Affordability and economic policy

Hochul has built much of her gubernatorial agenda around the framing of "affordability." Her FY 2024 Budget included what her office described as a transformative plan to increase New York's minimum wage for three years before tying future increases to the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast Region (CPI-W) [1]. On January 1, 2024, the minimum wage rose to $16 in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, and to $15 in the rest of the state. By 2026, those figures had risen to $16.50 and $15.50 respectively, with future increases tied to inflation [2].

Her January 2025 State of the State address introduced New York's first-ever "Inflation Refund," a $3 billion one-time direct-payment program that delivered $300 to single taxpayers earning up to $150,000 and $500 to joint filers earning up to $300,000 [2]. The 2025 budget also enacted a middle-class tax cut across five of the state's nine brackets, which Hochul's office described as bringing rates to their lowest level in nearly 70 years [2].

In November 2025, Hochul announced the "BABY Benefit" (Birth Allowance for Beginning Year), a one-time $1,800 payment for low-income parents receiving Public Assistance upon the birth of a child, intended to help with diapers, safe-sleep items, and newborn essentials [3].

Child Tax Credit and family support

Hochul's most-touted family-support policy has been the expansion of the Empire State Child Credit. In 2023, she and the State Legislature expanded the credit to include children under four, benefitting an estimated 600,000 additional children per year [4]. In August 2024, her administration distributed $350 million in supplemental payments, granting up to $350 per child to eligible families [5].

Her 2025 State of the State proposed the largest credit expansion in program history: up to $1,000 per child under age four and up to $500 per child aged four to 16, benefitting more than 1.6 million families [3, 2]. The expansion came after a December 2024 Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council recommendation to cut state child poverty in half, a goal Hochul had committed to in 2021 legislation [6].

Child care

The FY 2026 Budget included a $2.2 billion investment in child care, with $400 million directed to preserving subsidies for families statewide, $350 million for New York City specifically, and $110 million for renovating and building new child care centers [7]. The threshold for eligibility for the Child Care Assistance Program was raised so that families of four making up to $108,000 are eligible for care costing only $15 per week [7].

Minimum wage indexing

The 2023 indexing of New York's minimum wage to inflation was framed by Hochul as a permanent fix to wage stagnation. Critics on the left, including some legislators and the Working Families Party, argued the indexing fell short of a higher initial wage floor; critics on the right, including business groups, argued the indexing would compound year-over-year and pressure small businesses [8].

The Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council subsequently called for raising the credit even further (to $1,500 per child), a proposal that did not make it into Hochul's 2025 budget [6].

Bail reform

Hochul's most-litigated criminal justice policy has been her stance on the state's 2019 bail reform law. In her 2023 State of the State, she called for changes to the law, asking the legislature to give judges discretion in setting bail and to eliminate the "least restrictive" standard for bail-eligible offenses [9, 10].

The rollback was included in the FY 2024 budget after a protracted negotiation, with the legislature eliminating the "least restrictive" standard for all offenses, including low-level ones, going further than Hochul's stated plan, according to City & State New York [11]. The Legal Aid Society and progressive legislators sharply criticized the rollback, while moderate Democrats and Republicans argued it did not go far enough.

Gun control

As governor, Hochul has signed a series of gun control measures, including:

A 2022 law banning the sale of semiautomatic rifles to people under 21.

A ghost-gun ban prohibits the sale of unfinished firearm parts.

An expansion of New York's red flag law, allowing more parties to petition for extreme risk protection orders [12].

S7365B, signed October 9, 2024, which strengthened gun violence prevention by expanding bail eligibility for gun crimes and increasing penalties for gun trafficking [13].

This represents a sharp departure from her congressional record. In 2012, the NRA gave her an "A" rating and formally endorsed her re-election bid, citing her votes, including a House measure to allow concealed-carry permits to apply across state lines [14, 15]. Pressed about that record in 2022, Hochul dismissed the questions: "This is not the time to talk about that. I will tell you what I'm doing right now as governor" [16].

Abortion and reproductive rights

After the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision, Hochul made abortion access a major policy priority. Her 2023 State of the State proposed requiring SUNY and CUNY public colleges to either offer medication abortion in college health centers or refer students to a trusted facility, and proposed allowing pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception over the counter [9, 10].

Following the April 2023 federal court ruling on mifepristone, Hochul announced a state stockpile of misoprostol as a backup abortion medication [17].

Housing

Hochul's 2023 State of the State proposed building 800,000 new homes over the next decade through a New York Housing Compact, which would have required local governments to meet housing-creation targets or face having their zoning overridden [9, 10]. The proposal faced sustained opposition from suburban legislators in both parties and did not pass the legislature in its original form.

In 2024, Hochul revived a scaled-back version of the housing plan that incentivized rather than mandated local construction, paired with new anti-eviction protections (good-cause eviction) demanded by Assembly Democrats. The compromise package passed in the FY 2025 budget [18].

Mental health

Hochul's 2023 State of the State unveiled a $1 billion mental health investment, including the addition of 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds and 3,500 supportive housing units, framed by her office as the most substantial state investment in mental health in decades [9].

Congressional voting record (2011-2013)

Hochul's brief congressional tenure was characterized by a centrist-to-conservative voting profile in a Republican-leaning district. She missed only 2 of 1,225 roll-call votes (0.2 percent), better than the median Representative [19]. Notable votes:

One of 17 House Democrats to vote with Republicans to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the "Fast and Furious" investigation [14, 20].

The only New York Democrat to vote in favor of the 2012 Balanced Budget Amendment [20].

Voted against full repeal of the Affordable Care Act in 2012 while opposing certain provisions, including the medical device tax [21].

Voted yes on the 2011 Budget Control Act and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act [19].

She also introduced the Clothe a Homeless Hero Act on August 2, 2012, directing airports to deliver unclaimed clothing to homeless veterans. The bill passed by voice vote in the House and by unanimous consent in the Senate, becoming law on January 14, 2013 [20].

Other notable signed legislation

Other items signed under Hochul include the Roadway Quality Assurance Act (S.4887/A.5608), signed in August 2023, which extended prevailing wage requirements to construction workers on certain roadway projects [1]; the SAFE for Kids Act regulating social media algorithms for minors; the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which passed the legislature in 2025 with Hochul having until the end of the year to sign or veto; and a nation-leading state-employee policy providing 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to more than 150,000 state workers [1].