Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Rallies for a Budget Deal to Put Money in Your Pockets, Make Our Streets Safer and Improve Our Mental Health Laws

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul rallied in Rochester alongside community leaders and elected officials as she continues to demand a State Budget deal that makes New York safer and more affordable. The rally comes after a week in which the Governor met with District Attorneys, domestic violence survivors, small business owners, law enforcement professionals and union leaders to highlight her commonsense public safety proposals.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page has photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

 All these Buffalo Bills references; all I can think of — you said we're almost in the end zone. I'm in Rochester to make sure we get the “tush push,” okay? Put us right over, put us right over.

I'm so proud to be back here. This is an area I know so well — right next door to my hometown — but I was privileged to represent many of the communities in Monroe County as a member of Congress, and so I know all of you very well: I know your values, I know your hopes and dreams, and I understand the challenges that we face as an area like Buffalo, and Syracuse, and across the Erie Canal — communities that have been hit a lot over the years.

And we're finally coming back, right? We're finally coming back feeling good about the future and all of a sudden we're starting to feel uncertainty and that anxiety; that pit in your stomach that I felt growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s when all you saw in the headlines were businesses leaving and we don't want to go back to that.

We want to make sure that our businesses are strong, strong as ever — that this is a strong manufacturing part of our State, it’s part of our DNA, part of our legacy. But also it's about the families — the families who start here; those who found a life here that we just welcome and want them to feel part of the quality of life that is second to none here.

So, I'm so happy to be back here once again. And Mayor, I want to thank you. Malik Evans has been an extraordinary partner of mine. We've had challenges. We've worked together to fight crime in particular, and I want to commend you on the incredible reduction in crime in the City of Rochester. I watch the numbers all the time; we're down about 28 percent in gun violence. That's extraordinary. That could have been up 28 percent. Let's give our Mayor a round of applause.

And I've known our Congressman, Joe Morelle, for so many years since he served back in our State Legislature. Joe, which is better? Where’d you have more fun? But what a voice at a time when we need commonsense Upstate people to say, “No, that's wrong. Our people are going to be hurt by those policies,” and be that loud voice of reason — and I thank him for being a friend of mine, but also a friend of this community. I want to thank our Congressman, Joe Morelle.

Senator Jeremy Cooney, using the influence as Chair of the Transportation Committee to make sure the money shows up here, and I'm his partner in doing that, and making sure that our Budget reflected the priorities we have in Upstate because we need more money for highways, and roads, and bridges; and we know what it's like to grow up in areas and live in areas that road salt and all the effects of the brutal winters we experience are something they don't deal with in the rest of the country, always, but we do and we need the money year, after year, after year, and I want to thank you for being such a great champion. Our Senator.

Adam Bello — I’m a former County Official myself, and what you have done and also in embracing our effort to eradicate poverty in this region. You have many other issues to work on, I know, but this is a passion of yours and I'm so glad we could deliver the $25 million under your watch because I know it's going to be spent in ways that are impactful, effective and necessary. Let's give a round of applause.

County Clerk Jamie Romeo — so glad you could join us to see us. Jamie here? No? Alright. Jamie's doing all those important County Clerk jobs, I know what they are.

I used to spend a lot of time in the DMVs. It was fun to always used to grade the kids' permit test and I'd say, "Let's see, are you going to pass or not?” And say, “Is your room clean? You listening to your parents? Your parents say you're a good kid?” So, I used to love messing around with the kids when they were waiting for that anxiety of finding out, but I love spending time in the DMVs, unlike most people.

And Bob Duffy still left a legacy of great accomplishment in his lifetime of public service. This city has benefited from his wisdom and his steady hand as a Commissioner of Police and as the Mayor, and then also as Lieutenant Governor, and I thank him for being a staunch friend of mine and a real advocate for the businesses of this community. Bob Duffy, thank you for all you're doing.

Julia Tedesco, I will be introducing you in a little bit, but this place is extraordinary. I mean, this place just gives us hope. We walk into this and see the expansion, number one — the parking lot's a mess, but that's a good sign — but also all the people here, all the volunteers, all people are committed to lifting up hundreds of thousands of people who rely on this every single year now more than ever.

