Gov. Katie Hochul’s uphill budget battle after fellow Democrats back down on judge choice

ALBANY. All eyes will be on Gov. Katie Hochul next week to see if she can bounce back in budget talks after losing to the same left-wing legislative leaders in a bitter fight for her candidacy for New York’s high court.

“This is a pivotal fight,” former Gov. George Pataki told The Post about how Hochul could regain her hold on other Democratic lawmakers after a state Senate committee rejected her Hector Lasalle nomination for Chief Justice.

“She needs some serious bail reform,” Pataky said.

Hochul spoke tough about fighting crime during her Jan. 10 State of the Union address, without going into detail on how she wants to deal with controversial cash bond limits and burdensome disclosure requirements, as well as other sensitive topics like housing. , climate change and public finance.

“During her campaign, Gov. Hochul called the crime problem a ‘conspiracy’. Now she suddenly seems interested in improving public safety,” Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (R-Fulton) said.

“It’s funny what the public vote and closed elections will lead to. The budget and subsequent talks between “three Democrats in one room” will be a good indicator of how real its public safety efforts are, and how many are just empty words,” he added, referring to the negotiations between Hochul and the Assembly. Speaker Carl Histie (D-Bronx) and State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​(D-Yonkers) ahead of the April 1 budget deadline.

Her criminal case proposals included repealing a widely criticized legal standard that requires judges to release criminal defendants under “the least restrictive conditions” before they are tried for “serious” crimes, without specifying what that means in practice.

“The devil is always in the details,” said Assemblyman Ed Rah (R-Nassau), a senior GOP member on the Ways and Means Committee, which deals with financial matters. “Bail, [the] the least restrictive changes only really help if the crime is bailable. Any crimes added back?

People on both sides of the aisle are wondering how such vagueness can be translated into actual legislative language that can appease critics who say judges need more leeway to imprison people before they are tried if they threaten public safety or are charged. in several crimes.

“We have to trust the judges. We have to trust the players in the system,” New York State District Attorneys Association president J. Anthony Jordan, who is also the district attorney for upstate Washington County, told The Post. “The real problem for judges is the loss of freedom of action.”

“We need to fund the police, get more cops on the streets, give courts more flexibility to pre-trial detention of potentially dangerous defendants, and generally create an environment where New Yorkers feel safe in their neighborhoods and on public transportation,” the senator says. . – said James Skoufis (D-Newburgh).

A joint legislative hearing scheduled for Monday will offer a preview of how lawmakers and activist allies can challenge Hochul because of her public safety proposals.

We will act on data,” Stewart-Cousins ​​told reporters earlier this week. “We also did what we did because…People were accused, not convicted, of misdemeanors, non-violent crimes, and imprisoned because they couldn’t post bail, and so we never, never, never wanted to criminalize poverty.” “.

Representatives for Stewart-Cousins ​​and Heastie did not comment Thursday.

Hochul can lean on law enforcement, prosecutors, the Republican Party and some Democratic colleagues to overcome resistance to criminal justice reform changes that Albany Democrats have championed in recent years.

“I look forward to working with the Governor and legislators to make the right decisions so that we can ensure that the accused get a speedy trial, that our Constitution guarantees protection and delivers justice in a timely manner,” Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday. Speech about the state of the city, in which Hochul praises.

But public safety is just one of many issues that will test her in budget talks.

“I know we’re here on Long Island, and I’ve been talking to the local authorities, they’re concerned about the resignation of the local authorities,” State Senator Monica Martinez (D-Suffolk) said of the controversial Hochul housing proposal. revealed earlier this month.

Suburban officials accused Hohul of undermining them by promoting the idea of ​​abolishing local zoning regulations within half a mile of a transit station, as well as requiring municipalities to comply with housing regulations or the state would intervene to make it easier or for developers to build.

Assemblyman Jarrett Gandolfo (R-Nassau) called such ideas the “Long Island Devil,” saying that Hochul’s $250 million to help local residents build housing would not even be enough for his South Shore neighborhood.

“Many small towns have railway stations in the city center. It will dramatically change the nature of these communities,” he added.

The governor also angered Republicans by pushing for new laws to ban gas connections in new “smaller” buildings in 2025 and new, larger buildings three years later, effectively saving many New Yorkers from gas stoves in the future.

“When the budget comes out, that might change a bit. But why right now, wherever I go, you’re talking about how the hell it’s going to work?” Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are keeping an eye on the extent to which Hochul is sticking to her housing and climate change proposals along with other priorities like MTA funding and child care, as well as details on how she wants to create a new subsidy to spur housing development in New York after the controversial law expired last year.

“More psychiatric beds, more funding for deviance courts, more supportive housing,” said State Senator Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), who was among the progressives who voted against LaSalle last week.

And, of course, the budget is ultimately the financial document that will show how much the Empire State plans to spend in the coming fiscal year, following the approval of a record $220 billion budget last year.

“The threat of a recession and budget deficits next year prevent us from continuing on a path of runaway spending that ends with another record budget. This will be an important litmus test that will show us how ready she is to give in to the liberal wing that blocked her nomination as a judge, ”said Barclay.

Hochul said she will propose a budget that strikes a balance between progressive pragmatic politics ahead of looming budget battles over housing, climate change and bail, but will put it off until her Feb. 1 speech to give details.

“We are looking at factors, factors that judges can consider in relation to serious crimes. I think it’s the right balance,” she repeated earlier this week at a press conference in Albany.

On Friday, the spokeswoman did not comment as the wait continued for what the governor would offer next week.

Political insiders on both sides of the aisle say the upcoming budget bills will go a long way in demonstrating how much Hochul really wants to challenge progressive lawmakers, emboldened by the committee vote rejecting LaSalle.

According to State Senator Anthony Palumbo (GOP, State Senator Anthony Palumbo), the budget process and the Byzantine edge with which it gives governors an edge over lawmakers could be the ally she needs after a tough January to start her a recently won four-year term of office. Suffolk).

“The budget is the governor’s best leverage to correct the bail reform and disclosure failures that caused the public safety crisis we are now facing. I hope she has the political will to stand up to the progressive wing and make a real statement on behalf of New Yorkers,” he said.

“We should see her ready to fight next week!” he added.