Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on WDKX Rochester With Mayor Evans

Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on WDKX Rochester With Mayor Evans

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on WDKX Rochester with Mayor Evans.

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Mayor Malik Evans:  Welcome Governor, you're always in the City of Rochester but welcome to WDKX.

Governor Hochul: Great to be here. This is the premier number one radio station I'm told in the universe. That's what you guys are telling me.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: So word is spreading.

Governor Hochul: Word is spreading. I'm so happy to be here. This is great. And I love your mayor. I absolutely love this guy.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: We do too. But I didn't know there was a storm coming. You told me there's a bad storm coming our way?

Governor Hochul: Yeah, a storm. It will be really cold though - the wind chills are going to be bitter, so dress up when you go outside. I'm supposed to warn everybody about hypothermia and frostbite and all the bad things that can happen - but this is going to be all over the State. In two more days, there will not be a single part of New York State that does not have wind chills below zero. New York City, Long Island, all the way up to the North Country and Buffalo and Rochester and in between. So, we're just letting people know it's going to be not as much snow - you can handle the snow. I'm from Buffalo, we can handle anything - Rochester won't even notice it. But the extreme cold is what we're really worried about. So I want to get the warning out.

Mayor Malik Evans: That's right and that hypothermia sets in and the Governor declared a State of Emergency, so we want everyone to be safe and bundle up. But the Governor was here announcing Dre some huge news as it relates to universal childcare. All of us that are parents know how hard it is to have children and then do the childcare thing. It's hard enough having a child. So, Governor talk about childcare - universal childcare that's a part of the State budget.

Governor Hochul: And you've been a great champion for this and I'm New York State's first mom Governor. And I know because I had to leave a job I love because I couldn't find childcare when my babies were little. And now those babies are having their own babies and they're having trouble. But think about this, the average cost of childcare in the Rochester area is $18,000 per child per year.

If you're making minimum wage, it doesn't work. So we are going to provide universal, full day childcare for every child, we're on a path to get to that. But I wanted to do an experiment first. I trust this mayor and our County Executive here so much that we're giving only three places in the entire state $20 million to find out how we can scale up a program from babies to three year olds. And I'll take care of the 4-year-old program, to make sure it's universal across the state. The state is requiring that in two years and so that's how we start getting there.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: That's right.

Governor Hochul: And then parents - the next baby that comes along won't have to worry and have this incredible pressure when they're trying to pay the rent and the car insurance and everything else. It just seems like it's never ending.

Mayor Malik Evans: Never ending, so this gives parents that lift. It makes things more affordable, it helps people to work. A lot of people don't take jobs because they can't find childcare. We know that's an issue in Rochester, we know that's an issue in Monroe County and the Governor understands that. The County Executive has these lists of people that are waiting to be able to get childcare. And we believe that this will be able to help and we're thankful for the Governor for choosing Rochester as a demonstration project. Rochester, Monroe County.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: One thing I think of and I've got a question. I always think about the money. Where's the money coming from to put this together?

Governor Hochul: Luckily your state has a Governor who knows how to manage budgets. I don't have to raise taxes to do this.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: Thank you.

Governor Hochul: There you go, you can keep your money in your pockets. I'm trying to put more there, not take more out. Let me tell you, we benefit from having Wall Street and when they're doing well, we actually increased unexpectedly our revenues by $17 billion over two years because the Wall Street bonuses get taxed and they're doing great.

So I am allocating some of that money to help cover this cost for the next couple years. Because I don't want to raise taxes on New Yorkers, life is expensive enough.

And so we have found a path to meet our obligations to fund education and Medicaid, but also have the money to start expanding something that I think is really important for our families, but also our local businesses so they can have the workforce they need.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: As our first mom Governor, did you ever think you had to deal with bullies?

Governor Hochul: Oh, I've dealt with bullies since I was in school.

Mayor Malik Evans: And I think I know the bully you're talking about. Are you talking about the bully that's suing me and we're suing him?

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: I think that's the bully I'm referring to. We don't usually say his name on the air.

Governor Hochul: Then we won't.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: It's like candyman you know you say it three times that he appears.

Mayor Malik Evans: But he knows what I'm talking about.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: I guess did you ever think you'd be in this position again fighting people who are basically trying to stop the way of life or not improve the way of life?

