Governor Hochul Highlights Crime, Mental Health, and Affordability in State of the State Address

Despite ongoing migrant crisis, Hochul's address lacks mention of 'migrant', focuses on psychiatric services expansion and retail theft crackdown.

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.