What Kamala said to Kathy on day one, more New Yorkers at the D.N.C
And a police union is funding a billboard at the State Fair to go after Hochul.
Good afternoon — it’s Wednesday and National Senior Citizens Day.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2024
TODAY’S CAPCON:
Hochul has found a home away from home among other Democrats at the D.N.C. in contrast to the headaches back in N.Y.
A union representing specialized police forces in New York is sponsoring a billboard at the State Fair to go after Hochul.
More New Yorkers are slated to speak at the D.N.C. Wednesday night and what you might have missed Tuesday.
🌤️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Rain, low 50s. New York City: Mostly clear, high 50s. (National Weather Service)
🗣️ Hochul finds a home among other Democrats at the D.N.C.
🤝 The governor has cruised through a convention in a change of pace from her home state.
Gov. Kathy HOCHUL and Vice President Kamala HARRIS have a lot in common.
They’re both attorneys. They’re both the first women to hold their jobs. And they were both asked to step in for a man during tense times, albeit under very different circumstances.
They also have the same initials. That’s less important.
But they also have another thing in common this week: they’re both enjoying their respective limelights at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Hochul delivered remarks Monday at the convention, basically saying New York wants nothing to do with Trump, who famously lived in New York City until moving to Florida a few years back.
She didn’t say anything you wouldn’t expect.
But she did make a gaffe that became the subject of a lot of jokes, asking delegates if they were ready to elect Harris as “the first president of the United States.”
And last night was another big moment for Hochul: her first time casting the state’s delegates for a presidential nominee.
“As the first woman governor of New York, I am so proud to cast 298 votes to make Kamala Harris the first female president of the United States of America,” Hochul said during the roll call vote after recounting New York’s history of women’s and civil rights.
By her side were state Attorney General Letitia JAMES, state Comptroller Tom DINAPOLI, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea STEWART-COUSINS, U.S. Sen. Kirsten GILLIBRAND, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. SCHUMER, state Democratic Chair Jay JACOBS, and DC37 Executive Director Henry Garrido.
Spike Lee was also front and center with everyone.
There were probably others but I could only see the feed from the broadcast.
🕓 But Hochul has a few headaches back home.
The D.N.C. is sort of like a vacation for Hochul from certain pressures that await her back in New York, where her most recent favorability rating was at 39 percent.
Environmentalists are still incensed over Hochul’s decision in June to halt congestion pricing — a Manhattan toll intended to reduce traffic and emissions in New York City.
That was also supposed to produce revenue for public transit and Hochul hasn’t yet negotiated a way to replace that.
Several lawsuits have been filed against her to either kill the toll altogether or force its implementation depending on the challenge.
There’s also been a campaign in recent weeks around the Climate Change Superfund Act, a bill to require fossil fuel companies to help fund climate efforts.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Liz KRUEGER, said the damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Debby last week was all the evidence Hochul should need to sign it.
“Not only will the Superfund Act cover repairs caused from storms like Debby, it will cover crucial projects to fix our infrastructure so that it’s more resilient,” Krueger said.
That’s only one of the hundreds of bills Hochul has to consider before the end of the year.
That’s on top of a charge she’s leading to restrict smartphones in schools — an effort that has support, according to polling, but has to be negotiated with lawmakers.
And it’s about now when Hochul’s office will begin to seriously develop her proposal for next year’s state budget.
That’s presented in January but it takes a long time to figure out what you want to do with $230+ billion.
At least the weather’s been nice lately.
☎️ And we learned what Kamala said to Kathy on day one.
We also learned that Harris called Hochul the day she became governor after former Gov. Andrew M. CUOMO resigned.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Capitol Confidential with Dan Clark to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.