Governor Hochul: Yeah no, without a doubt. It comes with the turf when you're in politics. It's become a blood sport from when I started. I ran for local office - I used to work for elected officials when I was just like this nerdy high school kid who volunteered at Democratic headquarters and helped other candidates.

I was always going to be the staffer behind the scenes. I never thought I'd run for office, women didn't do that at my age. But I ran, my kids were little. I ran for local office, then county, and went to Congress representing many of the suburbs of Monroe County. I represented this area and now I'm Governor and I still have to fight the bullies.

That's what elections are about and people try to bully me into positions as Governor. And i'll tell you something about me. If you grew up in Upstate New York, Western New York - you are tough, you have to be.

Mayor Malik Evans: That's right.

Governor Hochul: And I can take it, I know how to dish it out too - because I'm not going to be pushed around by anybody.

Mayor Malik Evans: Right and I think the other thing too that the Governor does and what I appreciate is that you keep the focus to stand up to the bully - so that way they don't hurt the people that can't fight for themselves. The Governor and I, we can do just fine right? But there are many people whose voices are not being heard or feel like they're being cast aside or cast out because of - pick the category - X, Y, or Z. And what we've said is we are going to stand up. In Rochester we say we're standing rock solid, New York State is standing rock solid. And the Governor has been very clear that she's not going to allow anyone from Washington to change our way of life. And I think that is what we want the community to understand and I hope that they stand with us as we continue to fight for them.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: For folks listening, I know they're not used to WDKX doing what we're doing. We normally like having our mixes going, but when things like this happen Governor and you came to town. I'm like thank you for coming up to the studios because that shows me something. This isn't a performative art that some politicians tend to use. And I love this guy because I've known him since - did you know he was an intern here?

Governor Hochul: He was bragging about that to me. He was acting like he's a big shot.

Mayor Malik Evans: He was a tough boss. Listen, he was a tough boss when I was an intern here. I get privileges sometimes to be able to come in to talk about issues that are of mutual concern. And what is going on in our country is that people are concerned and they need to be able to hear that their local leaders, that their state leaders give a darn about what is happening to them. And that's why I felt as though it was so important for the Governor to interrupt DJ Wizz the Wax Cutter - for her to come talk about what's happening right now.

Governor Hochul: What I want to say is, I appreciate this opportunity because I know you are the voice of the people. And if I can talk to you and listen to you when you ask me a question - I know your voice is reflecting, as you mentioned, those who do not have access to ask a Governor a question. So I am proud to be here, I love doing this. And so fire away.

Mayor Malik Evans: The last thing I wanted to mention that Dre is the Governor's being modest. Whenever the Governor comes, she comes with some announcement to help Rochester, Monroe County. She announced in her budget and she can talk more about $300 million for Rochester for transformational projects.

It's called the Rochester Monroe County Transformational Initiative to boost economic development to boost growth in Rochester as a part of her budget. So Governor, we're very thankful.

Governor Hochul: I want to support your vision and the County Executive's visions on how to expand opportunity. Let's invest in some downtown businesses and build more housing that's affordable so our young people who grow up here in the city don't have to leave when it comes time to start their own families. I've lived in Buffalo and I know how hard it is to keep families here and so I'm so invested in this. And for you to be able to take the lead here and I trust you, I trust Adam Bello the County Executive to work together to put it toward transformational projects that people will, "say wow, that's really cool."

And I said, "don't ever bet against Rochester, Monroe County." This is a place where I come to test ideas. When I'm talking about testing childcare, to scale it up statewide. I'm coming because I have trusted partners and we've done this. Whether it's poverty initiatives or ways we can deal with the benefit cliff from people who can't take a full-time job because they'll lose life-saving healthcare benefits they desperately need. So I come here a lot, I love coming to this community. It's got a vibe to it that I just so embrace - gritty and tough. But also, you have great elected leaders here - and I thank you for having me on to be able to just share some time and talk about my belief in this community.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: Speaking of time, what's the timeframe for this to be initiated. For the young people in first, second, third - the babies?

Mayor Malik Evans: Governor, what's the timeline - it's in this budget. It's in this current budget right?

Governor Hochul: Yes this $20 million is the start of a pilot here in Monroe County. And I just have to get it through this budget. I announced it last week in the State of the State. We have until - supposedly it's due April 1st. Sometimes we're a little late,

Mayor Malik Evans: But that's okay.

Governor Hochul: But I always get what I want.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: Okay -alright - she's very clear on that.

