't know.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: And Kristi Noem today just said that ICE will remain in New York. And you said today that you would like to give people recourse if they're impacted negatively by ICE actions. And you said you'll have more about that next week. But can you explain a little bit what recourse looks like? What a negative interaction maybe is with ICE?

Governor Hochul: A negative interaction is having your mother killed, okay? That child is going to have lifelong expenses. So that's, in my judgment, a private right of action that should be available in those cases, and we'll make sure it happens in New York. So there's recourse in the courts against an individual who acts outside the color of law, right? This is not something that's supposed to happen in the normal course of doing your business.

We also had a case where two journalists were injured covering the story right here at 26 Federal Plaza, so they should have a recourse. The business owner who's had their lifelong business that they worked so hard on — a little bodega, a little pizza parlor literally ransacked and destroyed, they ought to have some recourse.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: So is that money?

Governor Hochul: Yes. When New Yorkers’ constitutional rights are being trampled upon, they ought to know they've got a Governor who stood up for them, changed the law, and allowed them to at least be able to aggrieve what happened to them before a judge and find out what can be done.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: And lastly, I want to move on, but I— the mayor of Minneapolis told ICE very bluntly to get out of his city. What is your message to ICE right now since Kristi Noew today said they will remain and it's targeting New York because of the sanctuary status.

Governor Hochul: We don't need them. We don't need them here. And they keep mischaracterizing even what sanctuary status means. We will help anyone, help any agent assist in the apprehension and prosecution of the people who are committing these serious crimes. We have a different definition—they think anyone who crossed over here is a serious criminal. That's not what the president was describing when he said he was going to have ICE come and remove them.

So I think their effort is to create chaos, they want to see this happening in the streets. They want to draw out the protests, and they want to send images around the world, like they did from Los Angeles, that shows that one vehicle that's on fire or something that's going to create fear in the eyes of people who are witnessing it.

That's what they're going for here, and we're onto it. And I'm just asking them, please stand down. Crime is down dramatically here in the City of New York and across the State. We don't need you for a law enforcement presence, we don't need National Guard for that either. We can manage very well on our own. Please do not stay, and do not escalate the number of people that are already assigned to this duty.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: All of this happening on the same day that you and Mayor Mamdani had a very big announcement, and I think parents are very excited to hear about the goal to get to this universal child care plan which has many layers to it, first and foremost right? So let's talk about the timing of it all for parents specifically when you get to the age of two. Mr. Mamdani and you had that press conference today saying 2000 seats this year, and then it'll eventually go to Universal. Talk about the timeline.

Governor Hochul: We've worked closely since the mayor was elected and I really believed in his vision to make sure that every young person in the City of New York has child care available to them. It's a lifeline for families who are suffering so much from this affordability crisis. $26,000 to $40,000 a year is more than the cost of a SUNY or CUNY tuition. That's what parents are having to be under the crushing burden of spending that kind of money to get child care. So what we're doing is for the city. I'm going to help beef up the slots available for the 4-year-old and 3-year-old programs because you have situations where there may be slots for this, but there's openings in a borough far away — and not in your own neighborhood. And so that's what has to be changed and we're going to give them —

Dan Marino, PIX 11: So part of that plan is to guarantee somebody they live in a neighborhood and a spot opens up, they don't have to travel to another borough, they're guaranteed a seat in their neighborhood.

Governor Hochul: And that's part of our vision for Universal child care. The mayor has also said that — and we're funding this just so you know, we're making this happen with state dollars. That he'll identify specific neighborhoods for this upcoming year to fund over 2000 child care slots. So that'll happen this year, those 2000 slots. Statewide, and I announced this in my State of the State literally a year ago that we would have universal child care in the State of New York, including the cities over a certain amount of time. But we had to build up the infrastructure, we didn't have enough locations.

We had to put a hundred million dollars toward the bricks and mortar, give higher reimbursements to the providers, have bonuses and support for them to get the wages they deserve. So we had a lot of work to do, we're still doing that work. But I also want to get on a path to have universal 4-year-old and pre-K across the State by 2028. Then we layer in the three year old, we get the 2-year-old. And I also have these community programs that I'm launching and a few pilot programs that'll be for infants up to three years old. So it's a vast endeavor, but this is the kind of ambition and vision that I have for this State. To address the real concerns of parents — and today you can almost hear it across the State. This collective sigh of relief that we have a Governor, a mom Governor — who had to give up a career she loved for a long time because I could not find child care. I don't want that fate to befall anybody. Our economy needs them working as well.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: Governor, you pledge to fully fund the plan in New York City for two years. So what is that going to cost you and the State and what happens after those two years? Are you relying on the City to then self fund?

