Hochul talks tough on crime

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Mar 04, 2024 View in browser   By Jason Beeferman With help from Irie Sentner Gov. Kathy Hochul scoffed at the notion that she was ever not tough on crime during an announcement on improvements in carjacking, capital region crime, and gun seizures. | Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul Gov. Kathy Hochul wants you to know that she’s always been tough on crime. It’s just that others have gotten in the way of her message. Speaking at the state police headquarters earlier today for an announcement about declines in carjackings and Capital Region crime, Hochul scoffed at the notion that she was ever not tough on crime. “I've always been strong on these issues,” Hochul said. The event was an opportunity for the governor to continue to publicize her initiatives to fight crime across the state. It also comes at an important moment for the governor as she charts her political future in a state whose suburban communities have become increasingly hostile to policies, like bail reform, that are perceived as soft on crime. Hochul stands two years away from her 2026 reelection and two years out from 2022, where she eked out a 5.6-point win against Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin. That close-call victory was spun up into a narrative that painted New York’s Democrats as an embarrassing anomaly — while nationally Democrats had thwarted fears of a red wave, New York’s Republicans were winning at local, county and congressional levels. And Hochul’s surprisingly competitive election was further proof. Today she continued to distance herself from those bail reforms first approved before she took office, and she alluded to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for allowing them to come into law. “I was being, I guess, blamed for policies that were put in place by my predecessor,” Hochul said. The governor said her work to rein in bail reforms happened even before the election against Zeldin, referencing the 2022 budget where she rolled back some of those Cuomo-era changes. Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesperson, responded: "This administration has been in place for three years and at some point they’re going to have to realize they’re not bystanders and people are going to start wondering if you spend all your time blaming the last guy, what are you actually doing? Gimme a break." Representatives for the governor also pointed to her work to pass a slate of gun laws after the Buffalo massacre and her creation of task forces to fight crime. In the meantime, the governor said some judges are continuing to use “past standards that no longer exist” when granting bail, referencing the recent Times Square attack on two NYPD officers, where a group of migrants were released without bail. “You can draw your own conclusions about our commitment, but it is strong,” Hochul stressed. — Jason Beeferman From the Capitol Several candidates running for the state Assembly landed a key endorsement from the Sunrise Movement. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo THE YOUTH THINK THEY’RE COOL: Sunrise Movement NYC, the local arm of the youth-led progressive climate organization, is endorsing a slate of progressive insurgents for Assembly. Claire Valdez, Jonathan Soto, Eon Huntley and Eli Northrup are getting Sunrise support, Playbook has learned. Valdez is running against Assemblymember Juan Ardila in Queens; Soto against Assemblymember Michael Benedetto in the Bronx; and Huntley versus Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman in Brooklyn. All three also have NYC-DSA’s endorsement. Northrup is running for Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnel’s open seat, where former Hochul aide Micah Lasher is the heavy favorite. "As we fight for a New York with green social housing, world-class public transit, and a renewable energy economy where billionaires pay their fair share, we need principled legislators leading the fight in Albany,” Tyler Hack and Adriana Vink, electoral co-leads at Sunrise Movement NYC, said in a statement. – Jeff Coltin ESSENTIAL APPROVAL: The federal government has approved the state’s request to expand eligibility for the Essential Plan to New Yorkers earning up to 250 percent of the federal poverty line, or about $38,000 annually, Hochul announced today. Approval is effective through Dec. 31, 2028. The expansion, which is made possible by flexibilities provided by the Affordable Care Act, is expected to cover approximately 20,500 people who would have otherwise been uninsured and 12,000 DACA recipients enrolled in Medicaid or Child Health Plus. Nearly 70,000 New Yorkers who were previously enrolled in one of the state’s qualified health plans are expected to switch to the Essential Plan, saving each of them about $4,700 annually on insurance premiums and cost-sharing. The Hochul administration applied for the coverage expansion last year. — Maya Kaufman HOCHUL AND SCHOOLS: New York has more than $1.3 billion in unexpected revenue. But Hochul still wants to keep a lid on school spending. Hochul today defended her $233 billion budget plan that includes a change to how education is funded in New York, a move that would result in cuts to about half of the state’s 637 school districts. The change is meant to address how many districts have seen student enrollment declines, but continue to receive funding from the state based on a formula compiled more than a decade ago. “I understand the passion behind this,” she told reporters during a public safety announcement. “I understand the desire for people to stir this up.” Hochul’s budget would still boost education spending overall by nearly 3 percent. And she pointed to last year’s budget to fully fund foundation aid. “The thought they could sustain that increase every year — I assume rational people understood that can’t happen,” she said. — Nick Reisman FROM CITY HALL City Budget Director Jacques Jiha’s comments were a much clearer admission that City Hall does not expect to meet the legally mandated date to close Rikers Island. | Julie Jacobson/AP ‘NOT GOING TO HAPPEN’: Mayor Eric Adams’ budget director said “we know” that closing the jails on Rikers Island “is not going to happen by 2027.” Jacques Jiha’s comments at a City Council budget hearing were a much clearer admission they don’t expect to meet the legally mandated date than is typically shared by City Hall. Adams and his top aides have raised concern that the jailed population is too high — and that construction is moving too slowly on the four “Borough-Based Jails” meant to replace the complex. Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi last week even raised the possibility of having to house detainees in other counties, or state facilities, to meet the law, Playbook reported. Critics say Adams isn’t using his powers to reduce the population and speed up construction. But Jiha said today the city needed Albany to raise its debt capacity because of the jails project. The billions in capital funding for the jails is all booked up to 2027, when he argued it should be spread out through years beyond that, since “we know we’re not going to spend those resources by 2027.” Extending the timeline would reflect reality, and let the city borrow more for other projects. But Comptroller Brad Lander disagreed that the jails are a major factor there — while still supporting Hochul’s plan to raise it by $12 billion. A progress report from an oversight board also found that, according to the Department of Correction, “the goal to have Rikers Island closed by 2027 and ultimately replaced by borough-based jails is not on track to be met.” — Jeff Coltin On the Beats Assemblymember Harry Bronson and state Sen. Jessica Ramos held a rally in the Capitol today to advocate for a parity increase in the minimum wage between upstate and downstate regions. | Shawn Ness/POLITICO RAISING THE UPSTATE MINIMUM WAGE: The Senate and Assembly Labor Committee chairs, state Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Harry Bronson, are advocating to raise upstate New York’s minimum wage to match downstate’s threshold. “The average rent in Brooklyn is the same as the Hudson Valley,” Bronson, a Rochester Democrat, said. “$2,170 a month. It is cheaper to buy groceries on Long Island than it is in Ithaca… It is not true [that] cost of living is substantially lower in upstate than it is in New York City.” The minimum wage in New York City is $16 an hour, the rest of the state is at $15 an hour, up from $14.20 an hour last year. “What we need is for parents to make a living wage,” Ramos said at a news conference at the Capitol. “It used to be that all these… minimum wage jobs were supposedly for high school and college students. And that couldn’t be further from the truth in this day and age… people who are serving us in stores and fast food restaurants who don’t make a living wage are raising families.” The Upstate Parity and Minimum Wage Protection Act would also remove a loophole that allows employers to not give their employees raises in years of increased unemployment. “While the final [2023] legislation was extremely important, there were loopholes… which is why we had to come back,” Theo Moore, executive director of the labor group Align, said. — Shawn Ness NYC BACKS WASTE REDUCTION: New York City continues to push lawmakers to tackle packaging and plastic trash clogging the city’s waste stream. Adams’ office recently circulated a memo largely backing the extended producer responsibility measure sponsored by Environmental Conservation Committee chairs Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah Glick. “The bill provides much-needed reimbursement to local governments to help offset some of their solid waste costs, which only increased during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the memo states. “For the City alone, the potential savings could be $150 million or more annually.” But there is one caveat: The city wants paper products included in the definition of packaging material. Paper products comprise about 8 percent of the city’s waste stream and only 28 percent are recycled. “Including paper products in this bill would allow DSNY to significantly increase the amount of paper products that are being recycled,” the memo states. — Marie J. French SUMMER LEARNING SIGN UP: Families can now sign their kids up for the city’s popular summer learning and enrichment program. The city Department of Education and the Department of Youth and Community Development today kicked off the application process for Summer Rising, which serves up to 110,000 elementary and middle school students. The summer school and camp starts in July. “Applications are going live today, just in time for families to plan their summer months,” Adams said in a statement. The city is also rolling out a new enrollment process within MySchools, an online directory of public schools and programs and application system for families. Last year, officials made several changes to ameliorate the admission procedure — it is no longer on a first come, first serve basis. Families can apply at any time during the application window. That will continue this year. And similar to last year, some students will have priority, including pupils with disabilities and those in temporary housing and foster care. The portal will close on March 25. Families will be notified of placement confirmations via their MySchools account and schools in mid-April. — Madina Touré BOOSTING BUILDERS OF COLOR: Adams unveiled a $50 million initiative today to help developers of color obtain construction loans. Under the program, the city will back financing deals pursued by minority builders in an effort to help overcome racial barriers in construction lending. The initiative will allow builders classified as Minority Business Enterprises to access as much as $500 million in private lending. — Janaki Chadha ANOTHER CANNABIS LAWSUIT: New York’s cannabis regulators have been hit with another lawsuit — this time over their enforcement of hemp regulations. It’s not the first time hemp companies have sued over the rules. Regulations aimed at clamping down on intoxicating hemp products first made their way into emergency regulations last year. In November, a state court enjoined regulators from enforcing those rules. But the state went on to make those rules permanent. Hemp companies are now suing regulators in the Southern District of New York, arguing that the rules are arbitrary and capricious and that their constitutional rights were violated when the state attempted to enforce them. More than 75 percent of the hemp companies’ previously compliant products would violate the new regulations, and the state has so far failed to give any basis for why those rules are needed for public health, the hemp companies allege in the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the Office of Cannabis Management said it doesn't comment on pending litigation. New York hemp businesses are asking the court to enjoin the state from its “unconstitutional enforcement” of hemp regulations. — Mona Zhang CONSUMER COMPLAINTS: Attorney General Tish James released her list of the most common complaints that her office received in 2023. In order from most common to least common complaints: Retail sales (5,569 complaints) Landlord/tenant Automobile Credit, banking and mortgages Consumer services Internet Utilities Home repair and improvement Travel Entertainment (533 complaints) “With families struggling to make ends meet, consumers expect and deserve quality products and services for their hard-earned money,” James said in a statement. “When New Yorkers raise concerns and file complaints with my office, we take action and work to hold bad actors accountable.” New Yorkers who experience deceptive or fraudulent consumer practices can submit a complaint form with James’ office. — Shawn Ness AROUND NEW YORK – Assemblymember Helene Weinstein, the longest-serving woman in the history of the state Legislature, is retiring after 44 years in office. (POLITICO) — Health experts are praising a $1 billion gift to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, but they wonder if it will be enough to address deep-seated health issues that pervade the borough. (The New York Times) — New York state is set to play a key role in President Joe Biden’s push to increase domestic chip manufacturing and decrease reliance on other countries. (Newsday) — Sea levels around New York City could rise as far as 13 inches in the 2030s, according to projections by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. (New York Post)   Follow us on Twitter Joseph Spector @JoeSpectorNY   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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