Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Holds Rally with New Yorkers Impacted by Republican Cuts and Announces $30 Million in Emergency Food Assistance Funds

Earlier today, Governor Hochul rallied with New Yorkers impacted by Washington Republicans' devastating cuts to health care, food assistance and other critical programs. With nearly three million New Yorkers at risk of losing the food assistance they receive from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) starting November 1 due to the GOP's federal government shutdown, the Governor also announced that she is fast-tracking $30 million in State funds to support over 16 million meals. This additional funding follows Governor Hochul’s announcement last week of more than $11 million to support local emergency food relief. The Governor's funding announcements come as federal administrators at the USDA have refused to unlock the federal funding needed to ensure SNAP recipients receive their November food assistance. This would mark the first time in U.S. history that a federal administration has stopped food assistance during a government shutdown.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. Good morning. Well, I am delighted to be back here once again and to first of all, thank Dr. Adam Aponte for inviting us back. And I don't know if you know that this organization's also who gave me one of my COVID shots, and it doesn't hurt anymore, I promise you. But also the CEO of this health center and the East Harlem Council Human Resources.

I wish we didn't have to be here today. I love seeing all of you and love to come and have lunch with the seniors. We don't call them seniors. We call them — what was the one about teenagers? Recycled teenagers. Okay. I'm a recycled teenager. So I love to come back and have some of the turkey — which smells really good — with everybody for a different occasion, but it breaks my heart, the reason we have to be here today.

I want to thank all the elected officials who are just recognized, our state leaders, our local city leaders, who understand the urgency of this moment, and grateful for all of them. And also our member of Congress, Adriano Espaillat. You'll be hearing from him momentarily. He is fighting the fight for us in Washington. I want to thank him.

You'll also be hearing from a number of our speakers who are going to tell you what it's really like. We talk about cuts and numbers, and there's real people behind these stories, and it's important we showcase them as well. I also want to thank our Commissioner Barbara Gwynn, the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and all of the people who represent the food pantries, the food banks, the social services organizations, the people who are going to be affected in the grocery stores. We're going to have farmers affected. I mean, everything that's going on here has a ripple effect throughout our state.

So it is great to be back here — I'm in Harlem a lot — a lot of meals here particularly, but it's great to be back in Harlem. And you think about the fact that this neighborhood, this vibrant community helped shaped the discourse for some of the 20th century's most powerful social movements and helped make America a fairer, more just place and actually more compassionate. That is why we're back here, to talk about how all of that is at risk and we have to fight back. We know how to fight back, and we will fight back.

Let's just frame what is happening. We have Donald Trump and a whole lot of spineless followers in Washington. His enablers were literally like — this is what's happening. They're waging an all out war on the working class, because how else can you describe all the programs that they're just destroying? You know what it is? Taking from the poor to give to the rich. It's nothing more than that and nothing is more apparent. And then we see the blatant attempt to deny people health care and food. Two, basic necessities of being alive, and they're hurting programs that do just that. And that's what I want to focus on today.

First of all, the Big, Ugly Bill. It'll never be the Big, Beautiful Bill — no matter how many times he wants to call it that. And our Congress member had to endure the torture of seeing that unfold over the summer and signed into law literally on Independence Day. Let's talk about the effects of that. It'll kick nearly 2 million New Yorkers off their health insurance. 2 million New Yorkers without health insurance. Also 140,000 New Yorkers will face a 40 percent hike in their affordable care premiums. Now, that's starting — not next year. They thought they kicked all the bad stuff after their election. They thought they're being really clever about this. But right now with the shutdown, we're going to see people literally on November 1st and through the month of November, lose the premiums that help them afford health care, and families are going to see a 40 percent increase in their insurance. I think most people do not know this train wreck is coming, and that's what I want to put out there now and continue echoing this, and reinforcing this, and letting them know what's happening, and try to change that dynamic because it's going to be so painful.

I mean, the family's sitting there at the end of the month looking at the stack of bills, the utility bills, the rent bills. Now they've got to look at their health insurance premiums. I bet a lot of them didn't even know they're being subsidized. They probably thought, “Well, that's the price of health care.” No, it's not. It's much higher. And the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's legacy achievement is what helped people be able to make those payments easier, and that assistance is going to be wiped away.

But also, this isn't a next-year problem. 300,000 people are going to lose critical food assistance, as well as heating assistance. So you know what? Let's talk about the politics of this. It's not a political event, but there's politics behind this. There are seven members of Congress who are Republicans — seven — only one in New York City, a little further south from here. But statewide, any one of them has the power because they have such thin margins right now. Right?

The balance of power between Democrats and Republicans — awfully close. Any one of them, or a couple of them could walk into Speaker Johnson's office and say, “I thought about this. I just can't do that. I cannot do that to the people who put me in office. I can't unleash that much pain on families in my state.” But they're all a bunch of cowards. None of them have done that. They still have a chance. And the voices throughout their districts need to be elevated so they understand and feel the pressure that you have time to reverse this right now.

