BRIGHTON, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul visited Monroe Community College on Tuesday to announce $13.8 million in funding for the college, along with tens of millions for other local public higher education institutions.

The governor also announced $50 million in funding to fight poverty in the region, and indicated hopes to get a number of the migrants currently in the state working.

Education

$2.6 billion for education. That’s what Hochul says she will be investing into schools in the region. Many colleges and universities here will reap the benefits.

The governor says she is putting $207 million into SUNY and CUNY colleges. in addition to the funding announced for MCC — which includes $10 million to go toward expanding the MCC technology center at the Brighton campus, which offers hands-on training and apprenticeships — SUNY Brockport will get $10 million, SUNY Geneseo will get $29 million, and Finger Lakes Community College will get $2.5 million. Also, $200 million is geared toward workforce initiatives in Western New York.

“We’re focusing on workforce development in places like this, to teach students hands-on skills so they’re marketable instantaneously is going to be a game changer. So we’ll keep investing in these programs, this is an extraordinary institution,” Hochul said. She said students will benefit from this opportunity because employers are already offering them jobs.

The money is coming from the state budget for 2024.

Poverty

Hochul touted her $50 million investment to fight poverty in upstate New York, half of which will go to the City of Rochester.

The governor said she was speaking as the state’s leader — and as a grandmother — who worries about kids going to school with hungry bellies and living in poor conditions with asbestos and lead paint, so she is taking steps to combat that.

The four zip codes with some of the highest rates of poverty are 14605, 14608, 14611 and 14621. Families and children in those neighborhoods are considered to be living in poverty if their income is less than $30,000 per year.

Hochul says when she approached this year’s budget, child poverty rates were at the top of her mind. Hochul says the children living in these communities deserve a chance at a better life and to break the cycle of generational poverty.

“And make sure their kids and their grandkids will have a radically different outcome than the one they started out in. And that’s what we are going to do and I am counting on this community and I’ve met with the Mayor and County Executive,” Hochul said.

The funding commitment will be put to good use, according to Monroe County Executive Adam Bello.

“We’re working together as a community to lift our neighbors out of poverty, to put everyone on the pathway to prosperity. The most immediate action is to give families the tools they need to support their family, build generational wealth and connect them to good paying jobs,” Bello said.

Hochul noted that many have tried to fight the way on poverty, but she says, “This is New York — we go big or we go home, so we are going to lean into this.”

Jobs for migrants

More than 172,000 migrants are in New York, Hochul said — and with thousands of jobs available in the state, she is looking to put them to work.

Hochul says many migrants would be a good fit for the available jobs, based on their experience and education level.

Out of the 12,500 jobs that are available at the state level, Hochul said she has identified around 4,000 that would be qualifying jobs for migrants.

Some of the positions are jobs in custodial work or working in kitchens in state facilities.

She believes it’s better to have people working than out on the streets and says, “Put them to work.”

These are people who are here legally and have already applied for and have received work authorization from the federal government, so they are eligible to take these jobs.

“I started a database and now we have 42,000 jobs available — 20,000 are from employers upstate who have joined up to say ‘bring us the migrants as soon as they’re eligible to work, we want them here.’ This fulfills a need we have a New York,” Hochul said. “Again, my preference is to get control of the borders, stop the flow, because we have over 172,000 people who came here and we’re at capacity. On the other hand, my job is to make the best of the situation and putting people to work, making them work, is a benefit to all New Yorkers because we have such a shortage of workers at this time.”

Hochul added she doesn’t have control over the national borders as a state governor, so employing these asylum seekers is the best way to handle the current influx at this time.

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