ALBANY – Potential gubernatorial candidate Rep. Elise Stefanik blasted Democrats during a Capitol visit Monday — as state lawmakers try to ram through free-spending policies at the close of the legislative session.
“Here we are, another year, another failed, radical, reckless agenda and legislative session in New York State,” Stefanik said at a news conference, flanked by state Republican minority leaders Rob Ortt (R-Niagara) and Will Barclay (R-Oswego).
“They have put New York last with this massive, bloated, $254 billion budget. It is anti-worker, anti-family, anti-farm, anti-small business, anti-manufacturer and anti-law enforcement,” Stefanik said.
The high-ranking House Republican from New York ripped into Democrat-pushed initiatives that include loosening requirements on programs to release potentially violent offenders from prison, restricting the deployment of natural gas infrastructure, and a $10 million legal defense fund for Attorney General Letitia James amongst others.
Stefanik — an ally of President Trump — is eyeing a run against Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2026 and is already gaining momentum after a fiery speech on Staten Island last week where the North Country lawmaker asked gathered Republicans, “Are we ready to fire Kathy Hochul next year in the State of New York?”
State Democrats staged their own press conference earlier Monday ahead of Stefanik’s appearance at the Capitol, criticizing federal Republican lawmakers and Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill spending plan.
“This budget bill is actually ugly and devastating and it’s painful,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said, citing an estimate that it could lead to $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid over two years.
The Democrats – holding signs with estimates of the Washington GOP’s budget bill’s impacts to hospital and Medicaid funding in localities across the state – framed the federal proposal as a direct attack on blue states like New York.
“This so-called big beautiful bill they’re pushing isn’t just bad policy, it’s a direct attack on middle class families,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) said.
Heastie and Stewart-Cousins, however, wanted Republicans to go further to completely eliminate a cap on how much state and local taxes middle and upper-income New Yorkers can write off on their federal returns. The cap would be lifted in the Republicans’ bill from $10,000 to $30,000.
“Anything less than a full repeal is not a win for New York,” Heastie said.
But Stefanik credited New York Republicans in the federal government for the increase.
“I’m sure you also didn’t hear from them any proposal on how they’re going to cut taxes for New Yorkers, and they just want to blame it on SALT,” Stefanik said.
Ortt labeled his colleagues across the aisle as “hypocrites.”
“Don’t let the hypocrites get away with it. I’m not gonna, Barclay’s not gonna, and bet your ass Congresswoman Stefanik’s not gonna,” Ortt said.
A spokesperson for Hochul declined to comment and referred The Post to a statement released by the state Democratic Party.
“While Stefanik lies to her constituents’ faces about her and Trump’s plan to gut Medicaid, New Yorkers see right through it – and they know Governor Hochul’s budget puts money back in their pockets, cuts taxes for the middle class, and makes our streets and subways safer,” Addison Dick, a spokesperson for the Democrats, said.
