After fight that delayed state budget, Hochul says, ‘We are done with bail’

Hochul won a change to the bail law that will no longer require judges to use the “least restrictive means” to make sure a defendant returns to court.

The update pleased neither bail reform advocates, who argue it went too far in weakening the law, nor critics who say judges should be allowed to consider a defendant’s “dangerousness.”

But it’s more than enough for the governor.

“We are done with bail — under the circumstances that are before me today,” the governor said in a meeting with Buffalo News editors and reporters Monday morning.

She said she still supports the basic premise of bail reform, which was meant to make sure people don’t languish in jail awaiting court proceedings simply because they can’t afford to make bail.

And she said there are other parties, notably prosecutors, who must play a role in making sure people are charged appropriately. But she said the hard-won reform change will limit confusion for judges.

“We accomplished what we needed to do,” Hochul said.

Bail reform was one of a number of newsworthy issues Hochul addressed in a 30-minute meeting at The News’ offices in Larkinville as she touted the terms of the final state budget that passed last week.

The other topics included:

Budget delays

State legislative leaders said the budget was delayed unnecessarily because Hochul tried to address too many of her policy priorities, such as bail reform and affordable housing, in her budget plan.

The governor on Monday acknowledged she used her budget to push an ambitious agenda.

“Guilty,” she said. “Yes, it has a lot of policy. This is the one time of year the governor has a chance to really have a major hand in driving policy.”

And, she said, she was willing to pass a budget after its due date in order to see some of her goals achieved.

“It is always easier just to do a budget by the numbers,” she said. “That will always be the path of least resistance. But it will never be the path that I choose.”

Housing

A highlight of the governor’s State of the State address in January was her proposal to build 800,000 units of housing over the next decade.

Hochul said it’s an economic development issue, too, because the lack of affordable housing is the main reason people leave New York for other states.

But the State Legislature wouldn’t go along with a fundamental provision in the plan — allowing the override of local zoning regulations if communities didn’t reach housing growth goals — and Hochul had to drop the provision from the final budget.

“I knew it was ambitious,” she said. “I knew it was transformative in its scale. And then, as I saw, these issues do take time.”

Hochul said she isn’t giving up on the proposal, noting she was elected to a full, four-year term in November, spoke on the issue at a housing conference in December and had a plan prepared by January.

“So the fact that people are saying, ‘Well, if you’d only taken the time to build support’ — I didn’t have time,” Hochul said. “But I also didn’t want to miss the window to really start the conversation and say, ‘We’re talking about housing now.’ So now I have a year to build consensus and support around a plan.”

Housing advocates criticized the budget for not including “just cause,” or “good cause,” eviction language that makes it harder for landlords to eject residents from their properties.

Hochul said she was worried that the proposed language would prompt landlords to take more properties offline, limiting apartment supply and further driving up the cost of rent.

She said the way to make rental and owner-occupied housing more affordable, allowing more people to stay in their homes, is to encourage the construction of more housing.

Climate change

Hochul had proposed sweeping changes to state energy usage to reduce harmful emissions that are contributing to climate change.

The budget provision that grabbed the most attention called for phasing out natural gas-powered furnaces and appliances in existing homes in New York, with stiff opposition from utilities, Republican legislators and homeowners worried about the cost of conversion.

The more limited provision in the final state budget features an eventual ban on natural gas hookups in newly built homes and many other types of buildings.

Hochul said she ran into the kind of pushback that always greets major changes along these lines.

“This is the future. You know, there was a time when we heated our homes with coal. And I’m sure people didn’t like the idea of, like, ‘I’m used to coal. I don’t want to hurt the guy who brings coal to my house,’” she said. “But, ultimately, the change is for the better. It is good we’re not burning coal in our houses to heat them.”

She acknowledged a need for major improvements in the electric grid to support this transition from gas to electric. And, she conceded, there is an initial cost to homeowners to convert from gas to electric, but they will see savings over time.

“The whole purpose is to make it easier on our consumers to pay their bills and help transition to the clean energy future,” she said.

Nuclear power

The 2021 shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester County led to an increase in the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity in the state.

Hochul on Monday said the state has invested in renewable energy, including a $9 billion initiative to bring hydroelectric power from Canada to New York City, and she seemed open to reviving nuclear power production in the state.

“We’ve had a lot of advocates come to us and there seems to be a change in people’s attitudes about nuclear,” Hochul said in response to a question.

The aging Indian Point plant was shut down in part because of concerns about its proximity to New York City. Three other nuclear plants remain in less populated parts of upstate New York.

“The environmental advocates in some circles are talking about this, too, as a better option than staying longer on natural-gas and fossil-fuel generated power,” Hochul said.