As Washington Republicans Make Life Harder and More Expensive for Working Families, Governor Hochul Continues Push for Key Budget Proposals to Make Life More Affordable for New[...]

Governor Kathy Hochul today joined business and lumber industry leaders to discuss how key budget proposals like her auto insurance and State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) reforms will make life more affordable for New York families. As Washington Republicans pursue an agenda that is making life harder and more expensive for hardworking Americans, Governor Hochul's budget prioritizes putting money back into the pockets of New York families.

Governor Hochul also discussed the impacts of Trump's unlawful tariffs on businesses across the state and renewed her demand that the $13.5 billion in illegal tariffs from New York consumers be returned to the people, not paid to the corporations. The stark contrast between the pain caused by Washington Republicans' agenda and Governor Hochul's ongoing efforts to make the state more affordable underscored the importance of the Governor's budget proposals. The Governor's common-sense reforms will combat fraud, limit damages paid out to bad actors and ensure that drivers, not insurance companies, are prioritized.

"Auto insurance rates are not only impacting people who rely on their cars to get around - they're also hurting our local businesses who rely on vehicles to transport goods, driving prices up for consumers," Governor Hochul said. "My state budget is about making life more affordable for hardworking New Yorkers. From driving down the cost of auto insurance to demanding that the federal government refunds the $13.5 billion illegally taken from New Yorkers, I'll never stop standing up for New York."

New Yorkers pay some of the highest car insurance rates in the nation - totaling an average of slightly more than $4,000 annually, nearly $1,500 above the national average. Car insurance rates are driven up by a combination of fraud, litigation, legal loopholes and enforcement gaps. Staged crashes and associated insurance fraud inflate premiums up to $300 a year, according to some estimates. New York's broken insurance system is not just hurting those who rely on a car to get around, but local businesses that rely on trucking to make ends meet.

Cracking Down on Fraud To Lower Rates for Everyday New Yorkers

Increasingly sophisticated actors stage elaborate accidents, designed to result in "jackpot" payouts from insurance companies or jury awards, and these scams are becoming more prevalent. In 2023, there were 1,729 staged crashes in New York State, which ranks second highest in the nation for incidents of staged fraud. In total, insurance carriers reported 43,811 incidents of suspected motor vehicle insurance fraud to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) Insurance Frauds Bureau in 2025. This represents an 80 percent increase in just five years.

To combat these organized criminal efforts, Governor Hochul is taking a whole-of-government approach to cracking down on auto insurance fraud, including:

• Reinvigorating the State's Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Board, empowering it to better support the ability to investigate and prosecute insurance fraud across the state
• Legislation to ensure prosecutors can seek criminal penalties against any individual responsible for organizing a staged accident, not just the particular individual behind the wheel
• Partnering with District Attorneys across New York to help build cases that put an end to the organized fraud that's robbing New Yorkers via elevated insurance rates
• Strengthening efforts to take on medical providers who participate in fraud by signing off on phony medical diagnoses that result in enormous payouts
• Tasking DFS, DMV, New York State Police (NYSP) and the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) with a more proactive and coordinated approach to enforcement, including dedicated resources and staff at DFS and NYSP focused on auto insurance and ensuring coordination with law enforcement.

"My state budget is about making life more affordable for hardworking New Yorkers."

Strengthening Insurer Anti-Fraud Programs

Current law handcuffs insurers' ability to protect their law-abiding customers against fraud and abuse by capping the time they have to identify and report instances of fraud to just 30 days. To ensure fraud is being identified and punished, Governor Hochul will increase the timeframe insurers have to report fraud and reduce barriers to alleging fraud in court, giving insurers more time to investigate claims and avoid paying fraudulent ones. Legislation will balance increased flexibility to crack down on fraud with the need to preserve crucial consumer protections.

Limiting Damages for Individuals Engaging in Unlawful Behavior at the Time of an Accident

When drivers are engaging in unlawful behavior at the time of an incident, they shouldn't be able to win sizable insurance payouts. However, current law permits individuals committing crimes, including impaired driving, to receive generous payouts for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and emotional distress, which are paid from the premiums contributed by law-abiding drivers. Governor Hochul will cap the payout on these types of non-economic damages for drivers using or operating a car while engaging in criminal behavior at the time of the incident, including uninsured motorists, individuals convicted of driving while impaired at the time of the incident, and individuals committing a felony or fleeing one at the time of the incident.

Limiting Damages for Individuals Who Are "Mostly" At Fault in Causing an Accident

New York is in a minority of states that allow drivers that are deemed "mostly" at fault in an accident to still collect extensive damages, including non-economic damages. This means that in New York, even the driver deemed mostly at fault for an accident can walk away with a sizable payout for that accident. Most states have common-sense rules which only permit recovery of damages if a plaintiff is not primarily at fault for the accident. The Governor is seeking changes to the state's laws that will limit the damages a driver can obtain if they are mostly at fault for an accident, introducing a measure of accountability for who is compensated by insurance after an incident.

Tightening the Serious Injury Threshold

New York's no-fault insurance law allows for individuals seriously injured in an auto accident to make claims for compensation that stretch beyond reimbursement for the medical expenses or lost wages associated with an injury. This additional compensation is intended to offer support for non-economic damages, like the pain and suffering of victims with serious injuries. New York's legal definition of serious injury is currently vague and applied inconsistently.

Cutting Red Tape To Spur Housing and Critical Infrastructure Growth

Governor Hochul's "Let Them Build" agenda includes a series of landmark reforms to speed up housing and infrastructure development and lower costs as part of her 2026 State of the State. This initiative will spur a series of common sense reforms to New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and executive actions to expedite critical categories of projects that have been consistently found to not have significant environmental impacts, but for too long have been caught up in red tape and subject to lengthy delays.

Fighting Back Against the Trump Administration's Unlawful Tariffs

Lumber yards and other businesses have also suffered as a result of senseless and illegal tariffs imposed on New Yorkers by the Trump Administration. For over a year, Governor Hochul has been meeting with New Yorkers to discuss the impact of Trump's tariffs on their lives and businesses. In February, the Governor visited Victor Schwartz, the owner of VOS Selections and a plaintiff in the lawsuit that recently led to a Supreme Court decision on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs. The same day, the Governor sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling on him to immediately work with federal agencies to refund all tariff payments to New Yorkers.

Based on estimates by the Budget Lab at Yale, the average New York household has faced an estimated $1,751 in added costs due to tariffs since they were enacted last year, for a total estimated $13.5 billion statewide impact.

Last week, the Trump Administration announced they will begin paying back the $13.5 billion that was imposed on businesses due to tariffs. Businesses will be able to submit documentation proving that they were negatively impacted by these tariffs that were deemed illegal by the Supreme Court.

Contact the Governor's Press Office