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Jonathan Gordon

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Welcome back to Power and Politics. Top Republicans in New York state said Governor Kathy Hochle's state of the state echoed many of the policies the party has been pushing for for years. They're cautiously optimistic that there will be a more bipartisan effort to get things done in Albany this session. State Senator Rob Ralison, who represents New York's thirty-ninth district, is here to offer the Republican perspective on the speech in this upcoming session. Senator, what was your biggest takeaway from the overall tone of the state of the state? There certainly was a tone of some of the, uh, some of the things that we've been saying, uh, our conference, uh, long before I got there, you know, as it relates to affordability and, and public safety and, and, and things that matter most to folks, uh, and, and respectfully to the governor. Uh, you know, she's, I would imagine, gonna be running for, for re-election, and that's, you know, less than 2 years away. Uh, it was like a campaign style event, I would say. Uh, uh, there was a lot of, uh, Uh, you know, theatrics and, and not in a bad way, that, you know, people singing in the beginning and, you know, bringing up the crowd a little bit, and then, uh, she was, I would say, animated, uh, uh, on a lot of the things that she spoke about when it came to what her priorities are, uh, and fighting for people, she used that word, uh, that, that, that phrase a lot. So, I think it was sort of a You know, precursor to what her campaign will look like if she chooses to run, and I assume that she will be. What are your thoughts on what you heard from the governor on her approach to public safety? We have seen, uh, in New York City specifically, and that's really where she was focused, uh, on the subways, and I would say, governor, there's, there's problems above ground too, at surface level, uh, and it's not just in New York City. You know, the, the poll numbers, and I know lots of us, uh, you know, in the political world, elected officials, we're looking at polls, you need to know what's on people's minds and, and public safety, certainly and affordability are are two major issues for the entire state. Uh, and of course, these horrific acts. Below ground, uh, in New York City and us being in this New York media market. We're seeing it every single day, uh, and it's, and it's, it's troubling, it's upsetting, and it's wrong and it shouldn't be happening. And uh she addressed, uh not only just putting more police officers on trains and having our subways, I should say, and having the state pay for it, um, people need to feel safe, whether you're in a New York City subway, uh, or you're standing on a street corner in the thirty-ninth district, that this is a statewide issue, it needs to be addressed as such, and just Putting police officers, and look, I was a cop for 26 years. My son's on a job in Westchester. I know people feel good when they see a cop, as well they should, because those folks are there to protect you and give you a sense of safety, which currently is not existing to the extent that we want it to, uh, in many parts of the state, including parts of the thirty-ninth district. And We have to hold people accountable, Jonathan, and that's the, I didn't hear that yesterday. Quite frankly, I haven't heard of that since I've been up there. Uh, you, you, you see some of the individuals, and again, what we're seeing in New York, and it is not just New York City, multiple repeat offenders, again and again and again. One of the individuals who was involved, uh, in a stabbing spree, uh, in, in the subways and, and possibly above ground, too, had been arrested. 47 times, 57 times, and is still out on the street. And, and many of these arrests. We just recently, right? They weren't like 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even a year ago, they're out, uh, where clearly they have challenges within how they're acting. They don't, they don't deserve to be out until someone can figure out what is going wrong with them. And that, that's where, you know, in Duchess County. Where we were a model with triaging individuals within our correctional facility, the Duchess County Jail, uh, and getting them out on alternatives to incarceration and electronic monitoring. But unless you go in, you don't get triaged. How are Republicans viewing the issue of affordability and making things easier for New Yorkers? Our conference, both in the Senate and the Assembly and, and, and, and people in general have been saying it just. We spent too much money in, in, in New York State. You look at the budget going up $65.5 billion since 2019, record levels of spending and, and, and I, I said this, you know, during, uh, the past campaign, and they, and, and, you know, just Rings true is that, you know, I've talked to lots of folks and I'd say, you know, did you know that, you know, the state of New York spent $65.5 billion since 2019, in addition to the regular budget, and I think, did, you know, did your life improve? And people like, no, it didn't. It, it may have gotten worse. So, that right there is troubling. And middle class tax cuts, you know, we've been talking about this, um, and, but the cost of government in general, just, you know, yes, cutting taxes makes sense, of course, it does. But at the same time, you've got to cut the growth, you've got to cut the spending, you've got to, you know, make things. More streamlined like we had to do in the city of Poughkeepsie, uh, when I was there as mayor, cause we didn't have a fund balance. But we had a, we had to have a budget that we had to hit the numbers on that thing. And sometimes I think, and I've said this to John, is that it's, it, it, it might be even easier if you don't have money to actually have a better budget, because you know, you have this finite amount of, of money to be able to provide these critical services. And Albany, they seem to be able to find money to do things. The controller has said. We're running out of that kind of money, uh, the out years, and even the structural deficit this year, uh, is, is, is, is not, it's not, it's not good from a fiscal standpoint. And then when you talk about the checks, you know, it's interesting that um And again, I, I, I don't, I'm not, I'm not being cynical here, uh, but to me, that's like an election year thing, right? OK, you're gonna get checks and they're coming from me and um OK, um, but Does that solve the long term fiscal challenges that individuals, families in this state has? No, it does not. After the break, we'll continue our conversation with Senator Rob Raulerson and wrap up the show. We'll be right back.

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Welcome back to Power and Politics. We are wrapping up our show looking at Governor Kathy Hochle's state of the state address and the Republicans' response to it. Offering the opposing perspective is Hudson Valley State Senator Rob Ralison. Senator, is there anything else that stood out to you in this speech? As the ranking member of uh Children and Families, uh, has been an area that I've spent a lot of time in with my colleagues, uh, in Albany on childcare, uh, and talking about moving towards a, a universal childcare system. Uh, it makes sense. Uh, because if you can't get your child or your children into child care, that impacts every other thing that you're trying to do, like going to work, um, having money to, to do the things that you need to do for your family. Uh, and there's been a lot of work in that area, and I'm proud of the part, uh, of it, uh, along with my colleagues in the Senate, in the the assembly, and, and her, uh, recognizing the universal childcare system, moving towards that. And obviously, that's not gonna happen overnight. There, there are also, of course, is, you know, how are we gonna pay for it, and but the providers need assistance, uh, the families need assistance. We've got bills. I've co-sponsored bills on Childcare tax credits, capital improvement, monies for child cares to, uh, facilities to, to expand, to accommodate more children. There's a lot of work that needs to be done in that area, but I'm I am, I'm glad, I'm glad that she brought that up. What are some of your personal priorities for this upcoming session? Here in the district and statewide, but really in the district is, you know, making sure that we're doing everything we can to let people know that we're here to help. Uh, that we're going to Look at different ways to reach people within the communities. We had very successful mobile office hours. We're thinking about doing different hours in different places on different days to reach people that might not be able to come see us during the week. So that's, uh, you know, that's a consideration. We're having a, a staff meeting with all the members of the staff on Friday, just to say, OK, you know, what, what did we do for the 1st 2 years? What really worked well? What can we do better? What are the things that we didn't do? You know, it's a big learning curve, right, when you first get to Albany. And I feel a little more comfortable now in understanding how it works up there, but really what we do here in the district is the most important function of this job. Senator, thank you for the time. Once again, I'm Jonathan Gordon, and this is Power and Politics on News 12, where local elections lead to national change, more news, weather and your hyperlocal headlines coming up after the break.

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This week's guests include Pace University Clinical Assistant Professor of Political Science Laura Tamman and Republican State Senator Rob Rolison.

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