On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) held a briefing to announce inflation refund checks for New Yorkers.
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00:00I just broke up.
00:02Oh, boy.
00:04I don't know.
00:06I don't know.
00:08I don't know.
00:10I don't know.
00:12Okay.
00:14Okay.
00:16I don't know.
00:36You got it.
00:40Oh, my God.
00:42Community Advocate, Alicia Barksdale.
01:07Please welcome New York resident and educator, Rachel Lissy.
01:12And now, please stand and join me in welcoming the 57th governor of the great state of New
01:22York, Governor Kathy Hochul.
01:24Good morning, good morning, sound like a party, we're here to celebrate.
01:40Here we are at the Harlem Center, please sit down, and I'm just looking forward to hearing
01:46the remarks from Alicia and Rachel about what this means to families all across this region.
01:55But there are so many families that are struggling right now.
02:00No fault of their own.
02:01They didn't count on inflation, they didn't count on tariffs.
02:07Utility bills just seem to be never ending, going up and up and up.
02:10I just had some conversation with some folks this morning and they just tell me how much
02:14the bills are.
02:16And groceries, you just look at it every single week and think, the prices are going up and
02:22my paycheck is not.
02:24So it's frustrating.
02:27All I know is the governor of New York has one duty, protect her citizens and fight like
02:33hell to put money back in their pockets whenever I can.
02:37So as we hear from these New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet, you know, young families
02:45right here in Harlem just shaking their heads, you know, a senior in the Bronx making the
02:51choice.
02:52And this is, this is not hyperbole, this is real between that, getting that medication
02:59filled to be able to buy the groceries they need for their families or whether they can
03:04delay that heating bill another month, you know, a teacher on Staten Island who's working
03:08just to pay the rent.
03:10And I live this too, you know, a lot of people are struggling more than I did.
03:14We didn't know we didn't have a lot, but it's probably a good thing.
03:17My parents used to live in a trailer park and thought they were doing really well when
03:22their second child, me, came along and they could get a little apartment and squish us
03:25all in in a place in the shadow of the steel plant where my dad worked.
03:30And we bought our clothes at used clothing stores or my mom would put things on layaway.
03:35Do they still have layaway?
03:38It's kind of embarrassing when you're a kid and you're going shopping and you have to
03:42walk past the regular checkouts with your mom and go over to layaway with your clothes
03:47for school or for Easter with your siblings and know you're not going to see them for a
03:52few weeks, maybe a few months until mom could pay it off.
03:56So, and food, family of eight, had a lot of spam sandwiches and pancakes for dinner and
04:04tuna casseroles, which I know are still popular, but I didn't like them.
04:08But that's how a mom could stretch the budget to be able to feed a big family.
04:14So I knew also as a young mom starting out, and I had a job I loved, but I could not find
04:21childcare.
04:22It was just not available when I worked in Washington on Capitol Hill, I left that job.
04:27My husband had been in a law firm and took a government job at half the wages because he
04:32wanted to be a prosecutor and defend people who were bullied and, you know, preyed upon.
04:38So we were, you know, it wasn't, we weren't starving.
04:41But I was that mom who had to have that shopping cart filled with the big oversized package of
04:47toilet paper and paper towels because it was cheaper to buy it that way and the diapers
04:52and the formula.
04:54And just really hoping as I clenched my coupons in my hand that I could just make it all work.
05:00So those experiences never leave you.
05:03I mean, at the moment you're just happy, you're joyful, you're a young parent, you can handle
05:07anything.
05:09But I look back at families today, sometimes it's not a joyful experience because you just
05:15don't know how you're going to take care of your kids.
05:18And I think about my experience, I think about the experiences of New Yorkers today, and I
05:24just want to know what else we can do to help.
05:27It's that simple.
05:28So I go to the legislature, go to the budget process with an idea of how we can do something,
05:34which is profoundly simple, but so impactful.
05:38And that is to put more money back in people's pockets by giving them a whole array of sources.
05:45So when you think about the prices of everything going up, and only seem like the wealthiest
05:50are getting further ahead, people living on the edge, they might go off the cliff.
05:54I said, affordability has to be the cornerstone of this budget, affordability.
06:00Because as I said back in January, your family is my fight.
06:05And I'll fight and fight and fight to do whatever I can to give you that security that you deserve.
06:12And so our affordability agenda focuses on a lot of things.
06:15An inflation refund, what's that?
06:18It says that for the last few years, the price of everything going up, the little kids' clothes
06:23and the diapers and your kids' backpacks and adults' prices, everything going up, all the
06:28things you need for work.
06:31We collected more in sales tax as a result, unanticipated revenue.
06:38I said, this can go into the state coffers, but why not give it back to the residents whose
06:45pockets it came out of?
06:47They paid more than they ever expected.
06:49That's the whole idea behind an inflation refund.
06:53And it's going to be upwards of $400 for families.
06:56We're going to give it back directly.
06:58No red tape, no hoops to jump through.
07:01Just giving you that check when it comes time to be shopping for fall school clothes and supplies.
07:08And it's going to be $400 right here.
07:10That's what we're doing for families.
07:12Over 8 million families across New York will get this.
07:19So we're going to make it simple, we're going to make it happen, and this is for people
07:23in every corner of our state.
07:26And Alicia is a proud Harlem resident, a grandmother, she's got adorable two-year-old Austin.
07:33God bless you, Alicia.
07:35He is adorable, but I'm sure he's a challenge.
07:37And you know the cost.
07:38Yeah, yeah.
07:39Active little boy.
07:44And you know what it's like, you know, you've had to see your budget squeezed and squeezed
07:49and how to make it work, but you're still a non-profit leader devoted to strengthening
07:53your community and supporting young people and families.
