Gov. Hochul sounds alarm in Western New York on Washington Republicans' cuts with 'Big, Beautiful Bill'

State Republicans respond, saying Hochul is peddling fear and misinformation
Kathy Hochul
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN

Sanborn, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was in Niagara County on Monday, along with other Democrat leaders in Western New York to sound the alarm on Washington Republicans’ agenda, which includes the recently enacted "Big, Beautiful Bill".

Hochul says the "Big, Beautiful Bill" in Washington will have a massive ripple effect for several Western New York families. Some of the impacts she lays out includes:

- Ripping away health care coverage from 1.5 million New Yorkers;
- Cutting critical food assistance programs;
- Pushing a trade war that is hurting small businesses and sending prices skyrocketing.

"Today we stand in solidarity with the people of Western New York and here today in Niagara County. All of us, everyone in the state right now is under attack," exclaimed Gov. Hochul during a press event at SUNY Niagara. "It's come from an administration that is heartless and callous, and I want to thank all the people who are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me, as we strategize, work, hard, mobilize, organize to take on these fights."

According to Hochul, the Republicans’ cuts to health care will result in an estimated 31,388 residents of New York's 24th Congressional district (NY-24) losing their health care coverage, and health care costs increasing 33% for the average couple who purchases Marketplace insurance with tax credits.

Hochul also says Republicans slashed funding to local hospitals and health care services, with NY-24 set to face a total fiscal impact of $241,200,755, with hospitals losing $31,247,472 due to uncompensated care costs alone.

"My friends, they didn't tell you this. They thought you wouldn't notice. They'll push off some of this pain until after the next election, because they don't think people are smart enough to remember what they did to them. Well, my job is to remind you what they're doing to you and our community," Hochul said.

Hochul is hopeful that the people of New York, and others across the country will come together with one voice and fight for democracy.

"You all have your networks, your circles, your workplaces, your union members. I need your voices to rise up. I've said all along, the power lies in ordinary citizens to say, 'We fought hard. Our democracy has endured for 250 years in this great country, and we're not going to let it slip away now," Hochul added. "History will judge us in this moment. Where were we? What did we do? Were we complacent? Did we cower?' We stand up and fight, and I know that standing together and calling out exactly what is happening so all your neighbors know the consequences, they, too, will feel the same anger that I feel, and they'll turn that anger into a march on Election Day to go vote and turn this around. That is the power of our people, and I know I can count on them to do this."

Meanwhile, Republican political strategist Carl Calabrese says the "Big, Beautiful Bill" has avoided a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people and New York State taxpayers, which would have made it the largest tax increase in America's history.

What intrigues him is the amount of people who say they oppose the massive bill in Washington, yet, agree with a number of specific assets of the bill.

"If you look at what people think about the 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' and you ask them and use those terms, 55%, 56%, 57% of people say they oppose the 'Big, Beautiful Bill'. But when you start asking them specific items of the bill, for example, are you in favor of extending $4 trillion worth of tax cuts? Yes. Overwhelmingly, yes. Are you in favor of the provisions that close the border and hire more border agents? Yes. Are you in favor of a missile defense to protect our country? Yes. So when you go through the components of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill', individually, they're all very popular," noted Calabrese with WBEN.

Calabrese feels while Democrats and the media have done a good job of demonizing the bill, Republicans have not done a good enough job in bringing out the positive aspects of the "Big, Beautiful Bill" that people support.

Gov. Hochul also discussed on Monday the efforts in the State of Texas to redistrict Congressional maps in an effort to give Republicans an unfair advantage in the political landscape in Washington.

New York welcomed Texas legislators to the State Capitol in Albany on Monday after they departed the state in order to deny Gov. Greg Abbott the quorum he needs to pass a redistricting scheme that Hochul says will have national consequences.

Hochul says the lawmakers’ trip comes in response to President Donald Trump and Gov. Abbott’s efforts to force a radically gerrymandered mid-decade congressional map through the Texas Legislature — a move that would disenfranchise communities of color across the state in the name of rescuing an extreme conservative Congressional majority in the 2026 midterm elections.

She adds if Texas is successful in rigging their redistricting process, she feels it would bolster the ongoing attacks against New Yorkers and millions of other Americans by President Trump and his allies in Congress.

