Governor Hochul is a Guest on NewsChannel 9

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul appeared as a guest on NewsChannel 9’s “Newsmakers with Andrew Donovan.” The Governor spoke on ongoing Budget negotiations — including her proposals for bell-to-bell distraction-free schools and changes in discovery reform — her efforts to recover and rebuild the correctional system, and Chobani’s $1 billion factory opening in Oneida County. The interview was pre-recorded.

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Governor, thanks for doing this again. You must not mind it if we're at two in a matter of weeks so thank you for doing that.

Governor Hochul: There's always important things going on I want to share with your viewers.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: You took a break to get out of Albany when you've got a lot of work still there, the State Budget. What's the status of the State Budget?

Governor Hochul: I think we're close to the end. Some of the most important challenging issues were my desire to change the system of discovery, which is evidence that is shared between the prosecutors and the defense. And it's a little bit complicated, but basically what has been happening under laws that were enacted in 2019 — and I stand behind the original intent behind those laws, but now we have so many cases that are being dismissed, really on technicalities.

When you think about a victim of a crime, a woman, a victim of domestic violence, finally gets her day in court, she thinks, only to find out the case has been thrown out because of some minor technicality; something that might be related to the case but not relevant to the case. And so we are changing that in a way that still protects the rights of defendants, of course, always, but we have to have fairness for the victims. And so that was a big fight.

It slowed us down and I knew it would, but I was not going to sign off on a Budget that had that. As well as making sure that people that have mental health problems that are literally living on our streets, who cannot take care of themselves, can get the help they need and so they can be taken to a hospital. They call it involuntary confinement, but it's just saying, “You don't have the mental capacity to make that decision for yourself. And we are as a society compassionate, and we're going to take care of you and make sure you get the help you need.” So those were two big hurdles.

I also said I wanted to make sure I get a cell phone ban. Basically, I don't think that kids should be in schools distracted all day when they're supposed to be learning — playing on their cell phones or watching TikTok video dances. So we are going to be successful on that as well.

So we're in the final days of wrapping up the numbers, but I feel confident it'll be done by the end of this month, if not earlier.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: For whatever reason, every time there's a news story about crime, I feel like at least one person says it's the Democrats' fault — it's Kathy Hochul’s fault because of bail reform and “Raise the Age.”

And yes, you were not the Governor when some of those things were enacted. Is this change in discovery your biggest correction yet of some of the perhaps overcorrections made over the past decade?

Governor Hochul: No, I think the last two budgets where we changed the bail laws where judges now have the discretion to hold people who are really accused of more serious crimes or even hate crimes were not covered under our bail laws. I had to fight hard. I mean, this was one of my more brutal fights, I would have to say, to get the Legislature to really realize that sometimes you go too far in your reforms and it's hard to say, “What we did needs changes,” but I had to get them to that decision, and we got it done the last year.

So we have significantly modified the bail laws and you're seeing changes in our Upstate outcomes. And now discovery was another challenge for our prosecutors, and I'm now fixing that. So it's a continuum, but also I've invested a billion dollars in law enforcement. That is record-breaking, $230 million right here in Syracuse to help our local law enforcement.

And this whole era of “defund the police,” “disrespect our police,” no. We respect these individuals who put their lives on the line every day. But we also — what does respect mean? It gives them the money and the resources they need.

So I'm a strong partner of theirs, and so anyone who wants to politicize crimes can look at how Upstate crimes are down about 31 percent since I've been Governor. That's extraordinary. But I'm not done. I'm not going to stop until we make sure that everyone feels safe in their streets, in their homes and their businesses.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: You're a proud Democrat and the Onondaga County District Attorney is a proud Republican, yet I saw you mention his name, I saw you shake hands after your remarks a few minutes ago upstairs. This discovery issue seems bipartisan, but I wonder is it politically risky to work against the desires of perhaps more liberal people in New York City?

Governor Hochul: I don't care about people's political viewpoints when I'm thinking about the safety of New Yorkers; my number one job is to keep people safe. So politics be damned in this space. And I will always stand up and fight for my residents. And I take this very seriously.

So working with Republican District Attorneys is natural to make me. Of course, he's elected, I'm elected, we work together. And I wanted to thank him for the work he did on bringing the prosecutions and not one, but two prison deaths, which were just horrendous. And it took a lot for him to do that and I wanted to commend his courage in finding out the real truth behind what happened.

