Once again, Albany played host, as it often does, to lobbyists and concerned citizens looking to make the case for policies and funding on various issues that have the attention of the state’s citizens. But something that was special about this past week was how several mayors across the state arrived in person to argue why they believed their respective towns and cities deserved their share of the upcoming budget. That budget, which is far from being decided on, will likely be the largest state budget in the country, in no small part because so much is allocated to New York City. And the city’s mayor, Eric Adams, was indeed in Albany last week talking with legislators about what he thinks New York state should be doing.

The mayor did arrive to ask for more money as he contends with several issues, but rather than focusing on where I think the city was overstepping, I wanted to discuss a unifying issue that was on New Yorkers’ minds this past November as well—bail reform. While Majority and Minority lawmakers often disagree, one of the areas Majority lawmakers have seen as concerning was the issue of public safety and how bail reform has negatively impeded that. Something the mayor and my colleagues and I agree on is the concerning measure that prevents local judges and justices from implementing their direct discretion on cases, especially when the suspect in question is one who is considered a threat to public safety.

As cited by the mayor himself, New York City has anywhere between 1,700 and 2,000 repeat offenders. That’s a huge problem that would need to be addressed in any township or city, and it’s exactly the kind of position radical Progressives from this exact city have put the rest of us in! But the solution is so straightforward, and I and the Minority Conference in the Assembly have several proposals worth highlighting. The previously aforementioned return of Judicial Discretion, as proposed back in 2022 with bill A.5265, would be a good place to start, but I would like to see the state take up proposals such as removing gun crimes from the no-bail list of offenses that Majority set forth (A.7066, 2022). There was also a bill that I drafted that has been held in codes since last year, the ‘Three Strikes and You’re In’ Bill (A.5334, 2022), which would authorize life in prison without parole for persistent violent felony offenders, a measure that I think warrants serious consideration when New York City representatives are telling us how much of a disaster bail reform has been.

The bottom line is that we all know bail reform has been poorly implemented and managed, and the reality is that all the concessions progressives have seemingly granted to the state in response to the rising crime rate have done us little good. We need to reconsider how we deal with bail reform, otherwise this problem will continue.