Connections

Assemblymember Stephen Hawley on the 2025-2026 NYS budget

By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack, Gino Fanelli, Veronica Volk, Julie Williams

Published July 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM EDT

Provided

Stephen Hawley

A man with short light brown hair, mustache and beard, wearing glasses and a green jacket — Gino Fanelli

Assemblymember Stephen Hawley joins guest host Gino Fanelli to discuss the 2025-2026 New York State budget.

Their conversation covers a range of issues, from the expected impact of Medicaid cuts in rural counties to state spending on areas like child care, school lunches, inflation relief checks, and more.

Our guest:

Assemblymember Stephen Hawley (R), District 139

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Connections

Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.

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Megan Mack

Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.

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Gino Fanelli

Gino Fanelli is an investigative reporter who also covers City Hall. He joined the staff in 2019 by way of the Rochester Business Journal, and formerly served as a watchdog reporter for Gannett in Maryland and a stringer for the Associated Press.

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Veronica Volk

Veronica Volk is a senior producer and editor for WXXI News.

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Julie Williams

Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.

See stories by Julie Williams