Gov. Kathy Hochul says state agencies have two weeks to report on their response to thousands of recommendations for simplifying New York's business regulations, part of a broader agenda on workforce training, housing, energy and child care.
Speaking at the Business Council of New York State's annual meeting, Hochul said the state has identified 2,500 recommendations and launched the first 50 changes at the beginning of summer. The governor's office published a rush transcript of her remarks.
Hochul described the effort as an attempt to remove outdated rules, duplicate paperwork and unnecessary fees without compromising health, safety or welfare. Her speech set a reporting deadline for agencies; it did not announce that all 2,500 recommendations have been adopted.
The governor also urged employers to help shape training programs and support child care, arguing that both are necessary to recruit and retain workers. Much of the address described her administration's record and future ambitions, rather than new awards or completed projects.
State reviews rules and business recommendations
A portal launched in February drew about 4,000 recommendations from the business community, Hochul said. A second review used artificial intelligence to examine 18 million words of rules, regulations, laws and fees.
She said that review took about a week, compared with a staff estimate of five to eight years for the work. The transcript does not provide the review's technical methodology or a list of all resulting recommendations.
Examples among the first changes included eliminating a $25 fee to take a dog hunting and removing outdated restrictions on pregnant women working after midnight. Hochul also cited requirements involving telegraphs, fax transmissions and duplicate forms as targets for modernization.
She said the first 50 changes have saved about 1.5 million hours of paperwork and multiple millions of dollars. Those are the governor's estimates; the speech does not include an itemized calculation.
Hochul told the business audience that the agencies now have the remaining recommendations and must report what they are doing with them in two weeks. She described continued regulatory simplification as a priority for the next four years.
Jobs and training anchor economic pitch
Hochul said New York has added 800,000 private-sector jobs during her five years as governor, including 150,000 Upstate. She also said unemployment has fallen by almost 2.5% in recent years, without specifying the measurement period in the remarks.
She described New York as the country's top destination for recent college graduates and said its technology-job count had surpassed San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The transcript does not provide the underlying data for those comparisons.
The governor pointed to the new Buffalo Bills stadium and Belmont venue as examples of sports-related economic development. She said stadium construction had employed tens of thousands of workers and highlighted racing's connections with farms, veterinarians, suppliers and food businesses.
For Micron, Hochul described an expected 50,000 jobs, including construction work, with roughly 9,000 to 10,000 permanent positions. The larger number should not be read as 50,000 permanent jobs at the company.
She said the state is changing curricula in nine counties around the Micron project to teach skills the company needs, including specialized coding and engineering. She urged businesses to describe the skills they will need in five to 10 years, rather than only today's vacancies.
Hochul cited $83 million for strategic workforce development and said free community-college offerings had attracted about 18,000 additional people to pursue degrees tied to fields with job openings. She described those programs as serving young people and people changing careers.
She also outlined an ambition to expand nuclear power and said she is working with the White House on it. She said workers will need training to build and operate reactors, but did not identify a newly completed nuclear project in the address.
Additional companies connected to the innovation corridor along the Thruway, particularly Micron's supply chain, would be announced before the end of October, she said. She did not name those companies or specify their investments.
Housing, taxes and insurance feature in affordability argument
Hochul said there had been no increase in income or corporate taxes during her tenure and described the middle-class tax-rate cut as the largest in 70 years. She cited $1,000 in assistance for families with children under 4 and $1 billion in energy rebate checks going into the mail.
She also pointed to inflation and property-tax relief and argued that state education aid can keep school property taxes lower than they otherwise would be. The speech is not an application notice and does not provide complete eligibility rules for those benefits.
On housing, Hochul argued that insufficient supply drives high prices and said the state is building more housing than at any time since World War II. She recalled questioning parking requirements that blocked apartments above downtown Oswego storefronts.
She linked budget changes to the state's environmental-review law with efforts to make housing easier to build. Hochul said an estimate put compliance costs at $82,000 more per multifamily unit in New York City and beyond. That is her cited estimate, not an established cost for every project statewide.
The governor said the changes preserve environmental protections while reducing delays and litigation burdens. She did not outline every exemption or provision in the speech, and her remarks do not establish approval of any particular housing proposal.
Hochul also argued that liability-law changes will reduce auto-insurance premiums. She said insurers had committed to lower costs as the changes take effect; the speech does not document a premium reduction already received by every policyholder.
Infrastructure and child care are workforce issues
Hochul cited $1.2 billion spent this year on potholes and a $34 billion capital plan, linking road and bridge maintenance with trucking, agriculture and companies moving goods across the state.
She described an “all-the-above” energy approach alongside her nuclear ambitions. The remarks did not announce a new energy award for an individual business.
Child care was a central part of her recruitment argument. Hochul recalled leaving a job she loved after having two children because she could not obtain accessible, affordable care, and said the problem persists for the next generation.
She encouraged large employers to build on-site centers and smaller ones to help subsidize care. She said Micron is building on-site child care at her direction and argued that addressing costs she put at $20,000 to $40,000 per child could help New York compete for talent.
The governor asked business leaders to continue providing ideas and advocacy. The nearest stated next step is the agencies' two-week report on regulatory recommendations; the company announcements she previewed remain expected before the end of October.
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