Ulster County Executive Michael Hein and Hochul chat before the
breakfast
KINGSTON – Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul brought a message of reassurance
to Kingston Wednesday morning, when she spoke at the monthly breakfast
meeting of the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce. Her remarks covered
highlights of the FY2018 state budget.
“We are not tone deaf in the State of New York. We heard there is
a very powerful message that was delivered all across the nation last
November, about people’s dissatisfaction,” Hochul said.
“There’s people feeling angst, particularly the middle class,
that people talk beyond them, take them for granted, and that programs
are for everybody else but them,” she said.
Hochul said the governor “is very sensitive to this, and he understands,
and that’s why, when he prepared his budget for this part January,
he really wanted to put a special emphasis on the middle class, and that’s
exactly what we’ve done with this budget.”
The lieutenant governor acknowledged that many people feel left out of
the economic recovery. However, she added, partisan shakeups in Washington
D.C. present uncertainty to lawmakers on a state level. Case in point
– recent congressional debates over the repeal of Obamacare. “Many
of you may say, hey go for it, get rid of it, but that would have hit
the state to the tune of $7 billion,” she said.
Hochul said the state would have had to pick up the tab itself.
On another budget-related subject, she said the Cuomo administration is
very proud of the new Excelsior Scholarship program, offering free college
tuition for all New Yorkers from households earning less than $125,000
per year. Current SUNY tuition is worth $6,400.
“We believe that in the 21st Century economy, today’s college
is like a benchmark, a baseline of education, kind of like high school
was,” Hochul said. The program launches this fall, with a $100K
income cutoff, gradually increasing over the next several years. The $163
million cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the $153 billion state
budget, she maintained. “We have the money to do this; we think
it’s a smart investment.”
There is one catch to the scholarship; however, students who accept the
money must remain New York residents, or else the money reverts back to
a loan. “There’s people that are criticizing the fact that,
oh my God, these poor kids have to live in the State of New York, after
we do this. Yes. You do. Because I’m not investing our taxpayer
dollars, just to educate you, so you can go live in Texas,” Hochul
said.
