Assembly offers bail change proposal at budget talks
The development shows that Assembly leadership — which has publicly rejected the idea of altering the state’s controversial bail laws — is privately open to the revisions suggested by the governor.
ALBANY, N.Y. — The state Assembly has brought language to the budget negotiating table that would alter state bail laws by removing, for some offenses, a “least restrictive means” standard judges use to set bail, a change Gov. Kathy Hochul has signaled is one of her top priorities.
It shows that Assembly leadership — which has publicly rejected the idea of altering the state’s controversial bail laws — is privately open to the revisions suggested by the governor as they wrangle over details of the $227 billion financial plan.
The draft language, reported here for the first time, was discussed during a three-way meeting among representatives for the Senate, Assembly and governor on Tuesday evening, according to a person familiar with the conversations.
The discussion occurred just days before the state budget’s April 1 deadline.
The Assembly draft language, according to that person, would remove the “least restrictive means” standard judges are supposed to consider when deciding how to make sure someone shows up to their next court date. Assembly representatives reiterated that judges should consider factors already approved in state law when deciding if a person qualifies to be held on bail. The final decision about what conditions to set for a person’s return to court would be up to the judge’s individual analysis.
WHY IT MATTERS: Hochul first introduced removing the “least restrictive” standard in her executive proposal, saying that it would end confusion for judges about their power to set bail in certain situations, particularly for serious crimes.
Judges aren’t always setting bail even when they are empowered to do so, the governor said during a press event to push the changes this month. She wants to send a clear signal to judges that anyone charged with a “qualifying offense” — which includes violent felonies, some nonviolent felonies and circumstances such as multiple open charges for certain crimes — can have bail set. Those already qualify for bail, but Hochul’s proposed change would essentially create a different class of offense for which the “least restrictive” standard doesn’t apply.
The Senate and Assembly both intentionally omitted the idea from their one-house counter proposals earlier this month. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins have said they would need hard evidence to make additional changes to the bail laws this year.
Progressive Democrats in both houses have said that there is no solid correlation between the bail laws — first passed in 2019 — and spikes in more serious crime categories that have concerned New Yorkers and animated Republican attacks.
Public defenders and some legal experts have also expressed concerns about Hochul’s proposal, but prosecutors, some moderate Democrats and some Republicans have supported it. Hochul has insisted she is willing to hold up budget talks past the deadline over public safety issues.
WHAT’S NEXT: The draft language is one of many versions on the negotiation table and part of larger conversations that are subject to change over the coming days.
Neither the state Senate nor Hochul’s office immediately offered a position on the Assembly proposal, according to a person familiar with the Tuesday meeting. A spokesperson for the Senate did not comment Wednesday on whether the Senate would agree with Assembly draft language.
The three entities met again Wednesday morning for continued negotiations. The state budget is due by the end of the day on March 31, but is expected to be much later.