Republicans in Albany blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul as soft on crime one day after she released a budget proposal that included proposals to shutter up to five correctional facilities.
GOP senators also said Hochul’s idea to tackle retail theft with special “task forces” did not go far enough as they laid out the Republican priorities for the state’s legislative session on Wednesday morning.
“Our colleagues continue to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to crime,” GOP minority leader Rob Ortt said.
In her budget proposal, Hochul laid out plans to use $40 million of state funds to set up task forces of state police and district attorneys meant to focus on stopping and prosecuting retail theft.
“They have created the conditions that retail theft has spiked and now their answer to that is a task force,” Ortt said. “This task force will produce paper and not results.”
Groups representing grocery stores and other shops were quick to react to the governor’s plan as well, saying it doesn’t do enough to support local cops.
“We’d like to see more money go to local police forces. I don’t see state troopers dealing with shoplifting in local communities. She’s going in the wrong direction,” said Nelson Eusabio, from the National Supermarket Association and the Collective Action to Protect Our Stores (CAP) coalition.
The Governor also tucked a few lines into her 144-page budget briefing book calling on the state to shut down up to five prisons.
Ortt and the Republicans took the opportunity to criticize the proposed prison closures.
“They don’t think anyone should be in prison, so no doubt closing prisons is always going to seem like a good idea to them, and if they could close them all I’m sure they would,” Ortt said.
While no specific facilities have been named in the governor’s proposal, Hochul’s budget chief told reporters Monday that the decision would be left up to the director of the state corrections department. Under the governor’s plan, the facilities would receive a 90-day notice before shutting down.
Democrats who spoke with The Post didn’t necessarily disagree that prison closures were the result of their policies to reduce the number of people behind bars.
“I think that’s right,” Assemblymember Harvey Epstein told the Post. “Crime is down, incarcerations are down, so that’s a good policy. So if Democrats can reduce crime then we should reduce prisons. It all goes hand-in-hand.”
“Not only isn’t it not aligned with moderate and humane systems around criminal justice, but it’s just not good economic development or use of taxpayer dollars,” Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal said.
Some Democrats, especially those with prisons in their districts, are throwing cold water on potential closures.
Hudson Valley state Sen. Peter Harckam told the Post he understands downsizing and saving money, but doesn’t want the state to rush to a decision.
“A proposal to close several correctional facilities statewide with just 90 days’ notice would require immense logistical and transitional planning for it to approach any semblance of feasibility,” Harckam wrote in a statement.
“The potential disruptions to correctional staff and local economies, as well as to the incarcerated individuals and their families, would be substantial. I think we need to hear more details.”
Orange County Sen. James Skoufis and North Country Assemblyman Billy Jones, both Democrats, have also expressed concern about the proposal.
The state has shuttered more than 20 correctional facilities in the last 20 years, including six closures as recently as 2021.