KATHY HOCHUL

AFTER 14 MONTHS in the state capitol following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, Gov. Kathy Hochul gained standing—and in uence—by defeating Republican contender Lee Zeldin in November 2022. Now on rmer ground, the governor has laid out her priorities.

REACH: $227 billion budget (proposed, scal 2024)

WHAT’S NEXT: Promote agenda on public safety, housing and mental health services

To be sure, before the election Hochul racked up wins, signing new laws that strengthen limits on access to rearms and that protect abortion access. She struck an agreement to build a new Bu alo Bills stadium that will create 10,000 construction jobs and keep the Bills in New York, although the price tag has raised some hackles. She appointed a number of women to senior positions in a Cabinet that she has called her “dream team” and “one of the most diverse in New York state history.”

“I’m proud of the big things we’ve accomplished so far,” Hochul told Crain’s in an email, citing investments in education, health care and child care, job opportunities and relief from rising costs.

For the coming term, she has laid out a panoply of initiatives, among them the passage of an Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution, which is scheduled to go before voters in November. ere’s also her New York Housing Compact, which aims to build 800,000 homes in the next decade and a $1 billion budget proposal to overhaul mental health care in the state.

“Anyone who walks our streets or rides the subways knows there are too many people who aren’t getting the help they deserve,” the governor said. “My plan establishes new residential units and supportive housing, and funds outpatient services and crisis care for those in need.”

She faces challenges that will test her in uence, among them her desire to lift regional caps on charter schools—over the objections of the teachers union—and her proposal to change the state’s bail laws to give judges more discretion. Her plan to have New York City help ll the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget de cit is meeting with resistance from Mayor Eric Adams, and the Penn District redevelopment plan is up in the air. She has to nominate a candidate for chief judge of the state Court of Appeals after Democrats in Albany rejected her rst nominee.

As for being the rst female governor of the state, she recounts a story of a mother who approached her at the Erie County Fair, saying to her 5-year-old daughter, “Look, it’s our girl governor. at means girls can grow up to be whatever they want.” e attorney general’s battles continued last year against the National Ri e Association for allegednancial mismanagement and violation of state and federal laws, against pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid epidemic and against drug and gun tra cking organizations, taking down ve rings in 13 counties. She pursued allegations of fraud and neglect at some nursing homes and, leading a multistate e ort, sued the U.S. Postal Service, claiming it failed to consider the environmental impact of its new eet of gas-powered trucks.

AS THE FIRST WOMAN and the rst person of color to be elected attorney general of New York state, Letitia James is among the most active and audacious state attorneys general in the country, regularly taking on the powerful in politics and business.

James, rst elected as attorney general in 2018, won re-election in November 2022 after pursuing a string of successful lawsuits and investigations. ey included a probe of sexual harassment complaints against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that led to his resignation and brought Kathy Hochul into the governor’s o ce.

In September of last year, James took on another high-pro le political actor, former President Donald Trump, bringing a civil lawsuit against him and members of his family that alleges fraudulent business activity. e action could potentially harm Trump’s planned run for president in 2024.

Her e orts have paid o for New York and for localities and organizations. In 2022 the state collected $1.1 billion in civil recoveries, restitution, unpaid debts, negotiated recoveries and settlements and $1.5 billion in opioid settlements.

With public safety a growing concern, James recently expressed an openness to revisiting New York’s bail laws. When rst running for the job in 2018, she was a strong supporter of eliminating cash bail. James has vowed to work to increase funding for pretrial services and for the treatment of mentally ill people. She has said she will address the shortage of correctional, parole and probation o cers.