New Yorkers get that Kathy Kash

Politico

14-05-2025

Presented by Solving Hunger
YOU GET A CHECK, AND YOU GET A CHECK, AND YOU GET A CHECK: Gov. Kathy Hochul's grand idea to dole out 'inflation refund' checks to millions of New Yorkers is now a reality.
Having overcome initial opposition from inside the state Senate and the Assembly, Hochul will start sending out one-time checks worth up to $400 to at least 8 million New Yorkers by the fall, as she gears up for her reelection run, she announced today.
And, to borrow a phrase from the inflation refund check queen herself, that's 'more money back in your pockets.'
Hochul's unprecedented move to send moolah to millions of New Yorkers comes as dramatic funding cuts from Washington looms while the GOP-led Congress continues to hash out the federal budget.
'This is basically one-time non-recurring money, so I can't use this to make up for Medicaid cuts or education cuts or anything else,' Hochul told reporters today. 'What's the number one issue on people's minds? It's affordability. … I want them to feel the impact that they have a government that listens to them and is taking care of their basic needs.'
Hochul's way-early Christmas gift to middle-class New Yorkers was initially supposed to be worth up to $500. The move to lower the checks by $100 was part of a $1 billion reduction to the affordability plan she first announced in January and meant 500,000 fewer New Yorkers would receive the checks.
The checks are intended to be a 'refund' to New Yorkers who paid higher sales taxes when inflation raged in 2022 and Hochul discovered about $3 billion in unanticipated tax revenues.
The decision to slightly modify the checks was a rare aberration for Hochul, who has resisted calls to scale back spending when shaping the now $254 billion state budget as federal cuts loom.
Fiscal watchdogs like the Citizens Budget Commission, the Fiscal Policy Institute and Empire Center all slammed Hochul for ignoring those pending cuts in her budget agreement.
Her decision to celebrate the refund checks today comes as D.C.'s Grim Reaper is already knocking on Albany's door.
Empire Center noted today that the federal government is planning renege on its agreement to send New York about $3.7 billion over the next two years through a convoluted federal Medicaid matching process associated with the tax on managed care organizations.
If that happens, it could require lawmakers and the governor to rework the budget for this fiscal year, which plans to spend $1.47 billion out of the agreement.
'While we won't speculate about the specific impacts of policy changes that are still in draft form, Republicans in Washington have made it clear that they're hell-bent on tearing apart the social safety net that millions of New Yorkers rely on to make ends meet,' Tim Ruffinen, a spokesperson for Hochul's budget director, said in a response to the pending MCO tax change. 'They're targeting critical, life-saving programs like Medicaid and food stamps — and everyday Americans are the ones who will get hurt.' — Jason Beeferman
From the Capitol
MAKE ALBANY HEALTHY AGAIN: The most visible lobbying effort in the first week of Albany's post-budget session came from advocates sure to face an uphill battle in the Democratic-dominated Legislature — critics of vaccines and supporters of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
About 100 people came to the Capitol today, including Naomi Wolf and members of MAHA Action and Children's Health Defense. They were joined by a four-piece band that filled the underground complex with chants of 'Make America Healthy Again' for several hours.
Michael Kane, an organizer for the Kennedy-founded Children's Health Defense, encouraged them to tell every legislator 'why you were fired from your job, why your kid got kicked out of school, or your kid got injured from a shot.'
The MAHA activists support five bills, including measures to make New York City rehire any employees fired for refusing the Covid vaccine and one to end the religious exemption for school vaccine mandates.
They're attempting to defeat state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal's Registry For Keeping Justified Records Act. That 'RFKJR' bill would mandate that adult vaccination records be kept in a state database. — Bill Mahoney
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
I AM INEVITABLE: Team Cuomo happily trumpeted today's Marist College poll that showed the former governor holding a sustained lead in the Democratic mayoral primary.
'Despite multiple opponents' daily attacks, polling continues to reflect that the VOTERS still want Andrew Cuomo to be Mayor,' wrote Cuomo campaign political director Shontell Smith on X. 'Oh and Happy Wednesday!'
The ex-governor's campaign has eagerly stoked the view his victory is a foregone conclusion. And it's one Hochul — who distanced herself from Cuomo when she took office following his scandal-induced resignation — has also bought into. Hochul agreed when asked today if she believes her predecessor's victory in the June 24 primary is 'inevitable.'
