Gov. Hochul, NY legislative leaders closer to agreement on bail as budget talks drag on

ALBANY — Gov. Hochul and legislative leaders are close to “general agreement” on changes to New York’s bail laws after the issue bogged down budget talks for weeks, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Tuesday.

While the impasse over the governor’s proposed bail changes have gummed up negotiations and led to a second stopgap extender being passed this week, Stewart-Cousins said she’s confident a deal can be reached in the near future.

“Sooner rather than later,” the top Senate Dem said as to when the already-late fiscal plan will be completed.

While no details have been announced, Stewart-Cousins indicated that there is common ground around Hochul’s call to remove the “least restrictive” standard judges are meant to follow when setting bail for serious crimes to ensure a defendant returns to court.

The proposal has been met with resistance from progressive Dems and others who say further rollbacks to bail reforms approved in 2019 that limited pretrial detention for most nonviolent offenses are unnecessary and Hochul’s plan would gut the essence of the law.

“I think what the governor is trying to do, and what we certainly don’t mind doing, is making sure that people understand and judges understand that they have discretion if there is some confusion about that,” she said during a briefing at the Capitol. “So, clearly judicial discretion and judicial accountability is part of the discussion as well.”

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) a day earlier said talks have almost entirely centered around bail and there has been practically “zero movement” on other topics.

While the budget extender approved on Monday will keep state workers paid and government operations going through the start of next week, rank and file lawmakers returned to their home districts as talks drag on.

The state’s new fiscal year began on April 1.

Hochul has also been trying to win support among lawmakers for her ambitious housing plan, which focuses on transit-oriented development and sets housing production targets for all towns and cities in the state.

The blueprint, which has been panned by suburban pols, would allow the state to step in and approve projects if a municipality fails to meet a target.

Stewart-Cousins said while she agrees New York must address the current housing shortage, differences of opinion remain as to how to approach the issue.

“It’s a difficult sell in many communities because there are a lot of elements that people may or may not want, or may not want it that way,” she said.

Senate Democrats in their budget rebuttal released last month laid out a plan to offer cities, towns and villages incentives for meeting certain housing benchmarks rather than allowing the state to step in and approve projects.

The chamber is also eyeing other tweaks to the governor’s proposal, such as including more renter-friendly measures in line with the long-sought “Good Cause” eviction bill which would give tenants a defense against unwarranted evictions and the right to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

“We know that tenant protection is as important as building new units, and we also know that affordability is an issue everywhere,” Stewart-Cousins said.