WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – New York Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her first State of the State address Wednesday, outlining an agenda for an economic comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic and new government investments in healthcare, housing and renewable energy.
Hochul spoke before a limited audience in the Assembly chamber at the New York State Capitol in Albany. She became the state’s first female governor when Andrew Cuomo resigned.
Among other initiatives, Hochul is proposing a $10 billion plan to grow the state’s healthcare workforce by 20 percent over the next five years, saying the pandemic worsened long-simmering staffing problems.
“We will make the largest investment in healthcare in State history, $10 billion dollars. As we bolster our bone-tired healthcare workforce, we know they aren’t the only heroes of the pandemic,” she said.
The governor proposed giving a retention bonus of up to $3,000 to health and direct care workers in New York.
She also talked about giving New Yorkers tax relief. Hochul called for a $1 billion middle-class property tax rebate to more than 2 million homeowners.
“We will accelerate a $1.2 billion-dollar tax cut originally scheduled to take effect between now and 2025, so that it all occurs earlier. That means more than 6 million middle-class taxpayers get more money in their pockets sooner at a time when inflation is robbing them of any gains in income,” she said.
The governor also proposed expanding access to affordable childcare to 100,000 more working families and investing $75 million in childcare worker wages.
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