California Gov. Gavin Newsom wasted little time establishing himself as a leader of the Democratic resistance to Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. His counterpart in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul, is taking a more deliberative approach.
Two days after the November election, Newsom issued a proclamation summoning state lawmakers back to Sacramento to boost funding for an anticipated wave of court battles challenging Trump’s expected actions on immigration, the environment and other issues.
But in New York, lawmakers aren’t rushing back to Albany before their regular session begins in January. Hochul, a Democrat, has said she’s willing to work with Trump, having already spoken with him by phone and pitching him on things like federal funding for the New York City public transit system.
But she and state Attorney General Letitia James have also said that New York is willing to fight against Trump’s policies should they “harm New Yorkers or roll back their rights,” as Hochul put it the day after the election. They’ve launched a task force that’s expected to recommend actions the state can take to essentially Trump-proof the state as the Republican takes office.
Here’s a look at what New York’s Democrat-dominated state government is — or isn’t — doing ahead of Trump’s second term:
Congestion pricing
The most significant act Hochul has taken ahead of a second Trump presidency is to push ahead with a toll on drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
The Democratic governor unveiled her scaled-down plan for congestion pricing earlier this month — after she abruptly paused a then-planned $15 base toll from taking effect in June.
Starting Jan. 5, passenger vehicles will be hit with $9 tolls during daytime hours in an effort to reduce congestion in the busiest parts of Manhattan while raising money for the public transit system.
That timing isn’t coincidental. The federal government had to approve the toll. And by implementing it a couple weeks before Trump takes office, the Hochul administration believes it will make it harder, legally speaking, for the Republican president to overturn it.
In a statement, Trump said he “strongly disagree(s)” with Hochul’s plan, but stopped short of saying he would try to overturn it.
Immigration
New York state has some history of pushing back against Trump’s tough-on-immigration policies. It’s unclear how Hochul will respond this time around.
During Trump’s first term, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order that prohibited state employees — including State Police — from asking for an individual’s immigration statuses in most cases, unless it was necessary to determine whether that person is eligible for a particular program. It also prohibited federal officials from carrying out civil immigration arrests within state facilities, like courthouses, without warrants from judges. It does not affect local authorities.
Trump is promising to launch “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country” during his second term. And Cuomo’s executive order remains in effect, after Hochul re-upped it shortly after taking office in 2021.
Now, groups that advocate for immigrants, such as the New York Immigration Coalition, are pushing for the New York For All Act, a bill that would also strengthen and expand Cuomo’s executive order to local law enforcement.
Under the bill, state and local government agencies — including police — would face strict limitations about when they can question someone about their immigration status. They’d also be restricted in sharing information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hochul hasn’t publicly backed or opposed the bill. But she’s indicated a willingness to work with federal immigration authorities. In February, she told CNN that her administration “has the power to work with ICE” when an immigrant commits a crime.
On Tuesday, Hochul said she’s supportive of people who are seeking asylum in New York — which allows them to remain in the country legally while their process plays out — and wants to help them find jobs. But she said she wants to see people who “commit crimes or are known to be criminals before they arrived here” kicked out.
“If someone breaks the law, I’ll be the first one to call up ICE and say, get them out of here,” Hochul said.
Electric vehicles
Trump has signaled he wants to eliminate federal tax incentives for electric vehicles, which are worth up to $7,500 for new vehicles and $4,000 for used ones with certain restrictions. Environmental advocates have suggested that Hochul could strengthen state-level incentives to make up the difference.
On Monday, Newsom said he would propose new state-level incentives in California to fill in the gap if Trump follows through. The state phased out its previous rebate program in 2023.
New York already has modest state tax breaks for people who buy new electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids, ranging from $500 to $2,000. But Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said the state will likely face pressure from advocates to increase the state-level credit if the federal credits vanish.
Tighe said the state could pay for the credits using funds from its fledgling cap-and-invest program, in which major greenhouse gas emitters will have to buy allowances from the state based on how much they pollute. She said she would also want to see New York expand its state-level credit to used cars.
“That’s something that’s really important for lower-income people who most often are not buying new, off-the-lot cars,” she said.
Tighe also said it’s worth watching whether the Trump administration will allow a California rule phasing out the sale of non-zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 to stand. New York is one of several other states that have adopted the California rule, which requires a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Abortion and LGBTQ rights
During Trump’s first term, Cuomo and state lawmakers bolstered New York laws protecting abortion and rights for LGBTQ people.
This year, voters decided to enshrine similar rights in the state constitution.
On Election Day, New York voters approved an amendment that added a number of anti-discrimination protections to the constitution.
Going forward, it prohibits discrimination based on “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy,” among other things.
That language is designed to make it more difficult to overturn the right to an abortion in New York, since changing the constitution is a multiyear process.
But even supporters of the measure acknowledge it could be usurped by a national abortion ban — which Trump himself has said he would not sign, though his position has varied over the years.
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