Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Public Policy Forum

Earlier today, Governor Hochul delivered remarks at the National Action Network Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Public Policy Forum.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. You just heard from Reverend Al Sharpton, the Conscience of America. Dr. King would be so proud to know how you have carried on his legacy, and yes, you were a 12-year-old, but you were a 12-year-old preacher, is my recollection. So you're a little bit ahead of your time, but I'm here to talk about the only true king that America ever had. And that is Dr. Martin Luther King — a king who lived for justice, a king who embodied love and compassion. The king who created the beloved community that he spoke of, the king who fought for the beautiful struggle. The king who gave power to the people. Not a “would be” king in Washington, who's trying to assert his power and his ego over the rest of America in a form of tyranny of which we've not seen in 250 years. That is the fight we are in today in 2026.

So Reverend Al, you can ask us where we think Dr. King's dream is today. Well, let's reflect on what he would say about this time. If he saw what's happening in 2026 and has been going on for exactly one year already, he'd say, “Heaven, help us. Heaven, help us. Let's get back to the streets. Let's start the fight again.” Because the march so clearly has not been completed in this country because of what has happened in Washington. And you reflect on what happened in Minneapolis. A six-year-old child woke up with a mother and went to bed an orphan in the United States of America. And if that can happen to one woman in Minneapolis, what about everyone else who stands in the way of this “would be” king asserting his power.

Now, I'll tell you this, as Governor of a state whose legacy has been built on civil rights, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, that's in our DNA, my friends. We're hardwired to fight back and protect others' rights. And this moment in history calls us to do just that.

And you want us to talk about policies, Reverend Al? How much time have you got here? I just gave a State of the State address that'll knock your socks off because we deal with every challenge of the day. But let me talk about too, that seems particularly acute right now as we think about Minneapolis and ICE agents flooding our streets and terrorizing people, not just in Minneapolis.

But I was over in Little Haiti a little while back. Little Haiti is now a ghost town because of the fear that's been engendered by ICE agents. Our neighborhoods – people aren't going to their churches. They're not taking their kids to schools or daycare because of this fear, and it's not an unfounded fear. Families are being separated day after day, even people going to court to follow the law and they're being taken off walking out of a courtroom. Being told they're a criminal now in handcuffs to a place their family has no idea where they are.

So I said, this is the State of New York, and we'll ensure when we get a law passed very soon that ICE agents may not go to sensitive places like a school, places of worship, a daycare center, a hospital, or a courtroom. You may not go there unless you show us you have an order signed by a judge. That's it. And that judge would only be doing that if a crime has been committed and not the offense of crossing the border. We're standing up for our communities.

Secondly, when your rights have been trampled — like the woman who lost her life — that baby, — that little six year old's family should have a right to pursue justice in the courts. That happens here in the State of New York when I get my new law passed, every single person who's had their constitutional rights taken away by ICE, whether you're reporters covering the story and are beaten up and pushed aside. A factory owner in upstate New York that I went to, and this is Ruby Red Trump Country — Ruby Red — where a factory owner who told me he voted for Donald Trump. He regrets it now. Don't worry, we’re good. ICE agents showed up and walked into a workforce of 170 hardworking people making power bars to ship to Walmarts and Costcos around the world, and they separated him in the break room by the color of their skin. Whites over here, black and brown over here, and the black and brown individuals were taken away by ICE – didn't care if they were US citizens, didn't care if they had legal status, didn't care a damn thing. And in fact, six of them were mothers with children under the age of one who were nursing their babies and they were separated from them.

I'm a mother. I'm New York's first Mom Governor, and you tell me stories like this? The depravity and the cruelty going on in our own state. We have to stand up. They should have rights to sue and say, “You damaged my economic wellbeing. You hurt my family.” You have a right to stand up against power. That's what I'm talking about here in the State of New York.

And briefly, the policies that we're talking about — ensuring that we have affordable childcare for every child who calls themselves a New Yorker. And I want to thank our Mayor Mamdani for standing with me in this fight because I am that mom who had to give up a job I love because I couldn't find affordable childcare.

And why am I so vested in housing the right of decent housing for everyone? Because my parents used to live in a trailer park next to a steel plant where dad and grandpa worked. It was tough. And I lived in an unheated attic in Buffalo. Why do you think I'm so tough? Thank God for the space heater. I shared that attic with two brothers because we didn't have a lot of room for our big family. So housing means so much to me, and how do we get out of that trailer park? How do we lift ourselves out of that? My dad was able to get a college degree and could stop working at the steel plant.

That's why college education means so much to me because it lifted my family out of their circumstance. I want that opportunity for everyone in my Budget. For people who are over the age of 25 and want to go into skilled trades or health care or education, just be able to take care of their families. We — the State of New York — will cover the entire cost of that education, tuition and your books, everything. Because I know the power of unlocking people's potential with an education.

We're going to continue focusing on driving down the high utility rates, and car insurance rates, and all those areas where at the end of the month, you're just saying, “I can't make ends meet.” I've lived that experience. I've clipped the coupons. I had to eat a lot of cans of spam because my parents could make – you guys, who likes spam? I mean, I am sorry if you like it. You open up the can, your little kid getting creeped out by the jelly and all that. My mom would fry it and call it dinner. Okay. It was a cheap way to serve a big family. So I have lived that life, and my job as the Governor of New York is to say that no one else should have to struggle because this is a great state. A shining state. We should be an example to others, and we'll do that in how we protect our immigrant community, and how we lift up our families, and how we keep them safe. Thank you very much.

Dr. King should be proud of New Yorkers because this is the state where we mobilize, we take to the streets and we fight back every single day. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you very much.