Record Rhetoric

Good morning from Boston, Massachusetts. Today is the birthday of DeWitt Clinton.

During Madison’s presidency (and for the period of 1801 to 1913), the president’s Annual Address or State of the Union was delivered in written form. Woodrow Wilson changed that, and last week, President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address of his second term, breaking the record for the longest address to Congress, speaking for an hour and forty-seven minutes. 

Trump stressed his immigration agenda during the speech, routinely trying to goad Democrats into standing or applauding. With four Supreme Court Justices in attendance, Trump defiantly stated that he still had broad authority to levy tariffs despite the Court’s recent ruling to the contrary, and at one point told lawmakers, “Congressional action will not be necessary.” Some Democrats ignored pleas from leadership for decorum and to avoid outbursts, with Rep. Al Green (D-TX) prominently displaying a sign that read “Black people aren’t apes!”—a reference to a clip posted by Trump earlier this month that depicted the Obamas as apes. Trump, always the showman, awarded the Medal of Honor to a helicopter pilot injured during the raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and announced he was awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Connor Hellebuyck, the goaltender of the gold medal-winning US men’s Olympic hockey team. 

Trump's signature flair and strong denunciation of everyone who disagrees with him will have played well with his base, but fell short on feeling Americans’ pain in the economy. Instead, his insistence that economic indicators prove economic progress (that many working families do not feel) sounded vaguely Biden-esque. Nonetheless, Trump successfully framed, once again, the threat of unfettered immigration (and the Trump administration's response to it) as a simple choice between Republicans and Democrats. This is an issue that Trump himself and Republicans more broadly used to win across the board in 2024 and expect to hear much more of it as we approach the 2026 elections.

In New York, the state legislature wrapped up the final joint legislative budget hearings last week and will now turn its attention to finalizing One-House budget proposals. Both the legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul are keen to avoid any public budget fights in an election year, but disagreements on issues, especially energy and taxes, remain complicated.

Last week, the Hochul administration circulated a memo outlining the need to change the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), with changes intended to combat rising energy costs. The memo reads in part, “Absent changes, by 2031, the impact of CLCPA on the price of gasoline could reach or exceed $2.23 per gallon on top of current prices at that time; the cost for an MMBtu of natural gas $16.96; and comparable increases to other fuels. Upstate oil and natural gas households would see costs in excess of $4,000 a year, and New York City natural gas households could anticipate annual gross costs of $2,300. Only a portion of these costs could be offset by current policy design.” Speaking to reporters last week, Hochul added, “The world has changed dramatically since 2019—I wish it hadn’t. I’m not going to telegraph what we’re talking about in our negotiations, but I think everybody knows that we have a real problem on our hands.”

Any changes to the state’s landmark climate law will of course require the cooperation of the legislature, and while there may be an appetite for that among Republicans and some Upstate and Long Island Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins reiterated last week that her conference is not considering watering down climate protections, telling reporters, “That's not a conversation that we've had.” These difficult choices also seem to be part of the Hochul push to reform the SEQRA process, where many of the considerations that builders and developers see as “delays” are seen by environmentalists as “protections.”

The debate over energy affordability is spilling over onto the campaign trail as well, with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman promising he will cut utility bills in half, though his campaign did not provide many details. The pledge is part of a $700,000 ad spend on Facebook targeting Hochul for rising energy bills, with the ad saying, “Utility bills are sky high—and it’s Kathy Hochul’s fault.” In a statement, Blakeman said he would “return $2 billion in unspent NYSERDA funds to ratepayers, cut utility taxes, and eliminate hidden fees in your utility bills. I’ll repeal costly mandates, and I will expand production with natural gas, nuclear, and ‘clean coal’ to increase supply, lower prices, and break New Yorkers’ dependence on expensive, unreliable energy.” Some energy experts, including former Public Service Commissioner John Howard, do not believe Blakeman’s plan is feasible, with Howard offering, “You can’t go half. Nowhere can you go half unless you move to major disinvestment.” 

The Executive Chamber and the Legislature will also have to resolve the ultimatum on taxes foisted upon them by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In his budget presentation last month, Mamdani said he would be forced to raise property taxes in New York City if Albany does not raise the tax rate on high-income New Yorkers. Thousands of advocates (with matching hats!) descended on the Capitol last week to drive that point home, though Hochul did not hear the chants as she was in New York City. Both Hochul and the Legislature are standing firm despite the public and private overtures from Mamdani and his allies, with Stewart-Cousins saying last week, “We’ve always been very clear that we’re not trying to raise taxes on working-class families. That would not, I think, be a winning strategy,” and Speaker Carl Heastie calling property tax increases a “non-starter.”