07:56And I want to make sure that you know that a refund like this is for families like yours,
08:00that we see you and we value and all the people you represent and putting this money back
08:06in the pocket.
08:07But also it's not just getting started with the inflation refund checks.
08:11How about the lowest middle class tax rate in nearly 70 years, benefiting 8.3 million
08:19Yorkers, saving a billion dollars across the state.
08:23We got it done.
08:25Also for little ones like Austin, who's very expensive.
08:29He's outgrowing his clothes and sneakers all the time, I can tell.
08:33We're going to triple the child tax credit, $1,000 for families with a child under the
08:38age of four, and boost the credit for school age, $500 for the older kids.
08:45And all across the state, free breakfasts and lunches in schools.
08:49Some communities have it, some don't.
08:51And that's $1,600 per child that you can save, not having to buy the extra groceries or having
08:58to get that extra money in their pocket every day.
09:02And we got that done.
09:04That is going to be a game changer for so many families.
09:07So when you add it all up, the inflation rebate, the tax cut, the free school lunches, the credits,
09:14that's nearly $5,000 back in families' pockets.
09:18That's real money for every first responder, every retail worker, every teacher, the people
09:24who bind our community together, every senior on fixed income.
09:29That's working overtime to support their family and every young person who wants to build their
09:33future here.
09:34Because I want New York to be a place where people don't just get by, they get ahead.
09:39And that's what we're delivering with this budget.
09:41How can I fight for your family?
09:43How can I put more money back in your pockets?
09:45And that's what we're going to continue to do.
09:47We stepped up, we showed how to do it, and this is what I'm going to do right now.
09:54Make it official.
09:54We got it done everybody, we got it done.
10:22Let me turn it over to Alicia Barksdale and offer her an opportunity to tell us what it's
10:29like.
10:30Come on up.
10:32Thank you so much.
10:35Good morning everybody.
10:36As you hear, my grandson's crying, so please excuse him.
10:40My name is Alicia Barksdale, I'm a West Harlem resident, and I'm also a glamor and a mom.
10:47When you see someone doing something for us, we don't know or appreciate it until it's done,
10:54and it was just done.
10:56So Governor Hochul knows how hard we are working as an average in low-income households and how
11:03the residents of New York State's cost of living from rent, mortgage, food is too damn
11:08high, excuse the expression.
11:11Everyone knows raising a family today is hard, costly, and not always easy.
11:17That's why it means so much for our governor to fight for us by helping us put more money
11:22back in our pockets.
11:23With the governor's efforts, New York State residents will have their first ever inflation
11:28refund checks, a check to expect that will be coming in the fall.
11:34Eight million households across New York State in the fall will be benefiting from these checks.
11:41Putting a little more money in our pockets is always welcome.
11:44New York State residents are also going to get a tax cut to expand child tax credit.
11:50To add up, this is all in a good way.
11:55Governor Hochul, we appreciate you for getting us a little bit more money in our pockets and
12:03easier for us to buy food where they have price gouging in stores in low-income communities
12:09like mine.
12:12And we are so grateful and blessed to have you as our governor.
12:17Now I would like to introduce Rachel Lissy.
12:20And she also knows what it's like to raise a family in New York State.
12:25Good morning, everybody.
12:31Thank you for having me here this morning and for the opportunity to speak with you all.
12:35You know, I should start by saying that my husband and I and my two kids, my mother-in-law, we
12:40all live together.
12:41And I know that we're very lucky.
12:42We have stable income.
12:44We both work in fields that we love.
12:46And at the same time, in the past couple of years, it's felt more and more like I'm on
12:50this treadmill that keeps getting faster.
12:53And it doesn't matter how hard I work, how much we save, how disciplined we are, the
12:57sort of unexpected costs of – and the expected costs like childcare, the rising cost of heating,
13:03the cost of grocery, the grocery bills.
13:05I feel like I'm just trying to scramble to stay on.
13:09And in that context, it is so powerful and meaningful to know that there's – Governor
13:14Hochul has recognized this issue.
13:16I feel seen to recognize this challenge for families like mine.
13:19And also that she's working to slow this treadmill down, right, to be able to allow for my family
13:25to live where we live, to save, to be able to potentially, hopefully, own a home someday.
13:31And so I'm going to be really excited to get this check.
13:34And every little bit counts right now in this context.
13:37So it's so powerful to know that we have leaders like Governor Hochul who are fighting
13:41on our behalf and recognizing that if you have, you know, two parents working hard to support
13:48their kids, I want to be able to come home at night and enjoy my kids and not worry – and,
13:53you know, the example you used of them growing, like, my kids are growing and all I can think
13:56is I have to buy new shoes.
13:58And I don't want to think that.
13:59I want to just celebrate the growth of my kids and be able to be with them and be present
14:03with them and to have my family be able to be present and enjoy our time together.
14:08So this is money, but it's also time, it's sleep, right, it's a night's rest.
14:15It's just relief.
14:16And so I'm very grateful and I want to thank you all for the chance to share a bit about
14:19my experience and also to thank Governor Hochul for the work that she's doing around these
14:23issues fighting for families like mine.
14:27That concludes our program.
14:30Thank you for attending.
14:31We look forward to seeing you again.
14:39That was nice in the nerd's corner.
14:41That was wonderful.
14:42Yeah.
14:43Do you like that?
14:44Do you like that?
14:45Give me a listen to it?
14:46Let's watch a little bit.
14:47You only like that.
14:48It's not a bit, dumper.
14:50I like it.
14:51Fuck you.
14:52And what?
14:54Does anyone have an egg one guarantee for 1973 which has stayed at home via the
15:01economically?
15:02You, too – it's gonna be Alan Crown Lawости.
15:05So come back.
15:05Cool.
15:06I like that?