ALBANY – The 2023 state budget has been approved and includes some changes to the controversial bail reform laws enacted in 2019. Governor Hochul’s $220 billion spending plan grants discretion to judges when setting bail on individuals charged with certain crimes.
Highlights of the bail reform changes include:
- Allowing judges to set bail for gun charges that were previously subject only to release;
- Adding factors that judges must consider when setting bail for any bail-eligible offense;
- Closing problematic loopholes on Raise the Age and Discovery; and
- Making Kendra’s Law more effective.
“When it comes to the safety of New Yorkers, we cannot go backward – we must move forward toward a safer and more just state,” said Hochul of the enacted changes. A detailed explanation of the bail reform changes can be found here.
State Senator Sue Serino (R-Hyde Park) is not satisfied with the minor changes to bail reform. “New Yorkers deserved transparency in this process and what they got instead was another bad backroom deal,” Serino said, adding ” These tweaks to the bail law barely scratch the surface when it comes to addressing the public safety concerns plaguing communities across the state. We have to do better to help ensure the safety of all those we serve.”
Serino’s Republican colleague, Senator Mike Martucci (R-Middletown) also took aim at the minor changes. “The criminal justice reforms proposed in this budget, and specifically the changes to bail reform, are designed to make us feel safer but do not actually make us safer. Going back to 2020, progressives attacked the police, threatened to defund them, and undermined their ability to keep us safe. The majority in this Legislature even tried to gaslight New Yorkers into believing bail reform was not contributing to the statewide crime wave and any narrative to the contrary was political fear-mongering.”
