NYAPRS Note: Now that the budget has been finalized, the state legislature will spend the last four weeks of this year’s session debating policy items which didn’t land in the budget. NYAPRS will use this time to advocate for our priority items including alternatives to hospitalization, peer support, and the Clean Slate Act. We participated in Clean Slate’s advocacy day in Albany yesterday to push for more support to pass this commonsense bill. We must pass this act before legislators leave for the year! Clean Slate will get thousands of New Yorkers back to work, increase the state’s tax revenue, and begin to right the injustices placed on our formerly incarcerated brothers and sisters, most of whom are Black and brown. See below for Nick Reisman’s coverage of recent criminal justice advocacy and other issues to watch as they wrap up this year’s session.
Broad Range of Criminal Justice Measures Debated in Albany
By Nick Reisman | Spectrum News1 | May 9, 2023
New York state lawmakers, facing the final month of the legislative session, are considering a broad range of measures meant to address the state’s criminal justice and public safety laws as voters continue to rank crime as a top priority for them.
The measures are varied: Supporters hope a bill to seal many criminal records is gaining momentum in the state Assembly, while Democrats are also calling for provisions to address retail theft and assaults on workers.
And Republicans, meanwhile, are calling for even further changes to the state’s bail law after the budget included provisions to allow for more discretion when judges set bail in serious criminal charges.
For top Democrats in the Legislature like Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the often-contentious issue can be a balancing act.
“We want justice in our criminal justice system, we want certainly justice for victims of crime and we’d like to create the environment for justice for everyone involved,” she said on Tuesday.
Underscoring the push, the Democratic-led state Senate on Tuesday approved a package of bills meant to address domestic violence in New York.
Advocates on Tuesday rallied for the bill to seal criminal records as negotiations are expected to pick up this month for the measure known to its supporters as the Clean Slate Act.
That included Ismael Diaz Jr., who served nine-and-a-half years in prison after an altercation he was involved in left another person dead. Diaz has completed his college degree, but has found it difficult to keep a job since being released from prison.
“It turns into another sentence — like a silent sentence,” he said. “You don’t even want to go look for a job. It’s mentally challenging.”
The measure is yet to gain a vote in the state Assembly, though Speaker Carl Heastie last week said the bill could be considered by June 8, when legislators leave Albany for the remainder of the year.
“This is a public safety bill because it reduces recidivism,” said Assemblyman Chris Burdick. “It’s a public safety bill because they’re going to become productive members of society, they’re going to be reunited with their families.”
But Republican critics of the legislation are worried the provision raises too many questions around safety.
“It’s just too many serious offenses that are going to be sealed,” said Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Long Island. “I don’t think that will improve public safety at all.”
Instead, Fitzpatrick believes state officials should do more to address policing, both for recruitment and retention.
“I think we need to start getting more aggressive — support the police, increase funding for the police,” he said. “We have to recruit more police.”
Democrats, too, have also called for additional measures meant to boost penalties for retail theft.
“Right now, they’re not afraid of being taken down without high penalties,” said Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton. “Hopefully if we increase the penalties, they’ll think twice before going into these local stores.”
She is backing a measure that would make assaulting a store owner or a retail worker on par with an assault against essential workers like livery drivers and utility workers.
“They were deemed essential during the pandemic, so we have to do everything we can to protect them in their workplace,” she said.
Broad range of criminal justice measures debated in Albany (spectrumlocalnews.com)
5 Issues to Watch as New York Lawmakers Close Out Session
By Nick Reisman | NY State of Politics | May 9, 2023
With the $229 billion budget in the books four weeks late, state lawmakers have less than a month to go before they are scheduled to leave Albany for the rest of the year.
The pending end of the 2023 legislative session means a variety of issues — from public safety to housing — will bubble up to the surface. Some are issues that did not get accomplished in the budget. Others are measures lawmakers hope to put their stamp on by June.
Here are four issues state lawmakers might address in the coming weeks:
1. Sealing Criminal Records.
The bill, known to supporters as the Clean Slate Act, would allow for criminal records to be sealed a number of years after a conviction. The measure has stalled for several years in the Democratic-led state Assembly.
But Speaker Carl Heastie this month indicated the bill could get a vote in his chamber before the session concludes on June 8 — a vote that would come after the state budget included changes to the state’s bail law opposed by criminal justice advocates.
Business organizations and progressive advocates have supported the records sealing bill. But Republicans have called the provision a potentially dangererous move and against the wishes of voters who have cited public safety as a top issue.
2. Housing.
Gov. Hochul did not get her sweeping housing plan in the state budget agreeement. She wanted a range of issues covered in the compact, including provisions to develop closer to commuter rail stations, allow for the state to override local zoning decisions for qualified projects as well as create community-level targets in effort to expand housing by 800,000 units in the next 10 years.
Hochul has said she will likely push for “elements” of her housing plan in the coming weeks, though has not gone into specifics.
One of those measures could be the extension of the 421a tax abatement, which is meant to promote affordable housing. Labor unions, however, have urged Democratic lawmakers to make changes to the provision, warning against a “straight” extension.
3. Changes to New York’s Alcohol Laws.
Businesses are closely watching whether New York lawmakers will act on recommendations issued this week by a 21-member commission studying the state’s alcohol and beverage control laws.
Proposals include addressing so-called blue laws for alcohol sales on Sundays as well as having a licensed establishment within 200 feet of a school or house of worship.
But outside the report, there are additional measures proposed by lawmakers that are potentially wonkier, but could spell significant changes for distributors, such as authorizing direct interstate shipment of liquor, a proposal that is opposed by industry groups like the Retailers Alliance.
4. Wrongful Death Expansion.
Earlier this year, Hochul vetoed a measure that would have expanded New York’s wrongful death statute, enabling a wider swath of people to bring claims in lawsuits.
At the time, Hochul pointed to concerns over the effect the bill would have on insurance premiums for businesses, local governments and health care organizations.
State lawmakers who backed the bill have reintroduced a new version of the bill meant to address those concerns by capping payouts and narrowing its scope.
Nevertheless, opponents contend the new measure would still place a costly burden on them were it approved.
5. The Next Phase of COVID
With emergency orders falling by the wayside more than three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials are acknowledging a new stage of the pandemic is here.
But with emergency orders expiring, there are some practical issues legislators want to address, including allowing out-of-state medical staff to continue to operate in New York amid an ongoing worker shortage.
Lawmakers in the coming weeks want to pass legislation that will, in essence, continue an executive order allowing them to do so ahead of May 22, when the governor’s order is due to expire.
5 issues to watch as New York lawmakers close out session (nystateofpolitics.com)