Of course I'm aligned with them. I want to make sure our District Attorneys have resources. I've been funding them at high levels. But also, yes, I support our defenders as well; the defenders of the people deal with the indigent who need legal services, we provide that as well.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Will a cell phone ban — as you intended, as the legislation has already been written — will that make it through the Budget process?

Governor Hochul: I believe it will, yes, I feel very confident of that. And that'll go into effect next fall. It is “bell-to-bell.” We’ll be one of the very few states in the nation that says, “When you get to school, you lock it up; the end of the day you get it back out.”

And the teachers are ecstatic over this development because, finally, they don't have to compete when they're teaching algebra to kids that are more interested in watching or texting their friends or watching videos online. And I think it's going to have a profound influence on not just the mental health of our kids — because they're drawn into these dark spaces from the internet and these algorithms, social media algorithms that are pulling into negative images, it has an effect on their psyche, and we're seeing it now.

And I want to have the next generation of kids coming through never even knowing you are allowed to have cell phones ever. We're going to banish that. After school, evening, that's your free time. But during school, you're there to learn.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: When I was in high school, cell phones were not allowed out. They were in your pocket but if you were seen, you got in pretty good trouble.

When you and I were in the studio a few months ago, it didn't sound like there was much wiggle room on your end for Upstate Hospital to get the $450 million it wants for the emergency room renovations, and you toured the emergency room that day. But the Legislature, both houses of the Legislature, got to the 450 million in their draft Budget. Is there wiggle room now for them to get all of it?

Governor Hochul: No. The point is when a capital project means you're going to fund a project that is not done in one year. So we are committed to helping them. $200 million this year and I know if you asked them, they're very happy to get that commitment. That's what they need to get it off the ground. The rest can come over time because we don't need to put it all in our Budget for one year.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: So you're going to tell the Legislature, “No, not 250 more?”

Governor Hochul: We don't need to do that. I have to deal in the realities. I'm trying to put together a Budget that is based on common sense practices. Do we need all that money this year? No, we don't. So the commitment is there, but I have to manage our finances. And it was $200 million, which is what they're very happy with.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: You mentioned talking with the Onondaga County District Attorney this morning thanking him for his work prosecuting the prison cases. As you know indictments came this week — now 20 officers across two prisons within walking distance of one another have been indicted. I heard from the DOCCS Commissioner this week about the reviews happening and the look backs at the culture and training. Do you believe it's a cultural problem within the prison system that so many officers resort to violence?

Governor Hochul: Yes. There's something going on that we have to get to the bottom of it. I don't think it's just these two prisons, especially in the murder of Mr. Brooks back in December. It seemed like they were very comfortable. The guards taking him into a particular room and making the staff at the infirmary leave and covering up the cameras. It felt like they had done that before, and that is deeply, deeply disturbing to me. I think it's abhorrent, and we have to stop this.

Now, there are thousands and thousands of good correction guards who are going in. These corrections officers are going in every day, and these conditions are dangerous; they're uncertain; the hours are long; they're struggling; and I admire them with every fiber of my being, and I want to make sure that they know I have such respect for them, especially those who stayed on the job during the prison strike. My gosh, they had tough conditions, and I will always be grateful that they did what was right and did not break the law.

But with respect to these murders, we have to get to the bottom of this where people feel too comfortable in this environment to cause pain to another individual, one of the people they're responsible for safeguarding and not to be able to think — you go to a diner and concoct a coverup? And you may have done it before.

So this is a real challenge. I'm not saying it's widespread, but I'm saying this may not be the only case where people feel you can cover this up. So I'm getting $400 million to spend and I have cameras in every corner of the prisons. So yes, you are required by law to wear your body cam. If you turn it off, that is an offense as well.

But also, I want to make sure I have cameras that can never be tampered with so we always have a clear eye of what's happening. It protects the corrections officers, it protects the incarcerated population as well as those who work in there. So we have a lot of work to do. Yes we do.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: I know the strike is over, but it still seems like a crisis. You have what you mentioned, maybe cultural issues within the use of, before the use of violence. But you have so many officers just unhappy, feeling unsafe to be in those prisons, yet their job is so necessary. We saw that during the strike.

Governor Hochul: We rely on them so much. We rely on them so, so much.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: How do you solve that problem?

