Lower Bills and ‘Go Bills’: 8 Takeaways From Hochul’s State of the State

As Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York outlined her priorities for the coming year in her annual State of the State address on Tuesday, she drew upon Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s message of affordability and vowed to fend off attacks from the Trump administration.

The 47-minute, 47-second speech also offered a preview of the goals she will try to meet and the political constituencies she must please as she faces a contested primary and general election this year.

Here are eight takeaways from Ms. Hochul’s fifth State of the State address:

Bills, bills, bills.

No, not the Buffalo ones with helmets — the kind that add to New Yorkers’ financial concerns.

Lowering utility bills will be a key element of Ms. Hochul’s re-election strategy as she fends off accusations from Republicans that the state has become too expensive on her watch.

As part of that effort, she wants to put $50 million toward helping New Yorkers make their homes more efficient. She also proposed a change to auto insurance that would bring down rates by capping payouts for drivers who are breaking the law.

But probably her most transformative proposal was released last week: a pitch to eventually provide free, universally available child care. “This plan will ultimately deliver universal child care for every single family in New York. Full stop,” Ms. Hochul said on Tuesday.

As part of the plan, the state would spend an additional $1.7 billion to expand coverage to 100,000 children in the coming year, bringing the state’s total child care investment to $4.5 billion. Experts say that the cost for a statewide program would be $12 billion to $15 billion.