On December 19, 2024, The Post-Standard published an op-ed by Governor Kathy Hochul regarding her longstanding commitment to addressing the cost of living in New York, including her new proposal to send Inflation Refund checks to 340,000 Central New York residents and 8.6 million New Yorkers overall. Text of the op-ed can be viewed online and is available below:

Since Covid, inflation has eaten away at New Yorkers’ incomes. In just the last four years, the price of something as basic as a dozen eggs has more than doubled nationally. Milk costs a dollar more per gallon, hamburger is up nearly $2 more per pound, and diapers are up by $7 a pack.

When costs for basic necessities like these skyrocket, it makes putting food on the table so much more difficult. Many New Yorkers still feel the pinch. They know that every dollar counts. It adds up quickly, especially for a family with small children or for seniors on a fixed income.

People in Syracuse know the reality of rising costs all too well - what it means to face the economic hardship of an ever-changing economy and the feeling that government isn’t doing enough to help.

I understand this struggle intuitively. I watched my factory worker grandparents struggle in their old age. I watched my mother raise a family of eight, stretching every dollar by buying us used clothes and serving fried Spam sandwiches for dinner.

When my own family was just starting out, I had to leave my job because we couldn’t find affordable childcare.

I shopped at discount grocery stores and dreamed of the days when we wouldn’t have to pay for formula and diapers.

This experience is why, since I became governor three years ago, my top priority has been to tackle the affordability crisis. And it’s also why, when I present my new state budget in Albany next month, I will include a historic new directive to return $3 billion in surplus sales tax revenue to the taxpayers.

Under my proposed Inflation Refund plan, if you are single and earn less than $150,000 per year, you would get a check for $300 later next year. Couples that file jointly and earn less than $300,000 annually would get a check for $500.

This is your money to buy groceries, clothes, medicine or to pay rent or other bills, or whatever else you see fit to spend it on.

We’re able to do this because high inflation meant the amount the state collected in sales tax went up. Personally, I don’t think this extra revenue should be spent by the state. After all, it’s your money. Instead, it should be heading one place and one place only: back into your pocket.

This could benefit 8.6 million households and make a real difference for middle-class New Yorkers. It could help a young family pay for things like groceries, formula or diapers. It could help a young person pay student loans or rent. Or it could lift up a senior struggling to afford medication and heat in the winter.

And this is only the beginning of my 2025 affordability agenda for New York.

This groundbreaking Inflation Refund will build on actions we have already taken to protect New York families and make this state a more affordable place to live and raise a family.

Since my first day in office, we’ve expedited a middle-class tax cut; cut property taxes; increased housing supply to reduce rents; and boosted tuition assistance, including, for the first time ever, for part-time students. My administration has also dramatically increased childcare support, so that eligible families may pay as little as $15 per week.

We’ve raised the minimum wage and indexed it to inflation, and this year delivered first-in-the-nation paid prenatal leave, so working moms won’t lose income when they visit their doctor. We’re helping to cover utility bills, and we’ve sent money to families for back-to-school shopping. This summer, we helped feed nearly 2 million more hungry kids with direct funds for food to parents.

My focus on affordability isn’t new. I wake up every day thinking about one thing: How can I fight for New York’s children and families? How can I put money back in your pockets?

Central New York is on the precipice of a major resurgence in manufacturing, carrying with it the promise of historic economic renewal. But if we fail to support people with the rising costs affecting them right now - the anxiety that comes each time folks pay their bills or go to the grocery store - then those lofty aspirations for what this region can become feel distant.

No one should ever have to leave our great state because they can no longer afford to live here. I believe New York should be a place where people can get ahead, not just get by.

So, know that I never have, and never will, stop fighting for you and your family.