Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NY Gov. Hochul’s budget would grant Mayor Eric Adams’ request on hiring requirements
By
Jon Campbell
Published Feb 1, 2023
Modified Feb 1, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Kyle Mazza/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
By
Jon Campbell
Published Feb 1, 2023
Modified Feb 1, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to lay out a plan in her state budget proposal that would allow New York City to require its contractors to hire “economically disadvantaged” job candidates — including, in some cases, workers from impoverished communities, according to details of the proposal provided to Gothamist by the governor’s office.
The Democratic governor is scheduled to present her spending plan for the coming fiscal year at noon on Wednesday in the state Capitol, setting the stage for two months of negotiations with state lawmakers before a final agreement is due before April 1.
The budget proposal is expected to exceed last year’s $220 billion plan. But calling it a budget is, in some ways, selling it short. State law allows governors to tuck a wide variety of policy proposals in the budget, which they often use to help push through consequential legislation that may otherwise be difficult to pass.
Among the proposals Hochul will include is a measure pushed by Mayor Eric Adams, according to the governor’s office. In his State of the City address last week, Adams asked Albany policymakers to give the city more leniency to impose hiring requirements on city contracts and subcontractors, a request Hochul intends to grant.
“This bill would support our efforts to lift up more New Yorkers and secure a stronger economic future for all, and we look forward to continuing to work with the mayor and our partners on these critical efforts,” Hochul, who attended Adams’ address last week, said in a statement.
If approved by state lawmakers, the measure would allow the city to create an Office of Community and Workforce Development. From there, that office would be able to require certain contractors to meet goals for hiring workers that fit a specific economic criteria, according to the governor’s office.
For building service and construction contracts, those goals could include that a number of workers come from “economically disadvantaged regions” — meaning they live in NYCHA housing or within a ZIP code where at least 15% of people make less than the federal poverty level, according to the proposal. For other industries, contractors would have to hire a certain number of “economically disadvantaged candidates,” which the city would be able to define. Those that don’t comply could be subject to civil penalties.
In his State of the City, Adams claimed the proposal would “keep 36,000 economically disadvantaged workers connected to good jobs every year.”
“We are going to make sure more of the money that our city spends goes towards creating jobs for New Yorkers right here at home,” Adams said in his speech.
The measure is one of likely dozens of policy proposals expected to be in Hochul’s budget plan, which will lay out how the governor would prefer to distribute billions of taxpayer dollars earmarked for education, health care and other weighty sectors.
Hochul teased a number of major policy plans in her State of the State address Jan. 10, including a complex housing strategy she says would help create 800,000 new units over the next 10 years in a state that faces a serious housing crunch for its workforce.
Hochul’s budget proposal is expected to flesh out her housing plan and reveal for the first time how she intends to help fill an anticipated $600 million shortfall for the struggling MTA, which has been caused in large part by ridership that has not fully recovered from the pandemic.
"I would expect that it would be dealt with by the governor in the [state] budget," MTA CEO Janno Lieber told reporters after Hochul’s State of the State, when the governor spoke of the importance of funding the MTA but did not offer a concrete plan to do so.
Hochul’s budget proposal will be her second as New York’s governor. It comes as her relationship with the state Legislature is at something of a low point, after a key Senate committee rejected her pick for chief judge two weeks ago.
But legislative leaders have rejected the notion that the relationship is frayed, with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) telling reporters Tuesday that — from her perspective — there are “no hard feelings.”
“We could go down the list of things that we certainly agree [on],” Stewart-Cousins said, specifically pointing to the issue of creating more housing. “So I'm certainly looking forward to beginning the [negotiating] process."
The story has been updated with additional details on Hochul's plan.
Tagged
new york state
new york city
Kathy Hochul
Politics
eric adams
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC Council to consider earlier Legionella reporting after deadly outbreaks
A bill facing a hearing Monday would require cooling tower owners to notify city health officials when bacteria levels reach a much lower threshold.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 18, 2026 at 7:36 p.m. ET
Staten Island fire injures 2, but spares historic 'Godfather' church
Dozens of firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in a vacant warehouse. It was contained within three hours.
By
Giulia Heyward
News
Staten Island fire injures 2, but spares historic 'Godfather' church
Dozens of firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in a vacant warehouse. It was contained within three hours.
By
Giulia Heyward
Bail reform remains major issue in NY governor's race, 7 years after it became law
By
Gino Fanelli
NYPD identifies Bronx man, 26, killed in Midtown subway shooting
By
Ryan Kost
,
Elizabeth Kim
and
Phil Corso
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .