Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered a State of the State address — her first as New York’s elected governor — that offered little change to the controversial bail reform law passed by the legislative leaders seated behind her.
While talking tough Tuesday on the scourge of crime and shootings, her proposal would merely give judges a bit more discretion in setting bail for defendants accused of serious crimes.
In addition, the governor glossed over the issue of recidivism, which the NYPD has repeatedly pointed to as a critical factor, with a small handful of repeat offenders responsible for major amounts of shoplifting arrests and other illegal activity.
Under Hochul’s proposal, New York would get rid of a 2019 requirement that judges impose the “least restrictive” means of ensuring that defendants return to court when it comes to those accused of serious crimes.
But Hochul — who got hammered over bail reform by Republican challenger Lee Zeldin during last year’s gubernatorial race — also sought to assure her fellow Democrats that her plan won’t fill local jails.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal would give judges a bit more discretion in setting bail for defendants accused of serious crimes. AP“Data from before and after the enactment of bail reform actually shows that eliminating the ‘least restrictive’ standard for bail eligible offenses — while retaining it for less serious crimes — will not increase the overall rate of pretrial incarceration,” according to a briefing book distributed to reporters.
Hochul failed to mention the Big Apple’s growing migrant crisis – a chief priority for Mayor Eric Adams – in her speech.
Instead, Hochul vaguely promised she’d provide more funding for the state-run refugee resettlement program in order to provide for the successful establishment of migrants and asylum seekers in communities and local economies,” according to briefing documents that did not mention a price tag.
Adams has begged for help from Hochul and President Biden for months, even applying for $1 billion in federal aid.
Republican leaders immediately pounced on Hochul’s bail plan, which fell far short of Mayor Adams’ call for judges to consider the “dangerousness” of defendants when setting bail — as is the case in every other state and the federal court system.
“During Gov. Hochul’s time in office, she has shown an unwillingness to tackle surging crime in any meaningful way – this address only scratches the surface regarding public safety,” Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Fulton) said in a prepared statement.
“Any proposed legislation addressing bail reform that does not aim to drastically reduce the violent crime plaguing our neighborhoods and immediately punish violent offenders is not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt (R-Lockport) also said that Hochul’s speech “follows the Senate Republicans’ call for a safer, stronger and more affordable New York.”
But, Ortt added, “While the governor echoed our themes, she ignored the stark reality that one-party, progressive policies have made New York less safe and less affordable. New Yorkers deserve action that matches the rhetoric.”
Hochul, who delivered her nearly hourlong speech in Albany shortly after 1 p.m., also said she was “prepared to invest $1 billion making critical policy changes to fully meet the mental health needs of our people.”
“Right now, we have 3,200 New Yorkers struggling with severe mental illness or addiction who are living on the streets and our subways,” she said. “At the same time, we have [an] insufficient number of inpatient psychiatric beds and services.
Hochul continued: “We will add 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds by funding 150 from the state and bringing 850 psych beds in hospitals back online. That is more than half of the beds we lost since 2014 when all the disinvestment was happening, and they’ll serve over 10,000 New Yorkers every year.”
That plan followed Adams’ recent announcement that cops would start taking mentally ill homeless people into custody for psychiatric evaluations if they appeared unable to care for themselves.
Adams’ plan is being challenged in federal court but the NYPD last month began training cops to implement it.
It wasn’t immediately clear if or how Hochul’s proposal would dovetail with Adams’ controversial initiative.