Governor Hochul: We're doing a massive recruitment campaign. There's a lot of people who are burned out, who are retiring; they're moving on. Those who we had removed because they broke the law and were given four chances to keep their jobs, but they refused to come back in leaving the communities unsafe, leaving the population inside unsafe. And that is a dereliction of duty like I've never seen, and it broke the law. So I have to replace them. We are recruiting, we're trying to get the age changed that you can start being a corrections officer. That'll help us with recruitment.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Is recruitment enough?

Governor Hochul: We need new people in there. And the process to become a corrections officer is not a lengthy one. So I want to get a whole new energetic group of people — diverse backgrounds. I want people from all over to be working in these prisons. It is hard sometimes to find people, especially to go into the North Country because —

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Who would want to do it?

Governor Hochul: You know what, there's a lot of people that are civic minded, that care about their communities. And some for some, it's generational. Their father, their grandfather may have been, or their mother might have worked in a prison. And in some communities, especially in the rural areas that I know so well from when I represented them in Congress, the prison is often the largest employer.

This is an employment opportunity. And otherwise, sometimes small communities don't have other options, but I value them. I want them to have a positive experience when they go to work every day. And I would say they don't have that now. And that is part of the culture change that I'm driving.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Do you worry — you talked about what the strike cost taxpayers — do you worry what these prison beatings might cost taxpayers if these families sue?

Governor Hochul: Yes. I am worried about that. It is a cost that is unnecessary if the people are just doing what's right and manage the situation without causing harm to an individual. So yes, there'll be a cost for the State. I have no doubt about it.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: You've been a huge advocate for the Micron project. You've been involved with it from the beginning. I've heard you talk about the dinner discussions early on. The Onondaga County Executive, also a big proponent, has said he's seen no change on the ground in the work to bring Micron here in the era of President Trump. As we hear the CHIPS Act get trashed in some cases. Have you seen any change from the federal administration in response to the work Micron is trying to do?

Governor Hochul: No, not at all. We were actually on schedule, we'll start construction in the fall. This is exciting to me. I can't wait to be there for the groundbreaking and they've been moving on this right along. I just spoke to the CEO of Micron just a couple weeks ago to touch base. Obviously, there's other worries surrounding not just Micron, but every business, the tariffs, which are having a ripple effect around our economy. But I think this bodes well for building semiconductors in our country.

So what we're talking about is making sure that we're no longer dependent on foreign countries and our geopolitical challenges with other countries, that we could be self-reliant on something as critical as semiconductor chips. So I think there's even more reason to make sure that this moves ahead, stays on schedule. The environmentals are going to be starting soon, so they are underway and that's what I spoke to the CEO about. So I feel really good about it. I'm excited. I've seen no sign, no sign at all, that anything is off track. I understand people are anxious, but I feel very confident this is going to happen.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Speaking of groundbreakings, it sounds like my home county of Oneida County will have another one soon with the Chobani project that you'll announce next week. Tell me about how that came to fruition.

Governor Hochul: Oh, this is another one. I'm a very aggressive recruiter for our state. We're able to land Fairlife — which is the largest dairy processing facility, and I'm told it was North America, now maybe the world — that is underway just down the road outside of Batavia and Rochester. It's also so exciting to know that Rome, a city that has a great past on the Erie Canal, is a real economic engine and all of Upstate areas declined. Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester, just like we know from living here.

But this is a great opportunity. A thousand jobs. Chobani's investing a thousand jobs, and it's a billion dollar investment. It'll be the largest natural food processing facility in America. And I had a lot of meetings. I went down to Chobani headquarters to talk to the CEO. Just thank them for all the investments they've made thus far.

But obviously they're being recruited by other states. They make very attractive offers to try and take them out of our state. So I had to fight back. We're assisting with financial resources. Part of our program that I started a couple years ago, has been wildly successful, our FAST NY program, but makes sites shovel ready.

So we're putting $23 million toward getting the site ready for them. Which helps me when I'm saying, "If you come here, we'll help you with this. But bring your investments, bring the jobs more than anything." There's a lot of uncertainty about jobs overall in this environment of tariffs, but to be able to announce a thousand new jobs coming in this environment is extraordinary. I'm really proud of it.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Governor, thank you for visiting Syracuse again. Thank you for your time.

Governor Hochul: Always glad to be back. Take care.

Andrew Donovan, NewsChannel 9: Thank you.