Hochul touts bail deal

The state budget passed around midnight. By morning, Gov, Kathy Hochul was out promoting what she sees as her biggest victory: changes to the state’s bail laws.

Hochul vowed not to pass a budget without toughening the state’s bail laws that served as an albatross in her narrow election win last year and helped to take down several Democratic House members, leading Republicans to win control of the chamber in Washington.

But Hochul is looking for a reset on the issue, and she held up a budget for weeks in order to land changes that she can tout as crime continues to be a top issue for voters.

The Democratic governor did two morning TV interviews in New York City and then hosted a budget bill signing in Manhattan with Mayor Eric Adams, district attorneys and advocates.

“As government leaders, we had to stand up and say, ‘No more. No more.’ We owe it to our neighbors, our children, business leaders to do everything we can within our power to make our streets safer,” Hochul told the crowd.

In a press briefing following the ceremony, Hochul said that Democrats running for the House next year will be able to say their party took steps to increase public safety while retaining the core of the original 2019 changes to bail statutes.

“Individuals running next year for Congress on down can talk about how Democrats take public safety very seriously,” Hochul said. “This is not a Republican-owned issue. It’s something that we’re the ones leading on. We’re the ones solving the problems and not just standing on the sidelines taking potshots.”

The bail changes are not without strong criticism from progressive groups and liberal Democrats who said it is a step backwards from the 2019 law that aimed to end bail in all but the most serious crimes. The concern is that imposing bail in lower-level crimes disproportionately affects poor, minority communities and keeps people in jail longer than they need to be before the disposition of their cases.

The Legal Aid Society and public defender groups called the changes “unconscionable.”

“This move erodes the presumption of innocence,” they said in a statement, “and it will balloon jail populations in dangerous and deadly facilities throughout New York, jeopardizing peoples’ employment, housing, education, access to critical services and bonds with their families and communities.”

From the Capitol

PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING SURVIVES: After months of rumors that language delaying New York’s new matching funds system for state races might be included in the budget, the final product included $39.5 million to help fund the program that will start giving checks to legislative candidates next year.

“By funding public campaign financing in the new budget, our leaders in Albany have brought New York closer to a democracy that works for all,” Brennan Center senior counsel Joanna Zdanys said in a statement. “The groundbreaking program will give everyday voters a bigger say in the decisions that affect their lives.”

There are still talks of possibly making tweaks to the new system before this year’s legislative session wraps up in a month. But the fact that the program survived the final budget before next year’s elections are well underway makes it very likely that it will be on the books in some form in 2024. — Bill Mahoney

From City Hall

“BAN THE SCAN”: New York City could soon ban or limit the use of facial recognition technology and biometric identifier systems in the city’s residential buildings and certain public places.

Two bills being considered by the City Council were the subject of an oversight hearing Wednesday in which Council members peppered city officials with questions about how the technology is currently used in the city, and whether it negatively and disproportionately affects marginalized communities.

The bills demonstrate the challenges the Adams administration has faced in trying to increase the city’s technological capabilities to make it safer in a way that some New Yorkers think violates their civil liberties.

“There is a gap in the regulatory framework that can lead to negative impacts,” said Council Member Carlina Rivera, a Manhattan Democrat, pointing to research which shows the technology can be discriminatory.

Last week, Rivera introduced one of the bills, which would outlaw landlords from installing, activating or using any biometric recognition technology that could identify a tenant or their guests. The other bill would prevent public accommodation spaces, like stores and sports arenas, from using the technology to identify customers. The administration officials at the hearing did not take positions on the bills to the frustration of some Council members. — Zachary Schermele

— READ the city’s much-anticipated report on the future of trash management, and what it could mean for parking.

On the beats

FIRST LADY, JUSTICE IN TOWN: First Lady Jill Biden joined Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a visit at Bronx Children’s Museum to commemorate the recent opening of the museum’s new permanent location and its multicultural education programming for the local community.

