The campaign cash of car insurance at the state Capitol

And Hochul describes her phone calls with Trump.

Good afternoon — It’s Tuesday and Gardening Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Here’s who’s donated to Hochul and Democrats in the state Legislature in the conversation around car insurance. (Full list)

• The conflict between the governor and state lawmakers around those campaign contributions escalated Tuesday.

• Hochul said trial lawyers hold influence over the state Legislature via those donations. A top Democrat said that was “foolish” and clapped back.

• Hochul described her phone calls with President Donald J. Trump Tuesday, including a recent call she received that she said was “hard to describe.”

Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Donald J. Trump, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Carl E. Heastie, Dara Khosrowshahi, Michael Gianaris, Tom Stebbins, Sabrina Rezzy, Andrew Finkelstein, Clyde Vanel, James Sanders

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Hochul on Tuesday (Will Waldron/Times Union)

🚗 Campaign contributions cloud conversations on car insurance

There’s a chicken-and-the-egg question when it comes to campaign contributions.

Does a person or company donate to a candidate because they support something they’ve already done — or are they trying to influence a future decision?

That’s a question that’s clouding conversations around Gov. Kathy Hochul’s package of proposals intended to lower the cost of car insurance. The legislation would overhaul how litigation seeking damages after a crash is handled in courts.