So to you and to Matt, I remember getting the tour here back, I think you said we were here in February of 2020. Yeah, those were the good old days right before March of 2020 when everything fell apart and you became more essential than ever. So to everyone, let's give Foodlink an amazing round of applause. Mitch Gruber, also the Chief Impact Officer

So we have been working around the clock — I needed to just take a little break and come to Rochester — but we're gathering again this afternoon. We wanted to make sure that our Budget, as you heard from the Mayor, delivers real relief for New Yorkers.

And I'm so grateful for the collaboration and the countless hours and meals we've spent together. Our two leaders, Leader of the Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and leader of the Assembly, Speaker Carl Heastie. These are strong leaders, strong partners who are working with me to get this over the finish line.

And we are truly in the home stretch. We really are close and yeah, we're a little late, but as I go into stores and diners and talk to people, it's like, would you rather have an on time budget that doesn't give you everything I'm looking for? Or, would you rather have us wait a little bit and deliver exactly what I said I would do for you?

And I think the answer is clear. Are you with me on this?

Rochester knows what it's like to be in a fight, right? You've been down, we've been knocked around a little bit, and you know how to stand together through adversity and challenges — whether it's public safety issues or jobs that are sometimes leaving — but so many more are coming and these are good days for us

But right now we're living in really frightening times and I, for one, am not an alarmist. I've seen everything. So when I say these are frightening times, I know what I'm talking about because there's such turmoil in Washington right now and the effect of these tariffs — I mean, my gosh, I just feel like we're hitting our stride. People are coming back. We got Micron down the road, and we've got companies coming to Batavia and all this synergy created with this innovation supply chain - Rochester is almost dead center.

This is where it's going to be happening. And now everybody has to step back and say, “Wait, can I still make that investment in that expansion? Because how much are my supplies that are coming in from — guess what? — our friends in Canada?” They're our friends. “Or coming over from Mexico or coming over from other countries? And how much more is it going to cost me and can I still really do that?”

All I know is that expansion means more jobs. And when you grow up in Upstate New York, jobs are the most priceless thing you can get because that means you're going to be able to take care of your family. And maybe you're going to need help here in the beginning, but maybe you won't. Maybe someday you'll come back as a volunteer at Foodlink. That's the dream we want for everyone.

When we start losing jobs because people won't expand because of the uncertainty — look at what happened with the stock market and we lost $10 trillion from our economy. Yes, if you're a business person trying to decide what to do, you're going to step back a little bit, and that's not good for us. Our economy is being upended even as we're sitting here.

And those who check their 401(k) every day, those who are getting closer to retirement, what does that do to your psyche? Like, “Wait a minute. This wasn't supposed to happen.” It is like having decades of hard earned cash stolen right out of your pockets.

And anybody here from GM? Dan, how are you? Thought you might be here. Dan Maloney, great friend of mine. What they're saying down there — they're not sure what's going to happen. Lost wages, fewer hours, results of a lot of factors going on, but certainly tariffs are playing into this.

I've stood with you on the lines. I know how hard your guys work. I know what it's all about. Those are good paying jobs. The same kind of jobs that lifted my grandfather and my parents out of poverty, those good union manufacturing jobs. You're working with your hands and good dignified work. We want to make sure we have more of those jobs, not fewer.

And I think about middle class New Yorkers who are really the backbone of our economy. But thanks to the decisions out of Washington, they're getting hammered from every direction. If you were watching my speech back in January — and you can always watch it, playing on YouTube — my State of the State address, I said, “Your family is my fight.”

I didn't know I'd have to roll up the sleeves so soon and really launch into a fight, because this is for all of you. And I will not sign a State Budget — I've said this from the very beginning — that does not fight these federal changes and put New Yorkers first. I'm going to cut taxes. Let's start with cutting your tax burden. Let's put more money back in your pockets and make our communities safer.

These fights are more important now than ever before. There's people in this room — the people who use this place — who benefit from Foodlink, they've got to make some hard decisions, right? And you're always thinking, “No, it can't be happening here,” people really deciding whether they can get their medicine this week or they have to cut the pills in half to make them last longer so they can afford the food. No one had thought that food prices would be going so up. Weren't we told the prices are coming down on Inauguration Day? I'm still waiting for that day. Didn't we already have an Inauguration Day? I go to grocery stores, they're not coming down, they're going up. It's hard for people.

