It’s solely a small a part of how Gov. Kathy Hochul has the taxpayers serving to her fatten her marketing campaign warchest, however a telling one: She took one other 50 or so flights at public expense from April to June on state-owned planes or helicopter, reviews The Publish’s Zach Williams — together with a June 1 chopper journey to Queens to announce a short lived lower in New York’s gasoline tax.
That’s, she spent roughly $2,500 for a photograph op, although she additionally labored in a ribbon-cutting and a few fundraisers whereas within the metropolis that day. (If she’d solely carried out the political occasions, her marketing campaign must repay the general public, however she often manages to search out some “official” purpose to keep away from that necessity.)
Counting earlier reviews, Hochul took at the least 200 such flights in simply her first 11 months on the job, costing the general public a number of hundred grand.
Extra, her employees pinched a airplane from the state Energy Authority to improve her aerial expertise (the craft the final gov used wasn’t adequate), forcing its techs to spend a whole bunch of added hours in journey to examine vegetation and transmission traces throughout this nice state.
(And no, the NYPA hasn’t discovered the money to purchase a brand new airplane. Appears the state employs some penny-pinchers.)
The gov’s spokeswoman, Hazel Crampton-Hays, says the journey is all about doing her job — and her legal professionals OK each journey. Hochul herself has defined, “A governor is allowed to go dwelling. Buffalo is my dwelling.”
Oh, and “We’re utilizing the state airplane to permit me to attach with constituents, voters all throughout the state, in addition to residents. So, our goal is to be a special form of governor” — although the final man additionally bought slammed for heavy taxpayer-funded journey.
“Hochul works across the clock,” Crampton-Hays additionally protested. Downside is, a number of that “work” prices the general public far, way more, since her reelection work so typically includes doing offers with donors just like the notorious Charlie Tebele, whose firm charged the state double the going charge for COVID assessments (for $637 million complete) as his household gave her marketing campaign almost $300,000.
With the continued assist of publicly-funded journey, her goal is to boost $70 million complete, which at Tebele’s charge suggests one thing like $80 billion in added state spending.
As we are saying, the free flights are the least of it.
