Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on Telemundo 47 With Alejandro Mendoza

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on Telemundo 47 with Alejandro Mendoza. The Governor discussed her FY 26 Budget victories to put more money back in the pockets of New Yorkers, congestion pricing and her public safety initiatives to address subway safety.

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

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

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Governor Hochul, thank you so much for your time today.

Governor Hochul: Great to see you again.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: If you don't mind, I would like to start with the news of the day coming from Washington, from the Congress; how Republicans passed a bill cutting funds to some vital programs to communities — Medicaid and SNAP. I'm curious about what would be the impact on New Yorkers if these cuts go through?

Governor Hochul: It'll be an enormous impact, and it is so cruel that they're doing all these cuts for Medicaid, healthcare for our children, and seniors in nursing homes and food programs for families. It'll be devastating and this is all for one reason: to be able to cut taxes to millionaires and billionaires.

So they decide who they're on the side of — it's not the people that I represent here in New York, the people that are struggling in the Bronx, or East New York and places where people are really having a hard time just paying their bills. So in contrast to what they're doing in Washington, I'm trying to offset that with the Budget I just passed, which puts real money back in people's pockets — $5,000 for families. So they're taking all the money out of one pocket and I'm trying to put it back in and people are just not getting ahead.

So we oppose the Republican plan in Washington and we need more people to be educated about the impacts on our state because they're going to be dire.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: How much does New York rely on these funds?

Governor Hochul: They're talking about a $13 billion cut. Of my entire Budget, $254 billion Budget, $93 billion comes from the federal government. I can't make up those cuts; we don't have enough money in New York to make up for those cuts, so we have to create pressure on the Republican members of Congress — and there's seven in New York — they need to hear loudly that they need to make sure that this does not become law.

This is what was passed but the Senate has their version as well, and we just have to try and stop this. And people need to realize that elections have consequences and sometimes they're really negative, and this is an example of that.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: What will happen if these cuts go through? How will you deal with this gap in budget?

Governor Hochul: As I said, no state will be able to make up those kinds of cuts. We just don't have enough money. And so people are going to be losing their healthcare, they're going to be losing care that we provide for members of the undocumented community.

I signed into law that we would take care of people over age 65 and people that are having a new baby, moms for the first year, because I thought it was the right thing to do to take care of members of our undocumented community as well — they cut all that money. They cut any assistance that we can provide for them but also families that have been here and especially for people in nursing homes, that's going to be hard.

Most of the money for Medicaid is spent in nursing homes, taking care of our senior citizens who you can't take care of at home anymore. So this is the real impact of this.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Could we see something like we have seen in California where the Governor had to cut services to some immigrants?

Governor Hochul: I don't want to go there. I mean, this is money that's now been lost by the federal government — they used to help us pay for this. This is something we have to look at very seriously for how we could not leave these people without essential care. And that's going to be a tough decision but, as I said, I made sure our state law, which we are funding, covers senior citizens, and new moms and their babies.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Let's proceed with the State Budget which is a very important topic for our communities. You have said it's $254 billion. What does it mean for the everyday New Yorker?

Governor Hochul: I'm really proud of this Budget. It delivers for New Yorkers. When I first announced my Budget back in January, I said, “Your family is my fight. I will do anything for your family because I'm New York's first Mom-Governor.” I'm also an abuela, a grandmother, as well, and I know how hard families are struggling on three fronts.

One is safety: our laws have not been there to support the victims of crimes. We needed to change the dynamic where so many cases are being thrown out of court. An arrest is made — someone has harmed someone, there's a victim — and on a technicality, a very minor issue, a piece of evidence that has nothing to go to the merits of the case, the whole case is thrown out and that victim does not get justice, especially victims of domestic violence where 94 percent of the cases were dismissed. I changed that.

I also made sure there was money on our subways for police officers. The State of New York is covering the overtime for NYPD so on every single overnight train for people going to their jobs at a hotel, or in a restaurant, or who work in health care, work in a hospital — those people taking the overnight trains, it can be scary. I have two police officers on every train to protect our citizens, as well as more money for law enforcement overall.

So I focused on the safety of your family, but also affordability; putting more money back in your pockets. And listen to this: a family with a four-year-old or younger, $1,000; if they're on public assistance, another $1,800; if they have children over the age of four, it's $500 per child.

