After the presidential election, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers should be trying to defend working New Yorkers from the chaos coming out of Washington. With President Donald Trump’s Republican Party threatening deep cuts to education, Medicaid, and scientific research, the Democratic trifecta in Albany should be fighting back with a bold vision. Instead, they delivered a budget that fell far short for the working class.

Hochul focused her energy not on protecting New Yorkers, but on pushing policies like banning face masks, rolling back discovery reform, and banning cellphones in schools. These decisions did nothing to help families already struggling with the rising cost of living. Worse, they distracted from the real economic hardships people face.

Nowhere is the disconnect clearer than in Hochul’s "affordability agenda," centered on one-time "inflation refund checks" of up to $400. In the four years she’s been governor, the cost of food has jumped 25%, housing 19%, energy 31%, and medical care 6%, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. A single $400 check doesn’t make a dent in these rising expenses. People don’t need a refund — they need sustained relief.

Legal services workers, in particular, faced major setbacks. First, Hochul undermined their work by supporting regressive discovery rollbacks and new felony penalties for masking — measures that could be weaponized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain union members and other workers without warrants. Second, despite widespread support — including from district attorneys, legislators, and the New York AFL-CIO—Hochul refused to fund the $4 million needed to stabilize public sector legal services through loan assistance. Her administration tried to deflect blame to the State Legislature, but the refusal to act speaks louder than any statement of support.

The UAW Community Action Program came to Albany with practical, achievable demands centered around economic justice. We prioritized increasing unemployment insurance, which has been stuck at $504 a week since 2019. We fought for striking workers to have faster access to benefits, and for academic workers to finally be included in the system. These are not radical ideas. They’re basic protections for working people.

There was one significant win: momentum toward fixing "reasonable assurance" rules that let many education employers decide whether employees can collect unemployment insurance during periods they are not working, like summers. Though Hochul ultimately pulled back, we’re trying to get the bill passed — either now or later in the year, if the legislature returns to Albany for a special session — and bring it to her desk. Her threat to veto it on grounds it would be "illegal" — despite three other states adopting similar measures — shows how far we still have to go.

Looking forward, we must ask: Who will stand up for New York’s working class? With a veto-proof Democratic majority, the state should be able to do far more for its workers. That the biggest labor victory this year was a cellphone ban in schools — while not insignificant — highlights how far we still have to go. The labor movement needs more than symbolic wins to take on corporate power and the billionaire class.

Workers are not asking for special treatment. They are asking to be able to afford groceries, and to not have to choose between rent and medicine. In one of the richest states in the country, that shouldn’t be too much to ask.

This guest essay reflects the views of Brian Schneck, a resident of Lake Grove and president of United Auto Workers Local 259.