Hochul to Outline Plan to Tackle NY Housing Crisis in Speech (1)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul will reveal Tuesday how she plans to tackle an issue rapidly taking over Democratic politics: making housing more affordable for more people.

Hochul (D) will use her State of the State address to detail how she plans to cut red tape for developers to bolster the state’s housing supply amid a widespread shortage of affordable units through her “Let Them Build” program, according to a statement shared with Bloomberg Government.

“For too long, burdensome red tape has stood in the way of progress localities want to see, making it too hard to deliver critical housing and infrastructure. Let Them Build is about making governmental work better for the people and communities they serve by addressing the root causes of this problem head on,” Hochul said in the statement.

“New York is a place of boundless ambitions: from the Erie Canal to the subway system to the Empire State Building, this has always been a state that builds. By cutting red tape, we will reignite this ambition and make it easier and cheaper for communities to build the housing and infrastructure New Yorkers need now while continuing to protect our environment.”

Hochul, a moderate Democrat fighting for reelection this fall, is the latest Democrat to embrace the “abundance” political movement, in which progressive have argued that increasing supply through deregulation and state investment can help solve public policy issues, such as energy and health care. They are responding to voter discontent over rising prices that President Donald Trump used to win the White House in 2024.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last year signed a package of housing legislation that would limit environmental challenges to building projects. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has worked with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on federal legislation that would remove federal rules to manufactured homes that they contend would reduce their cost.

The issue has become a main topic in Hochul’s reelection battle as she faces Lt. Gov Antonio Delgado (D) in her party’s primary and likely Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R) if she were to advance to the general election.

Hochul’s speech will also outline plans to alter New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which mandates a lengthy process for housing developers. Hochul will call for a two-year maximum deadline for completion of a SEQRA environmental impact statement from an initial approval to a final agency decision. Her proposal also would exempt certain types of dense housing projects that have no significant impacts on the environment.

Hochul said her approach would benefit environmental goals the state has set, including an improvement in air and water quality and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. She is also seeking to use the retooled environmental review process to speed up the deployment of clean energy projects.

Developers and business groups have criticized New York’s regulatory landscape as overly restrictive, and are lobbying for more deregulation. They could find support this year among Democrats, including Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who directed his administration to review permitting procedures that slow down housing production in a Jan. 1 executive order.

Green groups are on guard over attempts to alter parts of the SEQRA, arguing that any revamp must not open up loopholes that could be exploited by business interests at the expense of local communities.

Green Groups

New York’s environmental review act requires all government agencies to follow a multi-step decision process examining environmental impacts of any development projects.

Major environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the New York League of Conservation Voters, are reluctant to significantly overhaul the law, arguing that developers could run roughshod over protections in place against environmental pollutants.

“We don’t want to be encouraging McMansions on greenfields,” said Julie Tighe, executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters. “My general preference is not to change the law, to use the regulations and the administrative process.”

But some environmentalist activists said they are willing to hear Hochul’s proposals as they recognize the need for affordable housing development.

“When we see SEQR weaponized to the point that it blocks affordable housing with no apparent environmental benefit, I think true advocates for nature have the responsibility to make things right,” said Roger Downs, conservation director for the Sierra Club’s Atlantic chapter.

Downs said one possible legislative tweak is expanding the number of projects eligible to bypass an Environmental Impact Statement, which can trigger extensive community involvement and delay a housing project for years. Critics to the law have argued a local community that is averse to a large development can use the act to file frivolous lawsuits to derail the project.

In California, Newsom similarly exempted a range of certain projects from the environmental review law as the state looks to expand its housing supply. He cited reducing the cost of construction as priority in his Jan. 8 State of the State address.

Downs cautioned that affordable housing projects should face some scrutiny, citing flood risks or chemical contamination as dangers that can be flagged during an environmental review.

“If we can envision progressive protocols that keep affordable housing both out of sensitive areas and out of the courts, then I think we’re going to be making progress,” Downs said.

Alternate Pathway

Assemblymember Anna Kelles, a Syracuse Democrat, has sponsored compromise legislation that would set triggers for projects to be streamlined under the state act. She has courted green groups to get their endorsement.

The measure would create an alternate pathway for affordable housing projects to face less scrutiny. If projects met conditions in areas such as size and rental rates, local governments couldn’t use the act as a reason to stop the development.

“What we’re creating is a parallel process that is just as stringent,” Kelles said. “What we’re saying is, for the subset of buildings that are affordable housing, let’s ensure without a doubt that they meet the environmental standards that we want — and then build them.”