[ad_1]
ALBANY — Legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul will miss their midnight budget deadline as state lawmakers on Thursday prepared to leave the capital for a long weekend — with bail reform laws remaining a major sticking point in negotiations.
“We’re going to have a timely budget because we are making progress,” said state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester), admitting Democratic legislative leaders and Hochul will not reach a compromise on proposed changes to New York’s controversial 2019 no-bail law by midnight Thursday.
“We’re certainly … closer than we’ve been, and we’ve been talking about it, so I don’t have any reason to think that it won’t be in,” said Stewart-Cousins, insisting changes to the state’s bail laws will be enacted in the final budget plan.
Though the state budget’s deadline is Friday, the $216 billion final proposal must be passed into law by 4 p.m. Monday “to avoid any issues with upcoming payrolls” of state workers for the new fiscal year, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office.
Stewart-Cousins also said the Democrats are “close” on solidifying a deal that would make ‘alcohol-to-go’ permanent.
The Assembly’s top Republican called Democratic legislators’ failure to pass a budget on time “embarrassing.”
“The people of New York expect and deserve an on-time budget. It’s a simple, straightforward requirement of state government. Unfortunately, Gov. Hochul and her Democrat colleagues in the Legislature have proven they are unable to meet that very basic expectation, and as a result the multi-billion dollar spending plan that impacts every facet of operations in New York is in limbo,” Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said in a statement.
“Another year of Democrats’ dysfunction has resulted in little more than needless gridlock,” he added. “Leaving Albany on March 31 without an agreement is embarrassing.”
“There’s no bills in print, so what are we going to sit here for?” one anonymous Democratic lawmaker told The Post Thursday morning. “The problem is, once this kind of stuff happens, everything could fall apart.”
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Hochul touted “productive conversations” with leaders of the two chambers and “consensus on major policy items.”
“From improving public safety to supporting small businesses, these are important and complex issues, and we need to get them right. I am continuing to have productive conversations with Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie and I appreciate their collaboration and good faith approach to these negotiations,” said the governor.
“We are getting closer to agreement, with consensus on major policy items,” she added “New Yorkers should know that progress is being made and that we will put in the time it takes to reach an agreement that delivers for them and moves our state forward.”
The confirmation that the 2023 budget will be late came after a private meeting Wednesday night, state Senate Democrats were briefed on the negotiations tied to the longstanding sticking point of whether to grant judges more discretion to consider the risk of suspects’ potential harm to others before they are tried.
“They’re trying to figure out a way to allow judges to consider harm or risk without triggering the ‘dangerousness’ debate,” the Democrat said, after being briefed on discussions between lawmakers and the governor regarding New York’s 2019 bail laws, which prevented judges from having the latitude to set bail for those accused of misdemeanors and most non-violent felonies. “It’s kind of a distinction without a difference.”
The executive has proposed maintaining the “‘least restrictive means of ensuring a return to court’ standard for bail and release determinations, but allowing judges to consider risk of harm as a factor when making that determination,” reads a summary of where negotiations stand, obtained by The Post.
“The Senate has countered with a proposal to allow judges to consider whether the alleged crime involved harm to a person or group of people.”
Hochul has also proposed adding all alleged hate crimes to the list of bail-eligible offenses, but state Senate leaders have opposed that change.
“We’re likely going home today. There’s no bills in print, so what are we going to sit here for?” a Democratic lawmaker told The Post Thursday morning. “The problem is, once this kind of stuff happens, everything could fall apart.”
State Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Queens), the deputy majority leader, said Thursday that New York politicians would not pass a budget until after the weekend, admitting they were “still working through” the budget as he touted “progress” on the major issues.
“We’re having session today, and then we’re not scheduled to have session again until Monday,” he told reporters in Albany. “So I know staff and leadership will be working through the weekend, and hopefully we’ll be ready on Monday to pass some bills.”
Meanwhile, Assembly Democrats also met in a separate, closed-door meeting Wednesday night to discuss changes. Lawmakers who requested anonymity told The Post a deal is likely to come, but specifics are still being finalized.
Multiple sources predicted that if no deal is made to tighten up the criminal justice loopholes left by the 2019 law, lawmakers could head home as early as Thursday night. And by Thursday afternoon, they were packing up to do just that.
Friday also marks the start of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, and some members have to head back to their districts because petition deadlines are marked for early next week.
“Kathy Hochul has failed the test of leadership – she failed to deliver an on-time budget, she failed to fix bail reform, she failed to address high taxes, and she failed to cut the gas tax. Kathy Hochul is unready to lead, unable to deliver and the result is more crime, more taxes and more tax giveaways to her billionaire friends,” said Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who is also running for governor against Hochul.
Meanwhile, Hochul and state Senate Democrats have settled on a measure to make the criminal possession of a firearm bail-eligible if it is a repeat offense and illegal sale of a firearm to a minor bail-eligible on the first offense.
They’re also working toward a deal on the state’s discovery laws — which prosecutors have decried as overly onerous, while domestic violence victims say they are too strict and lead to cases being dropped or plea bargains made — Hochul has included a provision that relaxes standards for turning over evidence for trials.
The governor’s proposal would allow “judges to consider the efforts made by prosecutors to obtain discoverable information and establish that the remedy for missing information must be proportionate to the harm cost.”
The Senate responded with “language allowing certificate of compliance to be invalidated if invalidation is a proportionate remedy or if the prosecutor did not file the certificate in good faith,” according to the memo viewed Wednesday.
Additionally, state lawmakers have largely cut out Hochul’s proposed changes to the “Raise the Age” statute — a key part of the 10-point blueprint and a reform sought by Mayor Eric Adams — which increased the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18. Hochul advocated for granting judges the ability to keep a case in criminal court if a person is in possession of a gun.
Currently, prosecutors must show a firearm was displayed in order to do so.
“The Senate and governor have agreed to allow juvenile delinquency cases to be filed up until the youth is 20 years old, but no other changes to the legislation,” according to the Senate Democrats’ memo.
Sources told The Post that a number of officials assisting with budget negotiations in the governor’s office have tested positive for COVID-19.
“All executive chamber personnel follow clear health and safety guidance and isolate in the event of a positive test. Governor Hochul gets tested regularly, tested negative today, and is working around the clock to finalize a budget that delivers for New Yorkers,” Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Along with criminal justice legislation, Hochul and state lawmakers’ negotiations have been centered on opening Big Apple casinos and public funding to build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.
Meanwhile, New York’s eight House Republicans this week ripped Hochul’s plan to amend the controversial 2019 bail law as inadequate to curb crime, calling for a complete repeal of the policy.
The legislation, which also changed discovery laws, was rolled back in 2020 to add to the list of crimes for which bail could be set.
Adams has pushed for New York judges to be permitted to consider the “dangerousness” of those accused of crimes when deciding whether to detain them or release them from custody before trials. That measure was not included in Hochul’s blueprint.
And Democratic leaders in the legislature’s two chambers have repeatedly rejected more restrictive bail measures pushed by moderate Democrats like Adams along with Republicans.
“I think the general sense is that nobody in our conference is wanting to go backwards,” Stewart-Cousins told reporters in Albany last week. “Absolutely not.”
“I think I’m ready to let the law continue the way it is,” Speaker Carl Heastie recently said.
[ad_2]