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. “I won’t stop fighting for a State Budget that puts money back in your pockets and makes our state safer — and everywhere I go, it’s clear that New Yorkers agree,” Governor Hochul said. “That’s why my message to the Legislature is simple: Let’s get it done.” With the cost of living continuing to rise, Governor Hochul’s Affordability Agenda will put billions back into the pockets of everyday New Yorkers. This includes:

• Middle-class tax cuts across five of the State’s nine tax brackets, cutting rates to their lowest level in nearly 70 years for New Yorkers who file jointly and earn up to $323,000 annually
• Expanding the Child Tax Credit over two years, giving eligible parents $1,000 for kids under 4 years old and $500 for kids ages 4-16
• Providing Inflation Refund checks of up to $500 to 8.6 million New Yorkers
• Providing free school breakfast and free school lunch for every student in New York
• Fighting for the full repeal of the State and Local Tax deduction, which costs New Yorkers up to $12 billion each year

While maintaining the essential features of the 2019 reforms, Governor Hochul’s proposed changes to New York State’s Discovery Law would ensure procedural fairness, shorten case processing times, reduce the length of pretrial incarceration and safeguard sensitive and personal information belonging to witnesses. These changes include:

• Expanding the scope of automatic redaction to include sensitive details, such as witnesses’ physical addresses and personal information, eliminating the need to engage in lengthy litigation to redact such material.
• Removing the incentive to delay bringing a challenge in a manner that can result in technical dismissals unrelated to the merits of the case or the legality of the investigation.
• Requiring courts to look at the case as a whole and whether any error caused prejudice to the defense, which will prevent cases from being dismissed if discovery compliance falls short of perfection.
• Narrowing the scope of automatic discovery to eliminate the need to track down certain information that is by definition irrelevant.

The Governor’s FY26 Executive Budget Proposal continues record-level funding to further improve public safety and invests $370 million to support local and state law enforcement initiatives, youth employment programs and community-based organizations that increase opportunity for individuals and families and strengthen neighborhoods. Additionally, the proposal includes $77 million to continue surging law enforcement on subways throughout New York City’s transit system. Governor Hochul’s proposal includes critical updates to involuntary commitment laws to further clarify that individuals could be involuntarily admitted if they are at significant risk of physical harm when their mental illness prevents them from being able to meet their basic needs such as food, shelter and medical care. These changes will align New York with 43 other states, help vulnerable New Yorkers access the care they need, and further strengthen the continuity of mental health care statewide. It will also allow psychiatric nurse practitioners to participate in the commitment process in some instances. The Governor’s budget proposal also includes amendments to Kendra’s Law, which governs Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) — an intervention that has demonstrated success reducing negative outcomes like criminal justice involvement and homelessness. The Governor’s Budget proposal also increases funding and enhances oversight over the program.