What are you waiting for? Because otherwise you're just on the side of those who are happy to take from the poor and give to the rich. So they'd rather have tax breaks for their billionaire buddies. Now, they also deliberately shut down government because we are going to keep fighting to make sure these premiums are in place. We're also dealing with sky high inflation and tariffs. Now we're having another war with Canada. What did they do to us? It's a nice country and nice people. I like them. They also root for the Buffalo Bills which makes me really happy. But for God's sakes, they're our largest trading partner.

We talk about something like housing – why housing costs so much? You know where we get the wood and the aluminum and the steel from — it comes from Canada. So when those prices are going to go up, when you want a new house or a developer's going to put in some affordable housing units — he's now got to raise the price to offset Donald Trump's war with Canada. So see the trickle down effect on our communities and what we're trying to do – the impacts of Washington that are just so harmful.

On the SNAP benefits. Now, Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins doesn't seem to give a damn that we have over 3 million New Yorkers who could go hungry during the month of Thanksgiving, right? 3 million New Yorkers because of the shutdown. That's separate from the ones that are going to permanently lose their funding. I don't want to mix this up, but there's a handful that because of the law in place now who will lose it for good, but there's also 3 million at risk right now because of the shutdown.

Now I thought she must be a reasonable person. She's a cabinet member. She has the ability to unleash $5 billion in emergency funds. They're sitting right there not being used. So we wrote a really nice letter saying, “You know what? You think you could help us out here? Can you make sure that families and kids have food during the month of Thanksgiving?”

She says there's nothing she can do. I'm not buying it. I'm not buying it. There is something she can do in this administration that she can do right now. So because they won't, just in a matter of a short time, we're going to have older New Yorkers kids, families hurting even more. And the small businesses, the mom and pop shops, the bodegas, or even walk in with their food stamps and buy the food. The farmers upstate, particularly, all of them are going to be hurting and many of them are in the room today. And I want to thank you again for lending your voices to this fight.

So all we're saying is just unfreeze the SNAP funding. You can do this. Get back to work. Stop the shutdown. Stop taking away health care, stop taking away food. Just start looking out for the American people. And while we wait for Republicans to see the light of day, I'm not sure I'm holding my breath on that one, my team and I are working around the clock to make sure that families in New York do not miss a meal because that is a painful concept to me. That's why today I am announcing I'm fast tracking $30 million in emergency food assistance funds.

That'll support 16 million meals — 16 million, and this'll support our food security network, many of your representatives in this room. It'll help keep food pantries stocked and little kids' tummies fed. And that's in addition to the $11 million I announced on Friday. So $41 million combined overall support right now during this crisis. I also point out that earlier this year, we fought for, with the support of the legislature, we secured a proposal to have every single school breakfast and lunch paid for.

See in our state, we don't steal from kids. We feed our kids, right? But now with SNAP in jeopardy, what I'm looking at, because I said, “What about giving more food in school that the kids can take home?” Because I'm trying to find a real direct pipeline. To the kitchen tables across the state.

So I have to work out some details. Apparently the money is only allowed for in school, but I also said, “What if hypothetically, there's leftovers every day? Can you take the leftovers home?” Maybe it's a few extra sandwiches to feed the kids who are not school age or to help out at the dinner table.

So I'm trying to get real creative here, my friends, because we are in a desperate situation. This is real. This is real pain. This is not talking about something down the road. That is literally the month of November. So I'm going to make sure we can look at that. I'll be announcing very shortly our strategy and our policies.

In a couple minutes, you're going to hear from two Brave New Yorkers who will come to the podium and talk about what they and their families stand to lose if in fact Republicans continue down this track and free SNAP. And I know a lot of you're watching, you all have stories to tell beyond just these two here today. Let's tell those stories. Let's capture those stories and be able to share them more broadly.

So guess what? You can go to our new website, ny.gov/federalcuts, to tell Republicans how their policies are affecting you and your family. Raise up your voices, my friends, this is how we're going to have an effect, and I want this done all over the country. We will not be silenced while they take away food from our kids. These cowards think they can turn their backs on us, but we won't let them. We're going to make them see and feel the real pain they're inflicting.

I know it seems very desperate out there, but I also must know there's hope. I believe in hope. Everywhere I go — from my hometown of Hamburg to Harlem, Buffalo to Brooklyn — I see spirited, resilient people who are rising up, who are standing up using their voices. We will not cower to these injustices. That's not the spirit of New Yorkers. It's not who we've ever been. I want them to know that I'm standing with them, shoulder to shoulder, we fight for their families, with their friends and communities. And I believe in this country. I believe that this is a temporary fever perhaps that has seized America. But someday the health will return.

We'll get our country back and get our priorities back on track. We've never lost sight of them here in New York. But clearly they have in Washington and in seven districts here in the state of New York represented by people who just don't give a damn. We must turn that tide, my friends. So out of darkness does come light and hope, and that's what I'm going to leave here today. Seeing all of you, as people care so deeply, our elected leaders, but also those who are on the front lines of making sure that God's children, God's families, God's people, have what they deserve.

This is our moment, New York. This is our moment to be heard. And I thank all of you for being on this journey for us, and we'll look back at this day and say, “This is when we said we're taking back our country.” Thank you very much, everybody.

A man who needs no introduction, especially here the fighter of all fighters. Our great congressman, Adriano Espaillat.