This isn't about politics, though. This gets real personal when it's your family and your neighbors and your community that's suffering. The cost of eggs going up, rents going up, hard working members of unions losing their jobs. These are real people. These are your families. But listen, I'm working hard to make sure that we can get through these times. You elected me to deliver results and my Budget will do exactly that. And you heard what I'm fighting for. I know we can do this.

And when I talk about the inflation refund rebates, you know what that's about? We paid so much more because of inflation for everything you bought from kids sneakers to your groceries and everything. We're going to have 542,000 households in the Finger Lakes region get hundreds of dollars back in your pockets. We can get that done. Are you with me on that?

We can triple the child tax credit, the largest expansion of a benefit in our state’s history, $1,000 for kids under the age of four. Can we get that done?

And what about the cost of school lunches? Parents, I did this, I'm a mom. You had to pack the school lunches, you had to get a little snackable or all those little things you got to get for the kids and pack it up. And you’ve got to make sure they have breakfast before they go to school and the cost of all that. What about getting free school lunches and breakfast for kids in every classroom so the kids who are on those programs that get extra help are not stigmatized by their poverty? Can we get that done? Thousands of dollars back in their pockets.

What I'm worried about — I have a plan to put upwards of $5,000 back in families’ pockets, but the other pocket is getting robbed because the cost of tariffs are going to be anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 per family. That's not fair. I'm trying to get you ahead, not to get you further behind.

In addition to all the economic stress we have to continue focusing laser focused on public safety. We will never, ever rest knowing that there's still a single crime being committed in our streets. Whether it's in our rural communities, whether it's in our cities, our suburbs — but here's the good news, crime is down all over New York State. As I said, it fell 28 percent in Rochester. We've not seen these levels since before the pandemic, but we're going to keep doing better.

You've heard the phrase discovery laws, right? It's just about the evidence of a crime that the prosecution and the police have amassed. And yes, in 2019 the whole system was skewed to help just the prosecutors. It was unfair against the defendant, but now reforms are put in place and now it's swung the other way.

And now, there's ways that defense lawyers can wait until the last second — and they are caught lying in wait. They are literally caught lying in wait until the last second, then drop all these challenges last minute. And the judge is going to say, "Sorry, time is up." Or there's just a minor technicality — so minor, you wouldn't believe it — and you say the case was thrown out because of that. You know who suffers in that case? The victims of the crimes. Who is standing up for the victims? I will, I'm sure you will as well. Let's get the discovery changes done.

And Rochester, we have people with severe mental illness all over, but some find themselves in our streets. And in homes, and there's no one out there helping them. They feel they are lost. Their voices are unheard, and in some cases they cannot make decisions about their own wellbeing. They don't have the mental capacity to come in from out of the cold or get a warm bed at night, even if it's available or to take care of their bodily needs.

There are people who are suffering that much, and I don't think it's compassionate for us as a society to let them just languish and say, "That's your right to do that." They don't know any better in some cases because they have a mental health problem. Let's get them the help they need. That's why I want to change the laws for people suffering from severe mental illness. Are you with me on getting them the help they need? We can do this.

Now, as I said, I'm not backing down. I love a good fight. You can't be an Upstate New Yorker without knowing how to fight, right? You've got to be scrappy to survive. The winters are a little tough, that just starts right there, but we're resilient; we're so resilient. We know how to get through these times, and I will not sign a Budget that does not focus on affordability.

I will not sign a Budget that does not focus on public safety, and I'm asking you to join me today. And I'm saying, "Let's just stop talking. Let's act." I will get back to Albany. You do your part. You help support my efforts because if we settle for the status quo, if we say the fights are too hard, we can't get it done — then what good are we doing? Why are we sitting in these seats?

It's our job to deliver for New Yorkers, and that's exactly what I'm doing with your help. So I'm asking you today, are you with me in this fight? Are you with me? Are you with me? Alright, let's get it done. Let's get it done. Thank you everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you. Let's get it done.

Now, thank you everyone. Thank you very much. Thank you. I want you to hear from Foodlink's Whitley Hasty and have her tell you why this place is so important to me personally. Why it's important to our communities, and why it's important to our fellow neighbors here in the Monroe County and Finger Lakes region, Whitley.