New York governor pleads with 'high net worth' taxpayers who fled Empire State to come back and pay for social programs

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

A video clip of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul all but begging "high net worth" former New Yorkers to come back to the Empire State after fleeing high taxes and other progressive policies has been going viral on social media. Hochul's comments were made last week at the Politico New York Agenda: Albany Summit. The comments came at the same time -- and perhaps in response to -- NYC Mayor Zorhan Mamdani has been calling on the governor to raise income taxes. 

"I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state," Hochul told Nick Reisman during a so-called fireside chat at the summit. "Maybe the first step should be to go down to Palm Beach and see who we can bring back home because our tax base has been eroded." 

Hochul went on to say, "I have to look at the fact that we are in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden on their corporations and their individuals," and admitted people have been fleeing her state "because of the tax rate."

The New York Post pointed out the irony of her asking New Yorkers who have left the state to come back and fund social programs with their tax dollars given her rhetoric four years ago. In 2022, she infamously addressed conservative voters by telling them, “Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, OK? You are not New Yorkers.”

Many New Yorkers did just that over the last four years, and now, with Hochul proposing a $263 million budget, the governor is regretting the fact that, as she put it in the fireside chat, "our tax base has been eroded." Watch a clip of Hochul's remarks below.