Elected officials from across New York were in attendance Tuesday for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address.

Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski may have had the most original statement of opposition to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address of any state lawmaker.

The Canisteo Republican has many of the same issues raised by his Republican colleagues when it comes to state spending and criminal justice issues, but Sempolinski is concerned specifically that the State of the State mentioned nothing about the expired gaming compact between the state and the Seneca Nation of Indians.

“Negotiating a new gaming compact with the Seneca Nation is critical for the WNY economy,” Sempolinski said. “Seneca Gaming and Entertainment generates more than $2 billion in economic activity for the region and the Seneca Nation employs more than 4,000 people, most of them non-native. A new gaming compact is essential to the economic well-being of the 148th District and all of Western New York.”

The original gaming compact between the Seneca Nation and New York State expired in December of 2023. The Seneca Nation and state have signed a series of extensions to keep operations running while negotiations continue. Local municipalities depend on fees supported by the agreement to fund essential services like police and fire protection.

“It’s beyond time for the Governor to sit down with Seneca Nation President J.C. Seneca and negotiate a fair and equitable gaming compact that protects the interests of the Seneca Nation and New York state,” Sempolinski said.

Sempolinski is in agreement with Assemblyman Andrew Molitor and Sen. George Borrello that Hochul’s State of the State address hints at higher state spending when Hochul releases the 2026-27 state budget.

The state budget has increased from $177 billion in 2021, when Hochul became governor, to $254.3 billion in 2025-26.

“We have a serious spending problem in New York that the governor seems incapable of addressing. The state budget is more than a quarter of a trillion dollars. That’s irresponsible and indefensible. New York has no future as the tax and spending capital of America,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.

Borrello said there are parts of Hochul’s address where there is agreement between the governor and Republicans, including a focus on affordability, a focus on nuclear energy development, cracking down on car insurance fraud and joining the federal “no tax on tips” initiative.

“But we did not hear anything about the broad-based tax cuts or structural reforms needed to change the state’s direction or reverse the outmigration that is hollowing out our economy. Instead, we heard once again that the answer is to spend billions more of New Yorkers’ hard-earned dollars,” Borrello said. “On energy and utility costs, I support the Governor’s focus on developing more nuclear power, but that is at least a decade away and will not help families today. If the Governor is serious about lowering costs and improving reliability, she should expand access to natural gas and dependable baseload energy instead of waging war against them. Proposals like scrutinizing executive pay or creating an “affordability monitor” are window dressing. Utility rates are soaring because of Albany Democrats’ failed energy policies: the CLCPA, the all-electric building mandate, and the push toward costly, unreliable wind and solar. Until the Governor turns away from these policies, utility costs will remain a relentless burden for New Yorkers.”

Borrello also called on Hochul to reverse the state’s all-electric mandate and to end the state’s policies that restrict the use of natural gas for home heating as well as further bail reform changes and to consider suggestions included in the Senate minority conference’s “Save New York” agenda.

“In the coming days, we’ll take a closer look at Governor Hochul’s proposals, and especially her Executive Budget, which will be the real blueprint for what she wants to achieve. I agree with the Governor when she says ‘government should be a force for good.’ However, we disagree on what is truly ‘good’ for New York,” Borrello said.

Hochul’s State of the State address included more than 200 initiatives included in her 2026 State of the State address that include increasing funding by $1.7 billion to provide universal, affordable child care around the state, eliminating the state income tax on tips, investing in a nuclear reliability backbone for a zero-emission power grid and making changes to the existing Downtown Revitalization Initiative and New York Forward.

“The governor’s assessment of where New York is now and where New York is headed is an illusion,” Assemblyman Andrew Molitor said in his statement. “New York has the highest tax burden, is one of the worst places to do business, has some of the highest levels of outmigration, and one of the lowest homeownership rates in the nation. Good-paying jobs are not coming into New York, they’re leaving. The Governor is responsible for what is happening in New York, and it’s clear she has no real plan to fix it. Proposing solutions to the problems they have created is not a guarantee that the problems will ever be fixed, rather it is a stunning acknowledgement that they have created those problems and we should not entrust them with our future.”