Budget

What does Kathy Hochul need $5 million in promotional content for?

Support from outside funders urging people to support the governor’s budget priorities has raised eyebrows about her negotiating position.

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

With budget negotiations fully underway in Albany, Gov. Kathy Hochul is getting some help from the outside in pushing her agenda. The nonprofit American Opportunity, which has ties to the Democratic Governors Association, has been sending out a flurry of mailers and paying for television ads promoting Hochul’s budget proposals. And new reporting from The New York Times revealed that billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is bankrolling the group to the tune of $5 million.

The interference from Bloomberg to urge everyday New Yorkers to promote Hochul’s budget priorities begs the question: Does this unusual influx of cash indicate weakness? And the potential for the success of the largely untested strategy remains as murky as the nonprofit’s funding.

Turning to the public to pressure their representatives to support the governor’s budget is something of an unusual tactic for Hochul. Some of the mailers exhort New Yorkers to “tell (their local representative) to have Gov. Hochul’s back.” “That’s a lot to ask the voter to do in a relatively short period of time,” former state Democratic Party Executive Director Basil Smikle told City & State. He called it “an indirect use of power that’s somewhat untested in relation to what prior governors have done.” Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo benefited from an advocacy group called Committee to Save New York that raised $17 million in 2011 for radio and TV ads pushing his agenda and helped to fight against the influence of labor, with whom he often sparred at the beginning of his tenure. But Smikle said that the kind of budget advertising happening now, particularly in asking people to lobby their lawmakers, is different.

Even though the governor has incredible power and influence over the budget process, so far Hochul has appeared hesitant to use it. “It’s an indication that she feels like she’s losing even with the great executive power she has,” said Blair Horner, executive director of the government watchdog group New York Public Interest Group. “I think it’s a way to further strengthen… her hand negotiating with the Legislature.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, Hochul told reporters that she has not spoken with leaders in the Democratic Governors Association about the spending on her behalf, adding however that she was “grateful” to have the support of other governors. But even if no coordination happened, the perception of her power could play a role as well. “(They) may be doing it in part because they believe she needs the support,” Smikle said of donors giving to American Opportunity and the group’s spending. He noted that the emboldened Legislature with its two supermajorities has left Hochul less leverage than some of her predecessors.

The sentiment that Smikle mentions rings true at least among one leading lobbyist who said that top fundraisers were reaching out to members of the real estate industry for donations to American Opportunity. “They were like ‘We need her to be seen in a positive light during budget negotiations,’” the leading lobbyist, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly about private fundraising matters, told City & State.

Despite his big dollar donations to national causes, Bloomberg has largely stayed away from weighing in on state-level politics. Even when Hochul first ran for governor last year, he did not offer public or financial support for the governor. So the $5 million gift to American Opportunity, which has spent millions to promote Hochul’s budget, represents a marked shift for the billionaire philanthropist. “It did come as a surprise to me that he would go into an Albany fight when I first read (this) because he usually goes for larger initiatives than doing this,” veteran Democratic strategist George Arzt told City & State. 

Still, Hochul’s budget includes issues that Bloomberg cares about, including expanding charter schools and making changes to bail reform. Whether he decided to spend his cash for those reasons or to assist a fellow moderate Democrat at odds within the face of an increasingly progressive Legislature is unclear. But his involvement could serve to further alienate members, particularly in the state Senate that has had a tense relationship with Hochul since it rejected her chief judge nominee. “While (the ad campaign) may garner some support in the public, I doubt very much whether it will help in the Legislature,” Arzt said. “In fact, the left wing members probably consider Bloomberg to not share their values.” Already, Bloomberg’s involvement has faced backlash from leftwing legislators, who rallied against his cash influencing state politics on Wednesday.

Not everyone agrees that the outside spending indicates weakness on Hochul’s part. “I don’t think it shows a lack of power by the governor, but rather a lack of resources by the governor,” Arzt said. But Hochul has millions in her campaign account that according to Horner she could have spent on direct appeals to voters about her budget. But he also noted that since the law does not preclude coordination with officials or political candidates by 501(c)4 nonprofits, which can engage in some political activity, using outside sources would certainly save money in her coffers for her next reelection.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.