(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged to ban 3D-printed ‘ghost’ guns, boost security around religious sites, expand child care, and push back against President Donald Trump’s divisive immigration policies in her annual speech to lawmakers Tuesday.
Hochul used her state-of-the-state address to highlight her proposals for the upcoming year as the Democrat gears up for reelection and fights the Trump administration’s efforts to cut funding and other support for the state amid simmering disagreements over policies. Many of the governor’s election-year plans focused on reducing the cost of living for New Yorkers.
“Whether we’re talking about child care, groceries, utility bills. One thing is clear: Parents, veterans, the disabled, seniors — they all need relief,” Hochul said during the nearly hour-long speech.
A key plank of her legislative agenda is a push for universal child care in New York, beginning with a New York City program for 2-year-olds and expanded access for 3-year-olds. She has teamed up with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who attended Hochul’s speech, on a $1.7 billion plan to expand child care options in the city.
Hochul also touted a proposal to ban the manufacturing of 3D-printed firearms and require safety standards for 3D printer manufacturers to “block the production” of firearms and gun components, among other changes.
“You will no longer sell handguns that can be converted into automatic machine guns that are able to fire 1,200 rounds per minute. Not here. Not in New York,” she said in her remarks. “That’s how we save lives and fight crime.”
The Democrat slammed Trump and his administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and vowed that New York will ban the use of state resources to assist in federal immigration raids on people who haven’t committed serious crimes.
The governor noted the New York City Council employee detained Monday by federal authorities in Nassau County when he showed up for a immigration hearing, saying communities across the state have been “shaken” by “aggressive federal immigration actions that go too far.”
“We’re not going to allow ICE to storm our schools, day cares, hospitals and houses of worship for raids unless they have a judicial warrant,” she. said
In her speech to lawmakers Tuesday, Hochul also highlighted proposals to crack down on worker’s compensation fraud, eliminate state taxes on tips, expand affordable housing, and push for an expansion of nuclear power to help meet the state’s energy needs.
Hochul is seeking a second full term in office in November’s election and facing a challenge from firebrand GOP Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman. The governor paused during her speech to show a “voices of New York” video that featured mostly Democratic politicians — including Mamdani — praising her administration’s efforts to reduce costs.
The governor also noted recent NYPD crime data showing that shootings and other violent crime is down, which she credited in part to her administration’s policies and support for law enforcement.
“When I came into office, I promised to do everything in my power to restore safety and security,” Hochul said. “We backed that promise with action: Unprecedented investments in police and public safety, the strongest gun laws in the nation and common sense reforms to keep serial lawbreakers off the streets.”
But New York Republican chairman Ed Cox blasted the governor’s speech as a “wishlist of radical left-wing proposals from a Governor terrified of Zohran Mamdani and her party’s extremist base.”
“New York under Kathy Hochul and one-party Democrat rule has led the nation in outmigration as the least affordable, most taxed, least free state in America,” Cox said in a statement. “New Yorkers want real, lasting solutions to this crisis and a Governor with the backbone to stand up for taxpayers and against socialist extremists like Zohran Mamdani.”