Governor Hochul: No, it's too far out to project the numbers at this point. It's very unusual to even make a commitment for next year. But I decided to do that so people would know that this is serious, this is for real. So just not knowing those numbers now does not mean that we're committed to this in the long haul. So I'm excited about it.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: So where does the money come from, right? And obviously the question has been raised many times to you about whether or not you would like to raise taxes on the 1% or the corporate tax as well. Is that on the table raising taxes for 1% in your State of the State to pay for some of this?

Governor Hochul: No, what we've been able to do is identify existing revenues to cover this. We worked hard, we're trying to do some internal cost cutting. I went back this summer and asked all of our agencies to tighten up and see if we could find any savings. But also, a lot of our revenues come from Wall Street bonuses when they're doing well. They did very well this year, and those numbers just came out a couple days ago for us to have a better idea of how much money we have to work with. So we don't need the money outside of our revenues. And you know, for the record, we've already had a tax increase on wealthy people and I extended what was supposed to be an expiration of a tax increase on the wealthy just last year. So I extended that I think till 2032. The wealthy are paying higher taxes in New York now, and we're going to continue benefiting from those revenues.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: And you know you're going to get this question a lot right? So let's just put it to bed. The mayor keeps saying, I'm going to work with Albany on getting them to raise taxes. So I know you're saying you raised them already, but is it off the table on further increases for taxing the wealthy, the 1%?

Governor Hochul: Yes.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: Off the table?

Governor Hochul: Yes, because I don't think it makes sense to tax anyone or the wealthy in particular for just the sake of raising taxes. If you have an ambitious agenda, something that I have supported for a long time, I want to get this done as well. We're aligned in our interest, and this is the common interest that I spoke to the mayor, even before he was sworn in. We had many conversations about how to get this accomplished and for us to be able to deliver this today. I think that's the win that we should be talking about. And if I'm telling you the money's there to pay for it, that's the story.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: I want to ask you while we're still here, because you are aligned with Mayor Mamdani on a lot. We heard you just today with the universal child care and also on crime numbers. Transportation has been a big issue in fast and free buses and it's a cornerstone of his campaign. I spoke to the MTA chairman this week who said everything has to be methodically planned out. Are you in favor, will it be in the State of the State, free bus plan for New York City?

Governor Hochul: Not at this time, but we've also said nothing is a permanent no, we're having conversations. But in terms of my budget going forward this was a big chunk, this was important for us to get this priority done.

The city's going to need us for a lot of help this year. When they look at the books and decide, you know, what their other, not just priorities are, but what they're required to do. The housing, the education, the program, the social services program, the homelessness programs, all that has to be paid for with City revenues. They're going to be looking at where the gaps are. They're going to be coming to us to ask for that kind of support in certain areas. And I think that's the primary conversation we'll be having throughout the budget process. How we can help the city support its residents.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: Do you worry with some of the plans that you need Federal dollars. And just this week President Trump came out and said, I'm holding $10 billion while I'm investigating fraud in New York City and other Democratic states. Are you worried about federal dollars being held and is there action you could take to get that money?

Governor Hochul: No, we're looking at litigation filing a lawsuit within hours, if not tomorrow morning. And just think about what happened here. At the same time that we're making a major investment in New York families to support them, Donald Trump is literally declaring war on kids. What am I talking about? Wasn't it just a couple months ago when they stopped feeding our kids by eliminating SNAP during the budget shutdown. Then they stopped our kids from being able to be healthy by saying, we don't need any more vaccinations for them. Child care after healthcare — eliminating child care for families seems like there's no low they will not go to. The depths of cruelty associated with this are profound, but it doesn't just hurt Democratic states, they've singled out five of us. This is a county run program, the child care program, we are just a pass through. It's going out to Red counties all over New York as well.

And those constituents who are looking at their Republican County leaders and their members of Congress are saying, wait a minute, what's this all about? I thought I had child care covered, so they're going to have to answer for that as well. And that may get them to shift, but we lost almost $4 billion by just sending a letter alleging some kind of fraud without any evidence. And they want us to turn over an incredible volume of information that's going to require us to give personal identifying information as well as social security numbers. Now let's think about what they're asking for. They're just using this as a phishing expedition to go after New Yorkers.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: Okay so litigation it is. I'm up against the clock here, I gotta get one question in about the re-election campaign here. I know you're not going to tell me, but do you have a Lieutenant Governor pick?

Governor Hochul: We'll have the Lieutenant Governor picked by the time we have our convention, which is just a few weeks away February 6th. We have a lot of contenders, here's a lot of interest in this position.

Dan Marino, PIX 11: Alright, there you go. Governor Hochul, I appreciate you coming in and we'll talk to you throughout the year.

Governor Hochul: Alright sounds good, thank you.