Hochul now open to hiking biz taxes after bullying from left — but she blames Trump
Gov. Kathy Hochul is warming up to hiking corporate taxes as she faces continued hounding from the Mamdani left — but blamed President Trump for making an increase necessary.
Hochul has faced taunts and even chants to “tax the rich” from liberals looking to push her in line with democratic socialist New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who wants at least $9 billion in extra dough to fund his costly initiatives including universal child care and free buses.
The governor has been clinging to a promise not to increase income taxes as Mamdani would like, but she has admitted corporate tax hikes could be in the cards as the state tries to balance the budget.
“So people say that there’s conversations around taxes related to a recent election,” Hochul told reporters at an unrelated press conference Thursday. “It’s not the recent election. It was the 2024, election, when Donald Trump took office, and has now created the chaos where we don’t have a clear line of sight into what is going to come at us.”
She claimed the need for more revenue and budget struggles was the result of the federal administration despite having overseen a 22% increase in state spending.
“We have additional expenses because of Donald Trump, not because of anything else, and that’s where I have to be able to have the flexibility to manage,” Hochul said.
“I don’t have the clarity of seeing what is happening next year with the Trump administration,” she added.
Hochul’s comments come a day after she told FOX 5 she hadn’t budged yet on increasing taxes on individuals. Hiking income taxes and corporate taxes would have to be approved by the state government.
“I’m not raising income taxes because I believe that we want to make sure that New York is more affordable for everybody and I want people who are successful to keep creating the jobs and investing here, but we have to look at other revenue sources,” she told FOX 5 when pressed on this issue this week.
This year’s state budget is on track to reach $259 billion as of the latest projections available last month.
But Hochul’s budget office estimated that New York would be out about $4 billion a year beginning in 2027 as a result of Obamacare subsidies being cut and other effects of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful” bill passed in July.
The state needed to fill a $750 million hole in this year’s budget after the bill was passed. While Hochul claims to have filled it by finding “efficiencies,” the state revised its budget tax revenue projections to bump them up $2.6 billion.
Hochul is up for reelection next year and is facing immense pressure from Mamdani supporters and other progressives under the specter they could support a Democratic Party primary challenge against her.
“Eroding federal support is a major threat right outside New York’s door. It is not the only one,” Ana Champeny of the Citizens Budget Commission, an independent group, wrote in a report calling on the state to get its finances in order this week.
“Housing and affordability, climate change, and high taxes and outmigration all weigh heavily too,” she added. “All are pieces of a greater question of how New York State uses its dollars to effectively help New Yorkers.”