We're also covering the full cost of school breakfast and lunches across the state, that's $1,600. We have a middle class tax cut, the largest in 70 years, as well as an inflation rebate, which simply means this: because of inflation, everybody watching this paid more for sneakers, and diapers, and backpacks and their clothes. We collected more in sales tax at the State level because people paid more. I said, “That's not right. This money belongs back to New Yorkers.” So families up to a certain amount of money, over $300,000, will get upward of $400 back in their pocket. So you add all those up, it's $5,000 back in a family's pockets.

I've done rallies all over the State, particularly here in the City. People are so excited. When I go shopping with a mom in a grocery store and I said, “How does it feel to have $5,000 back in your pockets?” We're working on this. We got it done. People just feel that someone's actually listening to them, that understands what they're going through.

Because my parents struggled; my parents used to live in a trailer park. They worked at the steel plant. They worked hard. There were eight of us living in a tiny little house and we got our clothes at a used clothing store and we put it on layaway where you could never really pay for it — you had to come back and pay for your clothes over time. So I have a deep sense of empathy for families that are struggling today.

And child care costs are so high. We're putting more money to help families pay for child care because when I had my children, my babies, I didn't have child care — I had to leave a job, and we struggled because of that as well.

So all of this Budget, it's a lot of money, but it covers education, and Medicaid, and health care, and child care, and nutrition programs, all to make life better for New Yorkers — that's what I was focused on.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Talking about these assistance programs, how and when will the families receive these payments?

Governor Hochul: Well, let's start with the inflation check. That'll be out before fall. I want it in time, in early fall, for back-to-school shopping, so those checks will come.

The other ones are tax credits, so when you file your taxes next year, they'll be automatic; you don't have to do anything. We'll know your income, we'll know how many children you have and we'll just take that right off your taxes or give you the credit. And the tax cut as well, that goes into effect next year. But with the inflation rebate checks, that'll be out in the next few months.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: That's good news for many people.

Governor Hochul: Yes, it is.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Again, some people fear that if the spending cuts proposed by Republicans go through, many families will be in trouble — maybe the State government will be in trouble. Do you have hope that this is not going to happen or that something will happen in the middle to prevent these very important cuts for many states in the country?

Governor Hochul: A lot of pressure could be brought to bear to try and reverse that, but the other thing we have is elections again. Next year there'll be more races for Congress if Democrats are successful in winning enough and Hakeem Jeffries, who is from Brooklyn, who's the leader of Democrats across the country — he could become Speaker if we elect enough Democrats.

So for the first time then, we'll have a counterbalance to Republicans in the White House, a Republican Senate, because right now we have a Republican House. They can do whatever they want, but if we can elect Democrats across the board next year, at least there'll be a firewall, something to stop these bad decisions from happening — and that's just a year away; we can work on that.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: And talking about elections and the Budget itself, some critics say that the state cannot afford this level of spending. Even some say that it could serve some political purposes. What’s your response to that?

Governor Hochul: I have a responsibility to the people of the state. I need to spend money on policing and programs for kids after schools, and violence disruptor programs. I spent a lot of money on protecting New Yorkers — every penny that is well spent — and, as a result, crimes are down to lows we've not seen in years. Subway crimes are down to a 27 year low. I mean, people are still anxious, I know this, but my job was to spend the money to protect them, but also to help their families.

I mean, $7 billion for child care, billions of dollars to build affordable housing, covering the cost of Medicaid as essential health plans for children — that all costs money. That's not wasted. That's money I have to invest in our people.

Higher education; any young person aged 25 and above who wants to go back to college and have a new career, if they go into certain fields where we have openings, we are going to cover that cost of college — every penny of it, the tuition and the books. So this is how we give people a chance to have a fresh start in life. Give them an education. That's what took my parents out of a trailer park. My dad got a college degree and then life changed for them.

I want that available to everyone. So you look at our Budget, it's a big number, but we're not spending more than we have. We bring in a lot of money. I manage our money very responsibly, just like it was my own family Budget — I'm very cautious about it. I have money in reserves that I can draw upon on a rainy day, so I'm very smart about how to budget so New York does not get into financial trouble. And we've not raised taxes. We're not raising taxes. I'm cutting taxes.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: That's very important. I'd love to get back to the subway, because this is a very sensitive topic for many communities. You said it seems the extra policing is working. The numbers are there, the NYPD confirmed those numbers. What would you do to keep that way — to keep the subway being safer and safer every single day for those communities?

