Overview

• Governor Kathy Hochul, in her annual State of the State address, highlighted crime, a failing mental health infrastructure and affordability concerns as key problems that her administration is ready to tackle.
• She proposed a significant expansion of psychiatric services, including 200 new inpatient beds, new mental health courts, increased supervision for people on parole and specialized housing for those with a history of arrests and serious mental health issues.
• Hochul also proposed a new joint task force to target organized retail theft networks, and new legislation to crack down on unlicensed cannabis vendors.
• Despite the ongoing migrant crisis in New York City, the word 'migrant' did not appear once in Hochul's 180-page State of the State briefing book.
• Hochul did touch upon the state's critical lack of affordable housing, proposing to revive a tax credit meant to spur affordable housing development, to develop state-owned properties and to add incentives for commercial-to-residential conversions.