The stop came during a multi-day trip by the governor to the Adirondacks. Around 300 people — state and local leaders, the Democratic party faithful, media and lots of locals — packed the Harrietstown Town Hall auditorium to hear Hochul speak.

She told the press that the state does not have much of a plan for if the bill does pass. New York does not have enough money to backfill the medical, food and heating cuts being proposed.

“It will be cataclysmic,” she said.

She spoke of illness, hunger and poverty increasing.

Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at the Harrietstown Town Hall on Friday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Despite the dark and depressing state of things she described, Hochul said she believes in miracles, referencing the “Miracle on Ice.” She said if only one or two Republicans flip on their vote, it could kill the bill.

“You have an influential member of Congress who can do the right thing tomorrow,” Hochul said, drawing laughs from the audience.

“I have hope,” Hochul said.

North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik was the deciding vote for the bill in the House, where it passed 215-214. Two House Republicans voted “no” on the bill and one voted “present.” New York Republican Andrew Garbarino slept through the vote. Three Democrats over the age of 70 died in the months before the bill, forfeiting their seat’s vote.

The Senate is approaching a vote on the bill, and the House could get it again as soon as Wednesday morning.

Earlier on Friday, The Hill reported that Stefanik is likely preparing to announce a gubernatorial run in 2026. For weeks, she’s been vocal about Hochul and has been teasing such a run. North Country Public Radio reporter Emily Russell asked Hochul about this and mentioned that some polls are putting the two just one to three percentage points away from each other.

Hochul said she hasn’t seen those polls and that the election is more than a year away. She said if the BBB passes with the cuts proposed, Stefanik would have to explain why she enabled its passage.

Stefanik hit back on social media, saying Hochul oversees the “worst run Medicaid program in the country.” Stefanik criticized Hochul for offering Medicaid for short-term care in emergency conditions to undocumented immigrants.

Recent polling from the firm co/efficient shows Stefanik in a clear lead for Republican candidates — with 64% of GOP support, 56 percentage points ahead of the next Republican.

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Immigration ‘backbone’

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Michael Murphy, the manager and junior partner of Childstock Farms in Gabriels, who sits on the New York Farm Bureau’s board of directors, said the immigration issue in America is the fault of Congress.

“Congress’ decades-long failure to pass meaningful immigration reform has left many farms without a viable way to hire the skilled workers they need, putting their businesses and livelihoods at risk,” he said.

Farmers need consistency and a reliable immigrant labor force, he said.

“The back-and-forth from the federal government is exhausting and disruptive,” Murphy said.

He called migrant workers the “backbone” of the agricultural economy, and said they deserve safety, dignity and respect.

“Our farms, simply, wouldn’t function without the contributions of all our 50 immigrant workers who make our operation possible,” Murphy said. “These individuals provide skilled, dependable labor that is essential to our success.”

Workers at Childstock Farms are on H-2A visas, which are for seasonal workers. Because of this, he said the year-round dairy industry is excluded from the visa program, which causes many problems for his fellow dairy farmers.

Murphy thanked Hochul for her intervention standing up for the three Sackets Harbor children who were handcuffed and detained along with their mother in a March U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid of a dairy farm, what ICE referred to as “collateral arrests.”

Hochul said the dairy farmer called her after he couldn’t get a call with Stefanik. But she said it was the community response that got a change.

Hochul said Trump promised to go after the “worst of the worst” when detaining undocumented immigrants.

“I’m OK, get rid of them,” she said. “But you didn’t say you were going to go after little kids.”

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Health care and Medicaid

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Hochul said the BBB would cut $13.5 billion from the state health care system — $357 million in the North Country, which she said means 44,000 people could lose health insurance in NY-21.

The state does not have enough money to backfill these cuts, she said.

“One out of three people living in the North Country rely on Medicaid,” Hochul said.

This hurts the whole hospital industry, she said, because it helps fund health care for people with private insurance.

William Borgos, the chief medical officer at Hudson Headwaters Health Network, which operates 26 medical centers in the area, estimates HHHN will lose $2.3 million from the cuts.

He sees thousands of people who benefit from Medicaid.

Borgos is also concerned about efforts to restrict the 340B Drug Pricing Program. It allows hospitals in low-income and uninsured areas to buy prescription drugs at a discount and charge insured patients full price. He said HHHN reinvests these savings and revenues into opening new centers in the rural North Country or preventing closures of clinics.

“It has proven absolutely essential for nonprofit health service providers to stretch scarce resources,” Borgos said.

Murphy said hospital funding cuts have a disproportionate effect on rural communities. Having Adirondack Medical Center in town played a major role in his family’s decision to move to the Tri-Lakes. Still, he said, primary care doctors are already booked six to 12 months out.

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Hunger

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If proposed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts go through, Hochul said 90,000 people in NY-21 could lose their food assistance. One-third of them are children.

Hochul also said SNAP is reliable revenue for farms — responsible for 9,000 agriculture jobs in the North Country, or $1.1 billion of economic impact.

Joint Council for Economic Opportunity CEO Nicole Laurin said food insecurity will get worse if these cuts to SNAP; WIC, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Medicaid go through. There’s already a great need now. The number of people with food insecurity JCEO serves has tripled in the past three years, and is expected to increase by 25% again. Laurin said existing resources are already being outpaced and she can’t imagine what it will look like if programs go away.

“Over 30% of the clients we served last year told us that they skipped meals regularly,” Lauin said. “That’s not another state. That’s not another country. That’s right here in the North Country.”

In 2024, JCEO delivered 1.1 million pounds of food to people in the North Country.

“If any of these critical programs are reduced or even eliminated, people in our community … your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, even your family will face dire consequences,” Lauin said. “I don’t say this to be dramatic. … This is a potential reality that we’re facing.”

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Canada, tourism and tariffs

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Hochul described a deep relationship between New York and Canada, but said Trump’s trade war with the country has fractured that relationship and that it won’t heal easily. She predicts it will get worse.

As a result, the North Country has seen 400,000 fewer transborder visitors from Canada since May, with crossings at the Ogdensburg Bridge down by nearly 30%. She estimates that this puts one-quarter of hospitality and tourism jobs in the area “at risk.”

Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism President and CEO Dan Kelleher said 40% of money going to local employees comes from tourism. It brings money from outside the region into the local economy.

North Country Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Garry Douglas said he was on his way to the event from Plattsburgh on Friday when he heard the news that Trump had threatened higher tariffs on Canadian imports, which stopped trade talks with the country. When Douglas arrived at the town hall, he found a pen to revise his speech.

The tariff threat was because Canada was seeking to start collecting a 3% tax on large technology companies. Canada has since dropped this proposed tax in hopes of resuming the trade talks with the U.S.

Douglas said this constant disruption is creating uncertainty in the business world.

Murphy said trade inconsistencies are causing farmers harm. They are paying more for fertilizer, fuel, steel and pesticides and it is nearly impossible to financially plan, he said. He’s concerned about retaliatory tariffs on American goods reducing their market share in the global market.

“Once we lose those markets to foreign competitors, they’re very difficult to regain,” Murphy said.

Many manufacturers in the North Country have supply lines with Canada, Douglas said.

“Let’s be frank. Why would they be here otherwise?” he said.

During Hochul’s stay in the Adirondacks she also visited the Saranac Lake Farmers Market where she sampled beer and spoke with vendors, as well as a stop at the Adirondack Store in Lake Placid to speak with owner Christopher English.