HOCHUL BACKS OFF her ‘bold proposals’ of 2023 to make fewer waves so Dems can win back the House. Moderates seem content, developers not so much.

Gov. Kathy Hochul wrapped up her State of the State speech recently by promising “to never compromise on our progressive values.”

That assertion came at the end of remarks seemingly tailor-made not for ‘progressives,’ as libs have taken to calling themselves these days…

…but for moderates (read Republicans and/or conservative Democrats – remember them?) across the state…

…with a focus on public safety and an obvious retreat from the bold new housing initiatives that characterized her remarks last year…initiatives that failed as tax-paying homeowners rose up and pushed back.

It was policies out of Albany, particularly relating to bail reform and crime, in fact, — policies made for property-owning, law-and-order moderates – that had previously helped Republicans claim key NY Congressional seats in 2020 and take control of the House.

So this was a fitting talk for an election year where Dems have set their sights on taking back control of Congress — just weeks ahead, incidentally, of a (Feb. 8) special election on Long Island to decide who will replace recently ousted GOP Rep. George Santos.

The Empire State will take center stage again on Nov. 5 when Dems try to flip back the key districts they lost in 2022 to the razor-thin House majority Republicans have been enjoying ever since.

Among the prime targets in this year are Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilips, recently announced GOP candidate for Santos’s up-for-grabs Long Island Congressional seat on Feb. 8, and GOP Representative Mike Lawler, running for re-election in his Rockland/Westchester district in the general election on Nov. 5.

Hochul’s 2024 look-ahead honed in on public safety, affordability and mental health, but the agenda she shared included no significant proposals – not even an underlying theme – that could remotely be characterized as adversarial to suburbanites. 

And that may a good thing…for her.

Hochul has chosen instead to highlight statewide – not big-city – public safety and crime, including health and welfare issues, crackdowns on illegal pot shops and addressing retail theft across the state.

But some of her harshest criticism is now coming from a new crowd: immigration and immigrant-advocates, complaining that Hochul has not been and is not addressing the overwhelming influx of illegal aliens – which they call migrants and asylum-seekers – entering the state.

Oh, and by the way: The Governor has so far failed to address her state’s roughly $4 billion budget deficit…

…but with a $5,000,000,000,000 (five TRILLION-dollars!) deficit looming at the fed level, what’s a paltry billion or two here and there?

“Hochul’s decision to exclude two such major – and politically fraught – issues facing the state,” says one City&StateNewYork.com writer, is evidence that at least the initial part of her plan is to not make waves.##

ABOVE: Gov. Kathy Hochul finds herself constrained by national politics this year. SUSAN WATTS/GOVERNOR’s office