Hochul Honeymoon Is Over for Livid Albany Lawmakers

[buh buh biden]

With just 17 legislative session days remaining in Albany, state lawmakers
are showing reluctance to help Gov. Kathy Hochul deliver on her agenda
ahead of the June Democratic primary, even as poll numbers show her
struggling to get traction with voters.

The bad blood stems from fractious state budget negotiations that soured
relationships among Democrats, say still-frustrated lawmakers, ending a
honeymoon period after she took over from disgraced former Gov. Andrew
Cuomo.

Albany sources spoke with THE CITY under the condition of anonymity so
they could freely discuss internal conversations.

“I appreciate the challenges she has had,” said one Democratic lawmaker.
“None of us know the burden of assuming the governorship under scandal in
the midst of a pandemic. However, she is no stranger — as she reminds us —
to politics and government. And I think in her attempt to please everyone,
she disappointed everyone.”

In a blow to Hochul, a controversial tax abatement program that gives
developers tax breaks in exchange for setting aside affordable housing
seems likely to expire in mid-June, with no replacement. The governor had
proposed a reformed version of the so-called 421-a program and assured the
influential real estate industry — a major source of her campaign
donations — that it would be re-upped in some form, according to several
people familiar with the situation.

But the votes needed to extend the program, or craft a new version of it,
simply aren’t there in the Democratic-dominated Senate or Assembly, say
Albany insiders.

Potentially even more problematic for Hochul is her inability to ditch
former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin from her primary election slate, following
his federal indictment in connection with an alleged campaign fundraising
scheme.

At a Tuesday press conference in Albany, Hochul said she has asked the
state Legislature to pass a law that would allow the removal of Benjamin
from the ballot. But Democrats appear unwilling to assist the governor in
removing her former running mate from appearing on the ticket in the June
28 primary.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said the governor had
reached out to her Monday evening to make the request.

“I really, really, really don’t like to change rules in the middle of the
process and certainly in the middle of an election,” Stewart-Cousins told
reporters in Albany, adding that the conversation would continue.

At a Tuesday afternoon meeting among Democrats in the State Senate, more
than a dozen members of the 42-member conference said they would be
opposed to passing legislation that the Hochul administration is floating,
which would expand the circumstances under which a candidate could decline
their place on the ballot, according to sources involved in the private
discussion.

Instead, lawmakers said they should either do nothing or pass a measure
that would allow Benjamin to take himself off the ballot but bar Hochul
from appointing someone in his place.

That would essentially guarantee that either Rep. Tom Suozzi’s running
mate, former Brooklyn City Councilmember Diana Reyna, or Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams’ LG pick, Ana Maria Archila, would become Hochul’s
lieutenant governor candidate heading into the general election.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Assembly who also discussed the Benjamin
matter Tuesday afternoon echoed the sentiment, sources said.

Island Castaway
The tepid response from members of her own party comes weeks after Hochul
negotiated her first budget since ascending to governor in August
following Cuomo’s resignation over sexual harassment allegations.

Hochul’s first foray into budget negotiations was marred with accusations
that the Buffalo native and her staff were inexperienced in Albany
dealings and showed themselves unwilling to make decisions on key policy
matters, refused to budge in negotiations or made last-minute additions,
blindsiding legislative leaders and their staff and resulting in a budget
that was more than a week late.

Among the items that caught members by surprise was a last-minute $350
million fund set aside for Long Island, which Suozzi calls home, and $600
million for a stadium for her hometown team, the Buffalo Bills.

Even with a $350 million pool of money at their disposal, local lawmakers
who represent the Island are “pissed” over the deal after two Long Island
officials — including a Republican — were selected by the Hochul
administration to lead the review over which projects get funded, sources
said.

“These names were announced with no heads up to anyone,” said one Democrat
privy to the internal discussions. “Long Island members are livid” — after
many of them found out about the picks through a Newsday report Tuesday.

“Her and her administration have tried to buy their way into people liking
them, but you can’t buy people believing in you and your legitimacy,” said
another Democrat. “People don’t believe in her governance and policy.”

One Queens Democrat, Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, defended the governor’s
first budget for “preventing future problems” and providing “tangible”
wins for families through a $7 billion in funding for child care over the
next four years through subsidies.

“She’s the only adult we’ve had in the executive chamber for over a
decade,” Hevesi told THE CITY Wednesday morning. “The governor navigated
the budget pretty well, guiding the biggest investment with children in
history.”

A spokesperson for the governor said that the administration would
continue to work collaboratively with lawmakers and defended her
relationships with legislators.

“From returning the State of the State address to the Assembly chamber to
working collaboratively on a bold, fiscally responsible $220 billion
budget of historic investments that brings relief to working families,
improves public safety, and strengthens our economic comeback, Governor
Hochul has consistently worked in close partnership with the Legislature
and we look forward to continuing to work together through the end of
session and in the years to come to deliver for New Yorkers,” said
spokesperson Hazel Crampton-Hays.

State Tour
A Siena poll of registered voters released Monday morning shows approval
of Hochul’s job performance slipping from 43% last month, to 36%.

While her favorability has stayed relatively steady at 44%, 45% of voters
said they’d vote for someone else in November if Hochul is the Democratic
nominee, while 40% are prepared to elect her to her first full term.

Hochul has spent the last several weeks traveling around the state touting
her budget accomplishments and making campaign stops at diners and local
restaurants from Syracuse to Long Island, hammering on the importance of
public safety. Voters list crime as one of their top priorities, according
to the Siena poll.

While the campaign declined to comment for this story, the governor has
started airing campaign ads focusing on crime as part of an eight-figure
ad buy.

Political observers note that the lackluster response to Hochul could
jeopardize Democratic control of the executive mansion come November,
where voter turnout is expected to be low.

“Republicans are motivated in ways Democrats aren’t,” said Christina
Greer, a political scientist and professor at Fordham University. “If
Republicans can make a case to voters to turn out… Then she’s got a much
tighter race.”

“We can’t forget that we had a three-term Republican governor,” Greer
said, pointing to former Gov. George Pataki.

The markers for a close race in the general election are already in the
tea leaves, said Susan Kang, a political science professor at John Jay
College of Criminal Justice.

“We saw some evidence of this in 2021 in the general election. The turnout
for Democrats is really bad. The turnout numbers for Eric Adams was
abysmally low,” she said. “Democrats didn’t turn out the voters.”

“If Democrats are not invigorating and inspiring their base to come out in
deep blue New York, that’s trouble,” she added, pointing to close
gubernatorial races in New Jersey against sitting Gov. Phil Murphy and in
Virginia, where the Republicans secured the executive chamber.

“Say what you will about Andrew Cuomo, Black and brown people would vote
for him in the general. She does not inspire that, she does not inspire
any turnout models,” said one Democratic operative.

https://www.thecity.nyc/politics/2022/4/26/23043897/hochul-honeymoon-
albany-lawmakers