New York lawmakers confront hot-button issues in rare return to Albany
At the end of June, most New York state legislators are usually well away from the Capitol in Albany, getting a summer jump after they complete their legislative duties for the year.
But in a rare twist, the State Assembly’s 150 legislators were called back to Albany this week to deal with unfinished portions of the people’s cases left behind when they left two weeks ago at the supposed end of their annual session.
As the Senate wrapped up its votes, the Assembly ran out of time, forcing it to reconvene to consider a handful of bills, including a few hot-button proposals around immigration, abortion, criminal justice and climate change.
One such bill, passed by the Democrat-led Assembly on Tuesday, would make it easier for people convicted of crimes to have certain convictions overturned, with the aim of helping those wrongfully convicted. The legislation, which drew last-minute opposition from the state’s prosecutors’ association, was previously passed by the Senate and will now go to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk.
Another bill headed for the governor’s signature will provide legal protection for New York abortion providers who prescribe drugs to patients in states where such care is prohibited.
The return of lawmakers has been accompanied by a whirlwind of familiar factors and ramifications: the intervening period has seen an overwork of lobbying by a constellation of special interests, from labor groups to environmentalists, trying to quash legislation or push certain bills over the finish line .
In limbo, for example, is a bill that would allow the state to expand health insurance to as many as 240,000 undocumented immigrants who are residents of New York. The bill passed the state Senate earlier this month, but Ms. Hochul has expressed concerns about the cost, leaving it unclear whether Carl E. Heastie, the Speaker of the Assembly, will put the bill to a vote.
Jessica González-Rojas, a Queens Democrat who introduced the measure, said lawmakers discussed it privately Tuesday morning. She was optimistic that a vote would take place, although its fate was still unclear.
“There’s been a lot of disinformation and unfortunately a lot of it comes from the governor’s office,” she said in an interview. “Our undocumented communities cannot sign up for health insurance, so they are forced to use Medicaid when things are very dire. That is poor healthcare, and that is a major cost to the state.”
While the federal government has indicated that the state could get a waiver to use certain federal funds to pay for the program, Ms. Hochul, a moderate Democrat who has preached fiscal restraint, has argued that the state could eventually get on the hook. Hochul officials estimate the cost of the program could reach as much as $3 billion a year — a number that bill proponents have dismissed as excessive.
“I also need to be aware of the extraordinary costs imposed on New York State taxpayers at a time when the warnings about our finances are troubling,” the governor told reporters in Albany on Tuesday.
One of the more drastic things that are in balance is the development of offshore wind farms along the coast of Long Island.
Ms. Hochul has called offshore wind, which is typically more productive and less disruptive than land turbines, an important part of her climate plan. The governor, along with labor and environmental leaders, praised the approval of a series of projects off the coast of Long Island as a critical step that would support New York’s environment and economy. But development will require additional permits to connect the turbines, which are located between 24 and 30 miles from the coast, to onshore power plants. Senate Democrats passed the bill earlier this month, but it’s unclear how the Assembly will proceed.
Failing to pass the measure, which would allow the state to requisition existing parkland for an underground transmission line, threatens to delay the entire venture, supporters, including environmental and labor groups, say. The measure has found opposition among citizens and Republican representatives on Long Island, who say the developer has not adequately addressed safety concerns.
The bill passed Tuesday to challenge wrongful convictions is a narrower version of a similar bill passed by the General Assembly passed earlier this year, is intended to provide individuals with a legal mechanism to obtain a review of wrongful convictions, even in cases where they plead guilty. Among other changes to increase a person’s access to proof of their innocence, the bill would also allow those convicted under laws that were later decriminalized to petition to have that conviction overturned. lift.
“Under the laws in effect in our state, far too many New Yorkers are behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit,” Heastie said in a statement.
The prosecutors’ group argued that the state already had laws to protect people from wrongful convictions and that the bill would serve to remove the finality of criminal convictions or plea deals.