Governor Hochul: Yeah, and one thing is the more people that ride the subway, the safer they are. If you're riding late at night alone on a train, if someone enters the train, you are very vulnerable. Ridership is going up; when we had a real problem was right after the pandemic and people were not taking the subway.

That's one thing that'll keep the balance where people will be safer. But even if people are afraid of being pushed onto a track, I am building, every station, a barrier that they can stand behind while they're waiting for the subway car to come — that's brand new.

I'm changing the lighting — we're having brighter lighting in all of the subway stations so you don't have that sense of vulnerability, and I'm going to keep the National Guard that I put in the subways and keep funding the police for as long as we can to keep those numbers down.

One other area: a lot of people who are homeless, but also have severe mental health problems that are on the subways and on our streets, and I just worked really hard to change the law that says if they don't have the ability to make right decisions about their health, or their clothing or trying to find housing, we can get them into mandatory mental health care, get them into a facility — whereas right now, they're just left alone on the streets and sometimes they can hurt people; they can hurt themselves, or they can hurt a mom with a stroller walking down the street or a senior citizen.

I'm working hard and I've worked hard to invest in a mental health system to help people, but I want these people off the streets, in hospitals and getting care. That will make people feel safer as well when they're not approached by someone on the street who has a mental health challenge.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Before we end, I would like to touch two very important topics. One of them is congestion pricing, which is related to subway systems and the MTA. This past Wednesday marked another deadline set by the federal government to suspend the congestion pricing program. Have you changed your mind in any way? Will the program be suspended?

Governor Hochul: No, the program will continue and the traffic in Manhattan has changed dramatically — people are getting in faster. But I know this: 90 percent of the people who work in this tolled area — this area for congestion pricing — 90 percent get there not by a car, they get there by public transportation, and I have to make the investment. So this is also raising money where I can open the four subway stops I want to open in the Bronx.

I can finish the Second Avenue subway, so the transit deserts in Harlem can be eliminated and people can have a fast ride down to where the higher paying jobs are. So I have to fund all that, and I don't want to raise taxes on New Yorkers to do that — and it's not free; it's very expensive.

I want new cars. I'm buying new train cars, $10 billion worth, because some of our trains are 30, 40, 50 years old — so congestion pricing pays for that. It keeps them safer, it makes them more efficient, newer equipment and will create a different experience for the riders so it's very positive for them. Most people do not drive into the city, they take public transit, and this is how we keep it going.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Even though there's a risk that the federal government decides to cut funding?

Governor Hochul: They threaten me every month. I have stood up to the administration because it's my job to fight for New Yorkers. I don't think the federal government should be interfering with a local, state and city decision on how we want to manage our traffic — that's not their job. They should worry about the air traffic, and the airports and other things that they have responsibility for, and let us manage these local decisions.

So the cameras are staying on, it's working — business is up, traffic is down, and that's exactly what we wanted.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: And last question: the primary election in New York is quickly approaching, and now we've learned of a federal investigation into Former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Regardless of the merits of this investigation, do you believe this could be an attempt by the Trump Administration administration to interfere in this electoral process?

Governor Hochul: I think it is because my husband was a federal prosecutor for 30 years, my son is a federal prosecutor — there has been a longstanding policy that they do not bring indictments within a certain timeframe close to an election so they don't interfere with that election. This administration exactly did the opposite; they are interfering with it and they're harassing our elected officials, past and present.

They're going after Tish James, now they're going after Andrew Cuomo and this administration is just out of control when it comes to what the Attorney General is doing — harassing New Yorkers for standing up for our rights. This is a very frightening time and we should see it for what it is. This is how they're intimidating people from using their voices and their platforms to speak out against the injustices that we're seeing.

Whether it's the Medicaid cuts, whether it's cuts in funding for school programs or mental health programs — all these things are happening and we have to be able to use our voices to stand up for our residents because that's my job, and now look at what they're doing: they're punishing people, finding ways to use the Department of Justice as a sword to go after them, and that is wrong and it's never happened in our 250 year history. We have to stand up to that abuse.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Governor, thank you so much for your time.

Governor Hochul: Alright, thank you.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Always a pleasure.

Governor Hochul: Appreciate it.

Alejandro Mendoza, Telemundo 47: Thank you.

Governor Hochul: Thank you.