'The polls certainly indicate that at this point in time,' she said. 'Regardless, I've said it's my responsibility as the governor to work with whomever the voters want as their leader.'
The Marist poll found Cuomo winning a ranked-choice voting simulation after five rounds — reaching 53 percent to Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani's 29 percent. City Comptroller Brad Lander finished third in the polled simulation with 18 percent.
The ranked-choice results don't factor in undecideds, though, and the survey of 3,383 likely Democratic voters found 17 percent haven't made up their minds yet.
That's giving hope to Cuomo's opponents, including City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who placed third in round one. She got in the race late and has yet to qualify for public matching funds or air TV ads, but her campaign said the poll was an encouraging one.
'There's a clear reason why support for Adrienne has doubled without burning through millions of dollars — New Yorkers finally see a candidate in it for us,' said Missayr Booker, a senior adviser for Adrienne Adams.
Where will the undecided voters go and — more importantly — can they make a difference in the race?
Marist pollster Lee Miringoff told Playbook that Cuomo is on a clear trajectory to win.
'He does have a substantial enough lead that, assuming he gets a chunk of those undecideds at the end, he wins,' he said. 'If he's shut out, it does get a bit dicier.' — Nick Reisman
STAND UP GUY: Public Advocate Jumaane Williams took a subtle shot at his opponent Jenifer Rajkumar's penchant for standing behind Mayor Eric Adams in his first TV ad of his reelection campaign.
'I'll always stand with the people,' Williams says in the ad, smirking as he gestures to the crowd around him. He then pledges to 'Stand up. Not just stand by.'
He'll spend $250,000 on placing the ad on cable and streaming ahead of the Democratic primary, City & State first reported.
Rajkumar, a Queens assemblymember, appeared with Adams more than 150 times since he took office, Playbook reported, though she's been keeping her distance lately. She missed Adams' press conference on closing illegal cannabis shops today, even though that's an issue she championed and the event was near her district.
Rajkumar's campaign shot back at Williams, noting that the crowd in his ad features government staff and lobbyists, not 'real New Yorkers.'
'It's no shock that Jumaane's ad doesn't list a single thing he has actually delivered for New Yorkers. Thanks to his no-show tenure, the Public Advocate's office has reverted to an empty political stepping stone,' Rajkumar spokesperson Arvind Sooknanan added. — Jeff Coltin
'STILL EARLY' IN MAYORAL RACE: Former New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson was in the Capitol today to work on 'a couple of projects.'
Thompson knows as much about New York City mayoral primaries as anybody — he won the 2009 contest and finished second to Bill de Blasio in 2013 — and said this year's race is 'still as crazy as it sounds.'
'Clearly, former Gov. Cuomo is doing well. But then again, you're going to start to see lots of movement, so we'll see,' Thompson said. 'Everybody has to start to spend money — it's still early.'
Thompson, who currently chairs CUNY's Board of Trustees, isn't endorsing in the race. — Bill Mahoney
From City Hall
SNAP DECISION: Lander warned at a briefing today that proposed cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which more than 2 million New York City residents use to buy food, would punch a multibillion dollar hole in New York's budget.
The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that SNAP cuts proposed in House Republicans' reconciliation bill would save $300 billion. That windfall would come by forcing states to cover between 5 percent to 25 percent of SNAP costs.
During his presentation, Lander predicted New York would be forced to pay at the high end of the spectrum and pegged the fiscal fallout at between $366 million to $1.8 billion annually — a sum that could lead officials to tighten eligibility instead.
'This budget hurts millions of people fighting to remain in this increasingly unaffordable city,' he said in a statement. 'Draconian figures like Trump have tried to gut our social safety net before, but hardworking New Yorkers and their families will remember every time they visit a hospital or go to bed hungry.' — Joe Anuta
IN OTHER NEWS
— DE BLASIO MUST PAY: Former mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to pay $319,000 for bringing a taxpayer-funded police detail along with him during his short-lived 2019 presidential campaign. (THE CITY)
— DOCTORS WITHOUT DISCIPLINE: The state failed to discipline dozens of doctors after months or years of misconduct. (Newsday)
— CUTS, COSTS AND TARIFFS: New York food banks are bracing for a trifecta of bad news. (New York Focus)
Missed this morning's New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.