Biden was invited by Sotomayor — who has been a long-term supporter of the museum in her native Bronx located along the Harlem River in Mill Pond Park — to visit and tour the museum and meet with second grade students at P.S. 55 who participate in an after-school arts program at the museum as well as Denise Rosario Adusei, the museum’s executive director, and actress and author Sonia Manzano. The students performed an original song ahead of the tour.

Biden praised community colleges and spoke about her background as a community college educator. “I teach English...and I know you have lots of great community colleges in the state of New York and a lot in the city,” she told the students while greeting them. “So it’s a great place to get an education and it’s so nice to all of you.”

The group visited exhibits, including an interactive 35-foot-long exhibit with a miniature version of the Bronx’s Old Croton Aqueduct to teach kids about waterways as well as The Block, an arts and culture area that recreates a local neighborhood that includes a casita (a small house that functions as a community gathering place for the Puerto Rican community in New York City), a community garden and a farm stand. — Madina Touré

HOUSING: City Council Member Rafael Salamanca, chair of the body’s land use committee, voiced support Wednesday for reviving the controversial 421-a tax incentive — as there remains little appetite among lawmakers in Albany to approve a new version of the program.

At an event on land use and housing issues hosted by the law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, Salamanca said he had hoped the state budget deal would include a revised 421-a or similar program.

“We need to build more housing,” he said. “It’s obvious that we are in a housing crisis in the city of New York. 421-a, yes, we do build market-rate, but it’s also an opportunity to build affordable housing, which is very much needed.” He added, “We missed that opportunity in this budget process.”

State legislators who would offer similar support for a new version of 421-a, at least publicly, have been hard to come by. Prominent lawmakers including Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris have argued the incentive, which expired last June after lawmakers declined to pass a revised version, was a giveaway to developers and generated too little truly affordable housing. It’s nonetheless a key priority for Adams this session. — Janaki Chadha

SOLUTIONS NOT SUSPENSIONS: A legislative hearing Wednesday opened the floor for discussions surrounding legislation revamping the state’s approach to discipline in school. Among those to appear before lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon was education commissioner Betty Rosa, several students who have experienced or been threatened with suspension and New York State United Teachers president Melinda Person.

The hearing was held surrounding “Judith Kaye Solutions Not Suspensions Act,” which is a bill that would regulate the way suspensions are dealt with in the school setting. Students from New York City and Long Island spoke about the negative impact suspensions had on them and their peers, calling on the state to pass the legislation that would prevent suspensions on lower level misconduct.

Rosa and Person said they agree there needs to be some changes to current education law surrounding discipline, but they would like to ensure that school staff have the tools needed to discipline students in extreme measures. They also called for the rules that apply to traditional public schools apply to charter schools as well. — Katelyn Cordero

EDUCATION: KIPP NYC Public Schools — a network of 18 charter schools serving children in kindergarten through 12th grade — has appointed Alicia T. Johnson as its first-ever chief executive officer. KIPP NYC is part of KIPP, the largest charter network in the United States.

Johnson started her career at KIPP NYC in 2007 helping to lead “KIPP To College” (now known as “KIPP Forward”), an alumni program.

She also served as managing director of college services and managing director for data and operations before becoming chief operating officer and then president.

“From the moment I began my career at KIPP NYC 16 years ago, I knew I had found my purpose — building a better tomorrow,” Johnson said in a statement. “Grounding that vision in hard work, a commitment to service, equitable practices, and high-quality education has been, and will continue to be, the key driver in the success of our organization.” — Madina Touré

Around New York

— Via The New York Times: “A Deadly Encounter on the Subway Raises Troubling Questions.”

— A school district in Tompkins County registered an improvement of English language arts scores during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Upstate New York)

— Via Times Union: ‘Orange County IDA state monitor will have veto power over tax breaks.’

— Announced: an online portal to pin down double-parking and blocked bus and bike lanes across New York City. (WNYC)