Governor Hochul: And I want this.

Mayor Malik Evans: But this is not one of these things that is a theoretical exercise. This is about people.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: You mean a concept?

Mayor Malik Evans: This isn't a concept of a plan. This is an actual plan that will be implemented in this coming budget cycle and that's why the Governor is making that investment. And this is something that you will see, not that you will hear about.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: There's a couple things I got to think about and I know I shouldn't have done this. But I'm going to think of property taxes. Will they be going up?

Governor Hochul: No.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: Okay, now my second point is we're not going to become Minnesota, are we?

Governor Hochul: No.

Mayor Malik Evans: Not if we have anything to do with it.

Governor Hochul: No because we have such tight controls against abuse and we have a fraud alert hotline. We have all kinds of rigorous inspections that we do. I make sure that every dollar that the taxpayers give to us because they earned that with their own sweat, their own hard work, their long hours -- I treat that as if it's my own. And so we are very vigilant about not having our dollars wasted, that we spend it on programs that are impactful.

And that's why when I want to go big, I first take a bite off and say, let's find out what's really going to work instead of just throwing taxpayer dollars at problems. Let's come to Rochester and try it out - when it works and find out what adjustments we have to make before we put the real money behind it to scale it up.

Mayor Malik Evans: I can tell you the Governor trusts, but she also verifies. I'll give you a perfect example on public safety, our Gun Involved Violence Elimination program. She knows the numbers just as well as I do. Because she wants to make sure that those dollars - Rochester is one of the biggest cities that get that investment - that they're [dollars] being used.

Same thing with our STRIVE program that the Governor has supported us in, which is about domestic violence and gun issues. New York State - they trust us - but they verify. And with the daycare dollars that are coming, you better believe they're going to be on us to make sure that we spend it wisely and that we're affecting the most people.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: I appreciate you and to hear that you guys are fighting too for not only Rochester, Monroe County - but the State of New York with all that's going on, I really appreciate you. I know Malik's been through it for a while. We've talked about this on our show, on the Wake Up Club, but I just want to make sure that we've got fighters because it's time to fight.

Governor Hochul: Indeed it is, Indeed it is.

Mayor Malik Evans: And we will not back down and you know how I feel about bullies. So we're not backing down.

Governor Hochul: You think about the legacy of this area built on people like Frederick Douglas. I remember proudly announcing that we had a mural dedicated to him at the airport.

And I know his history - I've been to his grave site for inspiration. Because we think about how we're going to be judged by future generations on how we stand up to the bullies in Washington. And those who are trying to knock down our people and take away healthcare and education. I had to sue this federal government to return $3.8 billion that they took from childcare programs that they had previously funded and social safety net programs - so they're going after our people.

I have to stand up and honor the legacy of a Frederick Douglas who used his eloquent voice to speak for the people. I honor that legacy and I must be part of that continuing on into the future.

Mayor Malik Evans: And remember when we're standing up to get the resources from the federal government, we're not going on our knees begging, we're asking for money that belongs to us anyway. Remember over the last 10 years, New York State has sent more money to the federal government than it gets back except for maybe during the COVID year. So we are producers in this State. We shouldn't have to beg for things like childcare to make sure that we get the resources that we need for Medicaid, Medicare, and all these other issues right? We should not have to do that and the Governor has made very clear that she's not going to stand for that. And same in Rochester, Monroe County.

So you have a fighter, you have a fighter.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: We need one now more than ever. Thank you Governor.

Governor Hochul: Thanks Andre.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: I don't have an exit song for you because I know his group is Mint Condition, so I'm going to be playing Mint Condition.

Mayor Malik Evans: That's good, that's a good exit song. Yeah but we played her song on the morning [show] last Saturday. We played the Bills Shout song and we played a different version. You have to play that version for her.

Andre Langston, WDKX Rochester: That didn't work out too well.

Mayor Malik Evans: But you have to let her hear that version. The T-Wills version.

Governor Hochul: I played the Bill's Shout song at the end of my State of the State address before the game.

Mayor Malik Evans: Oh, that's right.

Governor Hochul: I played it, I had my cap on and I went across the stage. I made people from all over the State -

Mayor Malik Evans: And the Bills won that one.

Governor Hochul: I made them sing the shout song. Whether you are a Bills fan or not, you're in my audience and you're going to sing the bill song.

Contact the Governor's Press Office