Statement from Jackie Auringer on the Hudson Valley Affordability Crisis

"A new report from Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress confirms what families across our region already know: New York has become unaffordable for the people who live and work here.

Nearly 400,000 Hudson Valley households — 42.8% of the region — are struggling to afford basic necessities. Almost 100,000 live below the federal poverty line. Hundreds of thousands more work, earn too much to qualify for government assistance, and still can't cover their bills.

This crisis did not happen by accident. It is the result of policy choices — and Pat Ryan and Kathy Hochul need to answer for theirs.

Pat Ryan voted no twice on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — on May 22 and again on final passage July 3, 2025 — opposing legislation that increased the SALT deduction, provided major tax relief on tipped income, and gave seniors additional tax relief that allows most Social Security recipients to keep more of their money.

At a time when Hudson Valley families desperately needed relief, Pat Ryan voted no.

Meanwhile, Kathy Hochul's Public Service Commission has approved rate increase after rate increase, making New Yorkers foot the bill for energy policies built on ideology not on physics. Central Hudson customers face higher electric and gas rates, while National Grid increases are projected to add roughly $50 a month to a typical customer's bill over three years.

And New Yorkers are already paying the third-highest residential electricity prices in the nation — 29.93 cents per kilowatt-hour, more than 60% above the national average.

The affordability crisis goes well beyond energy.

• Housing: A full-time worker needs nearly $71,000 a year to afford a one-bedroom apartment and $82,000 for a two-bedroom. In Orange County, a minimum-wage worker would need to work roughly 74 hours a week to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment.

• Childcare: For many families with two children, childcare is now their largest monthly expense, averaging more than $2,000 a month and forcing some parents to cut their hours or leave the workforce altogether.

• Taxes: New York ranks 50th out of 50 states for tax competitiveness. Dead last in America.

• Energy and taxes: New Yorkers pay some of the highest electricity prices in America while living under one of the nation's heaviest tax burdens. Families and small businesses are being squeezed from every direction.

Housing costs too much. Childcare costs too much. Energy costs too much. Taxes are too high.

And the people in power keep voting against relief or approving policies that make the problem worse.

Families are doing everything we ask of them — working, raising children, contributing to their communities — and still wondering whether they can afford to stay in the Hudson Valley.

That is not sustainable. And it is not inevitable.

We need to make New York affordable again: build more housing, rein in energy costs, make childcare affordable, and reduce the tax burden on working families and small businesses.

The answer isn't more government programs to help people survive an unaffordable New York. The answer is to stop making New York so unaffordable in the first place."