Conservative lawmakers in New York are criticizing Governor Kathy Hochul new proposal to cover college tuition for certain degree-seeking residents.
The plan would require the state to pay the full cost of a college education for residents between ages 25 and 55 who are pursuing an associate degree in select fields such as technology, teaching and nursing.
Congressman Mike Lawler condemned the plan prior to Hochul’s State of the State address.
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“The reality is that she can’t, and won’t, deliver on these pie-in-the-sky promises. I know it, you know it, they know it and worst of all, she knows it,” he was quoted saying in an AP report.
Hochul’s intent to pay the cost of New Yorkers’ degrees at public institutions is part of her larger $252 billion spending proposal, which State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt sharply criticizes.
“The only thing bold is the amount of new spending,” Ortt has stated, as reported by Times Union.
The Conservative Party of New York State issued a statement expressing similar sentiments, stressing that the plan may exacerbate New Yorkers’ economic challenges rather than lessening them.
“Mrs. Hochul seems to actually believe that expanding government — taking and spending even more of our money — is the way to bring relief to cash-strapped New Yorkers who perennially pay some of the highest taxes in America,” the statement said. “That’s the exact governing attitude that put working- and middle-class New Yorkers in the hole they now occupy.”
Campus Reform has reached out to the office of Governor Hochul for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
