Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Thursday he’s not worried about potential changes to the state’s new laws on cash bail being used as a bargaining chip during negotiations on the state budget after Gov. Cuomo said this week he would raise the issue behind closed doors.
Heastie, D-Bronx, told reporters his position hasn’t changed: he wants to see data on how the new laws are working before considering any amendments.
But both Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins have said they both support changing the new law to eliminate cash bail altogether while allowing more discretion, albeit limited, for judges to hold someone in jail before trial for high-level charges.
Cuomo said this week that he thinks it would be reasonable for those changes to be made by April 1, which is when the state budget is due. Stewart-Cousins, meanwhile, said this week that changes likely wouldn’t come before an agreement on the spending plan.
Heastie said he wasn’t concerned about the issue coming up as part of negotiations on the state budget, which is often used as an instrument for trading on key issues.
“I never worry about things being used as instruments of trade,” Heastie said. “The governor feels that’s the best vehicle but we haven’t had any discussions about changes to bail.”
Cuomo will start meeting with Heastie and Stewart-Cousins sometime in the next few weeks to start negotiations on the state budget, which is due at the end of March.
The state’s new laws on cash bail were initially approved as part of last year’s state budget. Republicans and members of law enforcement have since called for those laws to either be amended or repealed to address concerns over public safety.
Heastie, and other Democrats, have accused opponents of the new laws of exacerbating a small number of cases in which defendants were allowed to remain out of jail before their trial, despite the nature of the alleged crime or their criminal history.
“If roughly 105,000 people have been arrested and processed throughout the criminal justice system throughout the state and we’ve only heard of a few sensationalized stories, I think we should have a little patience on how we want to look and tweak and amend,” Heastie said.
Cuomo, this week, said he also wanted to consider data on the new bail laws before approving any changes, but that he was ready to start discussions with lawmakers on what could be done by the end of March.
“I have no doubt that reform, improvement, is an ongoing process. I have no doubt we have to make additional improvements to the system,” Cuomo said. “I have no doubt there are consequences of that reform that will require additional reforms, and we will be making them.”
Advocates in support of the new bail laws have, meanwhile, taken to the capitol in recent weeks to lobby against any changes to the new laws. Sources close to those discussions have said they’re concerned about what the end result will be if lawmakers open the door to changes.