'Need to be bold'

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Tuesday May 02,2023 08:53 pm

May 02, 2023

Gov. Kathy Hochul briefed reporters.

Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Tuesday that she will continue to push for her housing initiative that would require municipalities to build new homes. | Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

Gov. Kathy Hochul may have lost the budget battle over her housing plan, but she’s hoping to win the war over requiring municipalities to build 800,000 new homes in the next decade.

As the state Legislature finishes voting Tuesday on the budget, the Democratic governor vowed to keep one of her top agenda items central in ongoing talks with lawmakers and the public.

“We have to act with urgency. The conversations will start in earnest immediately,” she told reporters. “That will be one of my top priorities. I don't know what will be accomplished in a session. But while the legislators are here, it gives us a chance to have the conversations, and I'll be looking toward more initiatives certainly in my next budget.”

With the budget a month late, Hochul won’t have much chance of getting any new housing proposals enacted before lawmakers leave Albany for the year in early June.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie indicated Tuesday that he doesn’t see the sides reaching any kind of housing compromise at the end of session. Hochul wanted to mandate that local governments build as much as 3 percent new housing over three years; lawmakers balked at the move to override local zoning laws.

Heastie said they all agree that new housing needs to be built, but his conference wants to focus on affordable housing and tenant protections — two issues that were left unresolved when Hochul’s larger housing deal was removed from budget talks last month.

Trying to override local zoning laws has been a tough sell in the suburbs and outer boroughs, but Hochul insisted the mandate is necessary. Without it, she has warned, communities would be unlikely to build new housing — even with the incentives that lawmakers wanted to offer.

“We need to go big. We need to be bold,” the Democratic governor said. “We need to be ambitious in what we're trying to do to solve the affordability crisis because we're going to lose too many New Yorkers, and young families won't be able to stay here.”

Mayor Eric Adams agreed. He said Tuesday he was hopeful that the sides could address some of the city’s housing needs before the six-month session ends.

“We need a housing plan,” he told reporters. “I’ve made it clear that we’re looking forward to finding a way we can do 421-a, and we can do some of the other initiatives to go with our real moonshot goal of 500,000 units of housing. In order to build, we have to put in place the infrastructure to build, and that is what we’re going to continue to advocate for.”

Look for Hochul to spend the end of session talking about the issue and trying to drum up support for it during the rest of the year in hopes of having a larger coalition of support in 2024 — something she struggled with this year.

From the Capitol

Gov. Kathy Hochul signs legislation to expand reproductive health care during a ceremony in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. on May 2, 2023.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signs legislation to expand reproductive health care during a ceremony in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. on May 2, 2023. | Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: Hochul signed two pieces of legislation Tuesday that would authorize pharmacists to dispense birth control over the counter and guarantee access to medication abortion on public college and university campuses in the SUNY and CUNY systems. Hochul had pledged in her 2023 State of the State address to enact both measures.

While the medication abortion proposal was a new bill, the birth control legislation had previously languished in committee for nearly a decade.

“For far too long, New Yorkers have faced real hurdles to accessing birth control,” Jenna Bimbi, executive director of the NY Birth Control Access Project, said in a statement. “These hurdles are not felt equally, with lower-income and rural communities, as well as young people struggling the most from lack of contraceptive providers.” — Maya Kaufman

From City Hall

SKIPPING THE MET: Adams said he had other events to attend last night, including a literacy gala, which is why he did not appear on the red carpet of the Met Gala where a number of other politicians were spotted (though not U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez).

"I would have loved to have come and sport a nice tuxedo, but I had other engagements,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference Tuesday. “This is the big city, every night, there are a million-and-one things going, and I try to spread love the New York way."

Adams was adamant, however, that he is still a man about town — though he appeared to harbor lingering umbrage about past coverage of his nighttime exploits.

"I didn't fall into the house last night until 2 a.m, so it's not that I'm not out. You all have finally realized that I'm going to be out no matter how much you write about me, criticize me … I'm a Tito's and seltzer person. I like a good cognac and a nice cigar." — Joe Anuta

On The Beats

Students are seen at SUNY Oswego's 2013 commencement ceremony. | AP Photo

SUNY students won't get a tuition increase as initially proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. | Kevin Rivoli/AP Photo

HIGHER EDUCATION: Tuition for the state’s public higher education institutions will stay flat, for residents of New York that is.

Colleges will have the ability to raise out-of-state tuition upon the approval of the State University of New York and City University of New York chancellors. The final budget approved on Tuesday for higher education included $1.4 billion in operating aid for SUNY and $821 million for CUNY. The increases in aid come with the promise of “predication aid” for both systems through the 2025-26 school year.

The budget also comes with a $500 million endowment matching fund for SUNY’s four flagship universities and includes $65 million to forgive the SUNY hospitals debt service payments for the 2023-24 school year. Along with that is $1.9 billion in capital support for SUNY schools and $1.1 billion in capital support for CUNY.

“This year, as always, we fought to ensure that tuition remains as it is today and that our SUNY and CUNY schools have a multiyear commitment of funding that is necessary to continue delivering a world class education to students,” Heastie said in a statement. — Katelyn Cordero

STATION IMPROVEMENTS: The Broadway Junction transit hub in Brooklyn and the area surrounding it will see a $500 million investment from the city and the MTA in station and local public realm improvements, Adams announced.

The new commitments and other planned private investments around the station are expected to generate $11.6 billion in economic impact to the area over the next 30 years, officials said. Of the latest investment, $400 million is coming from the MTA for accessibility upgrades at the Broadway Junction complex and another $95 million is coming from the city to revamp underused public spaces around the station, improve street safety and create about an acre of new open space. — Janaki Chadha

INSULIN CAP: State Attorney General Letitia James announced a pair of settlements Tuesday with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis U.S. that would require them to cap insulin costs at $35 per month for uninsured New Yorkers for five years under the companies’ existing savings programs.

Under the terms of the settlements, both companies agreed to more widely advertise their patient assistance programs and implement a process that would enable pharmacy customers to register for the savings at the point of sale.

"There doesn't seem to be anything game changing," Steve Knievel, a drug pricing advocate at Public Citizen's Access to Medicines program, said. "It primarily seems to be aimed at making Lilly and Sanofi communicate more clearly about and providing easier access to their insulin assistance programs for people paying cash."

Both companies also committed to work with national relief agencies to provide free insulin products in high-need areas. — Maya Kaufman

Around New York

— Via Times Union: Saratoga Springs mayor calls for city panel on restorative justice.

— Another first place for Upstate New York: It is home to the cleanest U.S. lake. (Upstate New York)

— Paris Hilton blocked by “tax the rich” advocates on her way to the Met Gala. (New York Post)

— After the collapse of the parking garage in Downtown Manhattan, other four have been closed in the city because of their unsafety. (Crain’s New York)

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