Gov. Hochul talks affordability agenda at Crossgates Mall

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Gov. Kathy Hochul met with shoppers at Crossgates Mall on Tuesday to talk about her affordability agenda plans in the 2025 State of the State address.

She said an inflation refund would put money back in the pockets of certain families.

"And what I've proposed, and what I want to get through the legislature, is to put $3 billion extra that we've collected in sales tax because of inflation and give that back in rebates of $300-$500 per family, so I'm excited about it. People here really want this to happen, so we want to get it done," she said.

The governor was also hit with hard questions from a disability advocate about the $9 billion contract with Public Partnerships, LLC (PPL) to administer a statewide program that pays at home, personal care assistants. Disability advocates said PPL has troubling results in other states. In Pennsylvania, a class action lawsuit was filed by employees that claims they were denied overtime pay.

The statewide partnership with PPL is slated to go into effect on Jan. 6, 2025, and they expect the transition to be completed by April 1.