ALBANY, NY — He doesn’t need to hear it.
Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) preemptively slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “State of the State” speech Tuesday — deeming her promises as worthless as her leadership.
“She is a feckless and failed governor who needs to be replaced in 2026,” he said in the Albany state Capitol building hours before the governor’s big, policy-setting speech.
Lawler, a Republican who is eyeing a run for governor against the Democrat Hochul, ruthlessly raked her over the coals for her expected proposals focused on “affordability” for New Yorkers.
The governor has wasted billions in tax dollars propping up the MTA and sheltering illegal immigrants, all while gouging New Yorkers through congestion pricing, Lawler raged.
He said Hochul’s plan to give $500 checks to families making under $300,000 a year is a cynical ploy to rehabilitate her abysmal public image.
“Taking thousands of dollars out of New Yorkers’ left pocket and putting $500 dollars in their right pocket is not a tax cut,” he said. “It’s an insult, and it’s precisely why millions of New Yorkers have headed towards the exits.
“Let’s be honest, the Governor’s rebate check proposal doesn’t make her any less of a tax cutter than any more than her endlessly reminding people she’s a Bills fan makes people think she cares about working families upstate,” Lawler added.
The congressman did concede some of Hochul’s expected promises, such as investing in childcare, infrastructure and affordable home ownership, could be good ideas.
But he argued Hochul was the wrong person to bring them home.
“The reality is she can’t and won’t deliver on these pie-in-the-sky promises,” Lawler said.
“The only thing standing in our way is incompetent, failed leadership at the top.”