The power Hochul says she wants but doesn't have

And what the people with that power had to say about Hochul's wish.

Good afternoon — it’s Monday and Junk Food Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Gov. Kathy Hochul is the most powerful elected state official in New York but there’s one agency where she said she wants more authority.

• Here’s what the spokesman for that agency had to say in response to Hochul.

• A new bill seeks to overhaul the state’s insolvent unemployment insurance system.

• Hochul will soon have to decide if municipalities can exempt spending on EMS from the state-mandated 2% property tax cap.

• This Week in New York History: ‘Battling Bella,’ the postal dog and the first cross-country road trip.

Names in today’s CapCon: Marianne Buttenschon, James Skoufis, Harry Bronson, Donna Lupardo, Rachel May, Peter Harckham, Chris Burdick, Siela Bynoe, Steven Stern

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(Will Waldron/Times Union)

🗣️ Hochul wants more control over a big part of state government

New York, like the federal government, has three branches. Gov. Kathy Hochul controls one of them as the state’s chief executive.

That gives Hochul a lot of power. Her office oversees the day-to-day operations of state government, including the enforcement and implementation of laws approved by the Legislature. Hochul’s main job is to keep the ship from sinking.

Part of that comes from control over the state’s many agencies, including those which impact the daily lives of most New Yorkers.

But there is one agency that Hochul does not have control over. And she said Monday that she wants that to change while she’s still governor.