State leaders say they can’t do much to oppose Trump policies

Under the Trump Administration, New York has once again found itself in the crosshairs of the federal government. The primary response from state legislative leaders has been to point fingers at Republicans, whom they argue are betraying their constituents. They say they don’t have many other options. 

Trump has thrown jabs at New York since taking office, targeting congestion pricing, clawing back migrant funding, sending in ICE, starting a trade war with Canada and – pending intraparty negotiations – signing a federal budget agreement that will gut Medicaid and other programs that millions of New Yorkers rely upon. 

In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s election last year, there was talk of holding an emergency legislative session to get laws on the books that could protect New Yorkers from federal interference. But that never materialized, and now that the state Legislature is in session, state leaders say that there’s little they can do to fight back against the Trump administration.  

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s stance, which is shared by other officials, is that the ultimate solution lies in the ballot box, not in the state Capitol. “This is one of the dire consequences of the election this past November, I cannot change what's coming out of the White House,” she told reporters on Tuesday. 

Advocates have proposed bills like the New York for All Act, which would further limit cooperation between the state and federal immigration authorities, but they face long odds of passing the state Legislature. There’s also little ability for the Legislature to react to the Trump administration’s threatened cuts to federal funding.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said that a legislative response to the Trump administration wasn’t in the cards as state budget negotiations thickened, but he did know who to blame. “I don't know what a legislative response is, other than telling our constituents the Republicans did this to you,” Heastie said Wednesday.

Asked whether the state budget would be able to compensate for proposed cuts to federal funding, Heastie said that wouldn’t be feasible. New York City officials have made similar arguments. Once again, Heastie put the onus on Republicans to stop the cuts.

“Instead of to me and to (state Sen. Majority Leader) Andrea (Stewart-Cousins), to the governor and to members, these questions should be to the six (New York) Republican members of Congress who would have to effectuate any votes, and then they should explain why the legislature would then maybe have to come back and do cuts,” he told reporters on Wednesday. 

Political consultant Alec Lewis said that state leaders’ hands really are tied. While they may pretend otherwise, the federal government dictates a lot of what they can or can’t do. 

“State-level officials, they're going to do their best to project that they're responding to what's going on in Washington,” Lewis told City & State. “But in reality, so much of funding for every program imaginable, from your state-level programs to nonprofit funding, it's all dictated, to a large extent, on what Washington decides to do, and so you have to project control, when, in reality, there's so much that's outside of the control of the state legislature at the moment.”

He said it’s a loaded situation for swing district Republicans as well, who are going to have to answer for any potential harm that happens to New York next fall. While Trump made surges in New York, voters are fickle and a rough 16 months economically and socially could turn the tide against him and his party.

“They have a really careful line that they have to toe where obviously, on one hand, they have to placate the base of supporters that they have within the party that are still very supportive of Donald Trump at the moment and his agenda, but at the same time, there certainly are some signs that independents are beginning to be wary of the unpredictable nature of Donald Trump,” said Lewis. “I think a lot of it is just impatience.”