Governor Kathy Hochul in her second speech on the ‘State of the State’ revealed on Tuesday her agenda that will start in 2023, which, among other strategies, promises to link the New York minimum wage to the inflation rate, create hundreds of thousands of new housing units and promote changes in the controversial reform of the bail bond law. The ideas set forth in this plan must be approved by the State Assembly.
“900,000 minimum wage workers, especially women and communities of color, could have a much longer life if we put more money in their pocket. This will automatically boost the economy, ”the state president reasoned about her intention to increase the salaries of the working class, as one of the components to achieve a New York that she envisioned will be bigger, safer and more affordable.
Although he did not anticipate percentages or numbers, in general the wage increase equation will be based on a formula that had already been proposed by some legislators and organizations that defend the working class: index the minimum hourly wage to the Consumer Price Index. annual.
As anticipated by Hochul, the reference would be inflation in the northeast region.
The last time a minimum wage increase was enacted was in 2016, when then-Governor Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers approved a three-tier, multi-year increase that brought hourly pay to $15 in New York City. , Long Island and Westchester.
In the rest of the state, the minimum wage is currently $14.20 an hour, and may be raised unilaterally by the state Division of the Budget in future years, until it reaches $15.
In addition to this shift in how workers’ income is defined, Hochul announced a $7 billion investment in budgets over the next four years to increase access to state child care programs. He acknowledged that currently only 10% of eligible people have had access to these benefits.
“We are going to review the procedures to make them simpler and broaden the base of people who can opt for these programs,” he said.
In parallel, he promised more money for mental health support strategies for children in the public education system.
We are going to review the Bail Law
Perhaps the issue that most occupied the attention of the governor, in her second ‘State of the State’ speech, was crime, after it was the concern of the majority of New Yorkers, from all social segments during the electoral campaign.
In this sense, Hochul clearly expressed his willingness to immediately negotiate with his Democratic counterparts in the State Assembly changes in the controversial reform of the Bail Bonds Law.
Many sectors, including the municipal authorities of the city of New York, attribute to this controversial reform that hundreds of people who have committed minor and serious non-violent crimes return to the streets within hours of being arrested. In some technical extremes, petty shoplifting is considered a crime not punishable by imprisonment.
In cases that remain eligible for bail, Hochul says he wants to remove a clause that still requires judges to implement the “least restrictive” measures to ensure the defendant returns to court. Based on his criteria, that rule has generated confusion among judges who have released defendants who otherwise could have been kept in prison before trial.
“At this point I want to clarify that the bail law alone has not fueled the national epidemic of violence. But there are several ideas up for debate. We are going to start that conversation to improve it, ”he clarified.
In parallel, the governor assured that they will continue to increase investments in education, in strategies that stop violence and in reducing social inequalities in the communities most affected by the underworld.
Housing Agreement
The president also touched other of the most vulnerable fibers of New Yorkers, by ratifying her project of 800,000 new housing units to be built in the next decade, through what she called the New York Housing Compact.
At a time when the rise in real estate rent reached historic levels, no idea to stop or regulate rents appeared, but rather structural ideas to build more homes in the future.
In summary, the plan is associated with simplifying land use processes and zoning, in such a way that the permitting and processes for developers are simpler.
As part of this strategy, each county would receive a target number of new homes to create over a three-year period: 3% for those within the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s service area and 1% for those within the MTA service area. outside her.
If a county misses the target, the state would step in to speed up the approval process for certain multi-family developments, as long as they meet certain criteria, including a minimum number of affordable units.
Hochul’s housing plan is also based on resurrecting the tax incentive program, known as 421-a, which provided property tax breaks to New York City developers who build homes in exchange for including a percentage of affordable units for the poorest.
“New York has created 1.2 million jobs in recent years and only 400,000 houses have been built. We must review building bans in some areas. We must speed up the construction of new units, ”she considered.
What’s coming…
In the coming weeks, the New York president will publish her proposed state budget, which will describe how much her plans will cost.
Then he will have until April 1 to negotiate the state budget, with the majority of the Democratic legislators of both chambers, where several clashes with the progressive wings that have radically opposed changes in the bail law and more incentives to private home developers.
5 keys to the Hochul plan:
- $1 billion will be invested in the coming years to add 800 special care units for patients with mental illnesses to the state health system, of which 3,200 stay overnight at Subway.
- 3,500 housing units with support services for the “homeless” with mental health problems will be contemplated in the next fiscal year.
- $36 million will go toward hiring hundreds of prosecutors to help process backlogs across the state and address increases in gun crime and violent crime.
- Or train hikes: The governor has pledged to shore up the finances of the New York City Subway to prevent fare increases and service reductions.
- 24/7 MTA City Ticket: Governor Hochul announced that the ticket that provides Metro-North and Long Island Railroad customers with a low, flat rate for travel within New York City during off-peak hours will be expanded to include peak hours for a modest premium.
- $165 million in aid to more than 800,000 poor customers with debt for public services such as electricity and heat in the next fiscal year.