State Budget Director Blake Washington shared last week that Hochul has not changed her position on taxes, offering, “The governor believes that no New Yorker is dispensable. And she believes that none of this is inevitable—that the performance and the wonderful things we have in New York state that are funded by persons of high income, by businesses, it’s not inevitable.” 

Housing remains a focus for the Legislature, and a proposal from Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes is picking up steam among her colleagues in Albany. The proposal would provide a tax credit to property owners who convert 50% of vacant office space into new residential units.

A similar program already exists in New York City, and housing advocates have argued that the tax credit is necessary in Upstate cities to make the projects financially viable. In a statement, Peoples-Stokes said, “The cost of housing has become unaffordable for far too many people in Buffalo and in so many other communities across the state. We need to explore all options to address this problem and ensure as many new residential units as possible enter the market to drive prices down. There is a significant amount of unused office space throughout the state that could be converted to residential units.” Another well-respected legislator, Senator Pat Fahey of Albany, is carrying the legislation in her house. This is an issue to watch.

For many lawmakers, this budget season will be their last. While there is always turnover in the Legislature in an election year, this session has seen an unusually high number of members announcing their retirement. In the Senate, Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris, Brian Kavanagh, and Alexis Weik are all retiring at the end of the year. On the Assembly side, former Minority Leader William Barclay, Deborah Glick, Stacey Pheffer Amato, Donna Lupardo, Marianne Buttenschon, Nader Sayegh, Vivian Cook, Kenneth Blankenbush, Brian Manktelow, Angelo Morinello, David McDonough, Daniel Norber, and Keith Brown will be leaving Albany. Remarkable.

We continue to watch the redistricting fight play out across the country, including here in New York. The First Department of the Appellate Division ruled that New York’s Independent Redistricting Commission must draw up a new congressional map in the 11th Congressional District, rejecting a request by Republicans to pause the lower court’s ruling while the appellate process plays out. The decision is likely to result in Democrats gaining an additional seat, though Republicans have asked the United States Supreme Court to step in. Stay tuned.

Those Congressional lines weigh heavily, but so do various primaries. Notable this week was the decision by the Working Families Party to endorse Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in NY-7. The race to replace retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez is an early test of Mamdani’s political power. The WFP endorsement of Reynoso puts them at odds with Mamdani’s hand-picked candidate, Assemblywoman Claire Valdez.

Mamdani and his team had been working behind the scenes to lobby the WFP and influential labor unions to back Valdez, though her team sought to downplay Reynoso's endorsement. Morris Katz, an advisor to Mamdani who is also working on the Valdez campaign, offered, “Personal relationships and institutional connections play a significant role in these kinds of decisions. But voters understand the urgent need to change who has power in this country fundamentally, and because of that, Claire Valdez will be a member of Congress come next year.” Jasmine Gripper, the Working Families Party’s Director, pointed to Reynoso’s experience and relationships in the district, saying, “Antonio has the record of delivering for our communities. That put him head and shoulders above others, and got him the overwhelming majority of the vote… At the end of the day, Zohran is an individual who gets to weigh in as an individual.”  

Mark Schroeder, Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles for the past seven years, announced he will be retiring next month. Schroeder, a Buffalo native, served in the Erie County Legislature and Assembly before being elected as Buffalo City Comptroller. In a statement, Hochul shared, “During my time serving in local government, I saw first-hand both the critical role the DMV plays in the lives of nearly every New Yorker and how its services badly needed modernization. Then, Mark Schroeder stepped in. In his seven years of service, he has transformed this agency, bringing it into the digital age and reinventing how New Yorkers interact with the essential services it provides. A proud son of Buffalo, Commissioner Schroeder has been a model of public service throughout his career, and I join millions of grateful New Yorkers in wishing him a well-earned retirement.” He also dramatically increased the number of New Yorkers registered with Donate Life’s organ registry. Schroeder is a great example of the hardworking, ethically focused, and results-oriented public servant that New Yorkers are so rightly proud to call their own. He will be missed.

 -Jack O’Donnell

Read more about Constance Baker Motley here.