Expanding housing in New York is also a way of combating stagnation in communities across the state, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday said while pitching a key proposal in her $227 billion budget plan. 

Hochul, in Rochester on Monday, framed her housing program as a way of reversing New York's comparatively flat population growth, which has led the state to lose political clout in Washington while residents move elsewhere in the country. 

Hochul wants to add 800,000 units of housing in the coming years. 

"We think it's a very modest goal to ask that housing grow 1% every three years," she said. "Let's not be frightened by the thought. It means we believe in our future so much that people want to be here that we're going to offer them a range of housing so they can live here. That's all."

Hochul's housing proposal includes provisions that would still push through qualifying projects despite local opposition. The governor criticized "NIMBYs" (not in my backyard) who have opposed projects to expand housing. 

"I know all the ways you can stop a project, believe me," she said. "Keeping the status quo is so much better for people, and it's just not. We can't live in a state that just stagnates."

Hochul wants to expand available housing stock in order to drive down prices amid high rents and sharply rising real estate costs. 

Local governments have criticized aspects of the plan, including the proposal to override local zoning. But Hochul also points to state money being made available in order to expand water and sewer infrastructure in order to accommodate the new housing. 

The budget is expected to pass by April 1, the start of New York's fiscal year.