"We're not going to support unilateral disarmament," said Gov. Hochul. "That is what happened in North Carolina in 2024, the Republicans decided not within the normal 10-year cycle for redistricting, but that moment has changed the rules now. They added four Republican seats that had been evenly split before that. We saw what happened. The 'Big, Beautiful Bill' passed by that many votes. That was the difference between what's happening now. So therefore, we are not going to let Republicans get away with it in Texas to wipe out the seats of five duly elected Democratic members of Congress, and put Republicans in a place and skewer the lines. It's gerrymandered in a way that Democrats would never have success to it.

"It's also racist, it's discriminatory, and what we can do is not necessarily stop them, although we had the conversation with the legislators who left the state. There were six who came here, a number went to Chicago, and we talked to them about how brave they are. It takes courage to literally leave, to not have a quorum necessary to pass the lines that literally Donald Trump drew himself, probably with the help of artificial intelligence, but who knows."

At this point, Gov. Hochul says New York is exploring all of its options to try and structure its own redistricting of Congressional maps.

"We have more constitutional constraints than other states like California, who can move more quickly. But within those constraints, there is a window to pass legislation that's already been introduced to have a vote on changing the timeline for redistricting," Hochul explained. "Instead of 10 years, we can do it shorter, but I need to change the constitution. Two-consecutive legislative sessions in-a-row. Right now, we are in the '25-26 session. It needs to pass in '25 or '26, then again in '27 or '28. We can get this literally on the ballot in the fall of 2027, because it's up to the voters to decide any constitutional amendments. And that could have the opportunity to have lines drawn for the 2028 election, which is shorter than the current timeline we're on, which is 2032. That's what we have available here, also looking at litigation."

Meanwhile, Calabrese understands how controversial a process such as reapportionment is in politics.

"The term 'gerrymandering' goes back to the very founding of our country. Parties that are in power try to increase their power and keep their power, and one way they do it is by gerrymandering. When Republicans do it, Democrats scream. When Democrats do it, Republicans scream. It's just the nature of the beast," Calabrese said.

However, he notes that the Texas legislators fleeing Texas, some of them went to New York and others to Illinois, two states with controversial reapportionment issues in recent years.

"[New York] is a state that had a commission, turned over reapportionment to a commission, and then didn't like the results of that Commission's map, redid it, and redid it so bad the courts stepped in and threw it out and ordered the legislature to redo the map. We're like the king of redistricting and gerrymandering in New York," Calabrese said. "If you look at a map of the Congressional districts in Illinois, you'll shake your head. There's one district that goes through the middle of the state that actually looks like a staircase stepping up. It's a very contentious issue, it'll eventually gets solved, and it'll get solved with Republicans doing pretty much what they want, because they have a majority, a big majority in the state legislature, and eventually they will pass a map."

Calabrese adds this attempt at redistricting by Texas goes back to the last census when the Census Bureau admitted they undercounted people in Florida and Texas, while overcounting people in New York and California, likely giving Democrats, at least, four or five additional Congressional seats.

"This is an attempt by Texas to say, 'Wait a minute, we're going to make up for that mistake which undercounted our people, and we're going to do a more accurate map to reflect our actual population.' There's always screaming and gnashing of teeth in any reapportionment and redistricting process," he said.

As for Calabrese's thoughts on Gov. Hochul exploring reapportionment options in New York once again, he says that's the state's prerogative and can certainly do that.

"California has said they're going to do the same thing, but the problem for California is they have redistricted Republicans almost out of existence. There's not many opportunities to take back Republican seats in California. There are three or four that could be done in in New York, and we'll see if she follows through with it, or it's just an idle threat. I don't know yet," Calabrese said.

New York State Sen. Rob Ortt released the following statement after Hochul's comments Monday made in his district:

"Gov. Hochul’s fear-mongering tactics regarding the federal bill reveal her desperation, and they will not sway voters. Her track record is abysmal—marked by reckless spending and a blatant disregard for taxpayers’ needs. The only thing New Yorkers have to show from her tenure are rising prices, increased wasteful spending, skyrocketing Medicaid costs due to fraud and abuse, and more crime on our streets.

"In the most recent election, Gov. Hochul suffered a massive defeat in Niagara County, losing by an astonishing 17,000 votes. This overwhelming rejection of her horrible platform stands in stark contrast to the strong approval for President Trump, highlighting a clear sentiment in our community.

"There is no question Kathy Hochul is the worst Governor in America."

New York Congressman Nick Langworthy (R, NY-23) also released the following statement to Gov. Hochul's remarks made Monday:

Featured Image Photo Credit: Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN