Critical Infrastructure, Clean Water, Housing, Affordability Top Priorities on Gov’s Wish List

By JOHN JORDAN

ALBANY—In her State-of-the-State address on Tues., Jan. 13, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed new policies that would enhance affordability in housing, health care, childcare, insurance and utility costs, and she pledge to protect residents from harmful and costly policies of the Trump administration.

Among her signature proposals include partnering with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to pay for the new mayor’s proposed childcare programs that promise universal access in New York City.

Though her address did not specifically specify transportation and construction issues affecting the industry statewide, the governor did address the sectors in her presentation citing several infrastructure initiatives. These included a thorough review of the state’s environmental review process and a commitment to speed up housing, infrastructure and clean energy project approvals. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul

Some of her key housing/infrastructure-related proposals include:  

  • $250 million to accelerate affordable housing development, speeding up the construction of thousands more affordable homes and transformative projects and another $100 million to incentivize manufactured housing.
  • A five-year, $3.75 billion commitment to water infrastructure, with $750 million in funding per year, which will continue to support and grow signature water programs;
  • The launch of a new Smart Growth Water Grant Program, which will focus on sewer and water projects that directly enable the construction of new housing units and the creation of permanent jobs;
  • Modernizing the Jamaica Station in Queens into a world-class station. The reimagined Jamaica Station will help create better traffic flow, reduce crowding, and build out a world class station complex providing seamless connection between the LIRR Main Line, NYC Transit, and AirTrain JFK for the millions of commuters who depend on this station.
  • Advance the expansion of Second Avenue Subway project. Gov. Hochul is proposing to support the next phase of this project with funding for design and preliminary engineering to advance tunneling across 125th Street. The extension along 125th Street will improve commutes for millions of New Yorkers, save significant time for commuters benefiting from intersections with seven north-south subway lines across Manhattan, and connect underserved communities to jobs. She also continued her commitment for the Interborough Express project in Queens.
  • Raising her previous goal of attracting 1 gigawatt of new nuclear power to 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power in upstate New York. The Nuclear Reliability Backbone will be developed by a new Department of Public Service process to consider, review, and facilitate a cost-effective pathway to 4 gigawatts of new nuclear energy that will combine with existing nuclear generation and the New York Power Authority’s previously announced 1 gigawatt project, to create an 8.4 gigawatt “backbone” of reliable energy for New Yorkers.
  • She vowed to have new data centers pay their fair share of the large utility costs their projects generate and eventually require these projects to provide their own power and not to tap into the state’s grid.
  • The governor is also seeking changes to procurement rules to help streamline the process to get vendor partners paid more efficiently. One of the changes she is seeking would raise the discretionary thresholds for purchases by state agencies to $300,000. This new threshold is expected to significantly expedite the procurement process from six to nine months to one month for relatively low-risk purchases for agencies.

The governor’s 160-page agenda book highlighting past accomplishments as well as laying out plans in the coming FY2026-2027 can be viewed here: www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2026-01/2026StateoftheStateBook.pdf

Published: January 20, 2026.

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