Just two weeks before the state budget deadline, Gov. Hochul told lawmakers that she wants to make major changes to the controversial bail reform law, first passed by the legislature in 2019.

Her decision is part of a package of criminal justice changes the Governor is seeking at the 11th hour. But since then, she has refused to answer reporters’ questions about any specifics.

What You Need To Know

  • Hochul pushes bail reform, but some say she hasn’t made case

  • Hochul has introduced a package of criminal justice reforms she would like enacted as part of the budget due next week

  • Lawmakers and others are not eager to make these changes, and some believe she hasn't made the case on why they are needed

  • Hochul has dodged questions about specifics from the press, but then wrote an op-ed defending her proposal

This was how she responded Wednesday morning after leaving a public event to a waiting police-driven SUV.

“Governor can you answer a few questions about your bail proposal please?” We shouted. “Governor can you give us just a minute. Help explain why you’ve proposed this?”

The Governor’s hasty exit came a day after Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin ran away from reporters in Albany who were also trying to ask about bail reform.

Benjamin later apologized and took some questions. He and the Governor then wrote an op-ed column in the Daily News which says, in part:

“Blaming bail reform for the increase in violence that cities across America are facing isn’t fair and isn’t supported by the data. But that doesn’t mean the bail law as it currently stands is perfect, either. When one out of four people arrested for gun crimes goes on to be re-arrested, we haven’t done enough.”

Some lawmakers believe the Hochul administration needs to better make its case before they agree to any changes in the budget.

“It’s an election year, so whenever we see slightly peculiar or puzzling behavior it’s because people are looking at polls and they are looking at districts and maps,” said Fordham University Political Science Professor Christina Greer. “So, Gov. Hochul and her proxy Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin probably really don’t want to discuss this as an item because it doesn’t help them on the left and it doesn’t help them on the right.”

This week, two studies, one from the Brennan Center, the other from the City Comptroller, found that a sharp increase in crime is not the result of the bail reform law.

The Comptroller looked at month to month data for those arrested pre-trial.

“No, they simply don’t,” said City Comptroller Brad Lander. “This is an anxious time, I understand why people see these individual cases and know crime rates are rising, but the evidence is very clear, bail reform did not contribute to rising crime rates.”

Lawmakers are very protective over the bail reform and other criminal justice changes they made, arguing they were enacted to make the system more equitable.

“I think the general sense is that nobody in our conference is wanting to go backwards. Absolutely not,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. But I’ve always said about the conference, and it’s true that we are always trying to make sure that what we do hits the mark.”

This week, members of the Assembly discussed those changes in a closed-door conference. Sources said while some are open to making changes for gun crimes and repeat offenders, many don’t want any changes at all. And there is also a sentiment that changes can be done outside of the budget which is due next week.