New York Budget Talk Progress Reported

New York Government leaders are inching closer to a state budget, days into the start of the new fiscal year.

Reports out of Albany indicate progress is being made to changes in the cashless bail system to add more crimes to the list of offenses that would be eligible for bail while non-budget issues like allowing to-go liquor that was popular during the pandemic to become permanent are also being settled.

Those close to the closed-door negotiations between Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders have said they are hopeful a budget will be ready for passage before the stop-gap measure that is keeping the government running and state workers paid runs out April 7.

Bail reform that was enacted in 2019 to avoid unfair incarceration of minorities and others who may not be able to afford to post bail has been at the center of debate almost since it went into effect with law enforcement officials and others at odds with civil rights groups over the impact of the reform on repeat offenses and the overall crime rate.

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In a recent news release regarding a domestic violence investigation in Delaware County, Sheriff Craig DuMond, a vocal opponent of bail reform, included a closing statement saying, “Crimes such as this one are a true and clear illustration of why the current legislation is dangerously flawed.”