It's been a long week for the Governor. The budget is due today.

0:00 Speaker 1 What is today is former Governor David Patterson of New York State, and he was also the Democratic Chairman of the Democratic Party of New York State. Governor, it’s April first weekend, and I hate to say it’s April fools, but it’s not April fools. What the heck is going on with the budget? I understand there’s a lot of

0:22 turmoil up in Albany. Everybody’s holding to their guns or New York is ever going to be safe again?

0:32 Speaker 2 Well, John, we could have a real mess on our hands because even if the Legislature would like to stay a few extra days to pass the budget, we are running into Passover and Eastern next week, and because of the observances, the legislature might have to journ and probably not come back before April tenth or April eleventh. So

0:57 these you know, hours here this week and are critical. The Assembly Speaker Carl Hasty said that they really haven’t had meaningful discussions about taxes yet. That’s what most of the progressives want. But if they haven’t even had those conversations yet, it’s gonna be hard for them to have them before they’re gone.

1:16 Speaker 1 But Governor, Governor four hundred and eighty four thousand people left New York. Is there anybody left to pay the taxes?

1:24 Speaker 2 Well, that’s a very legitimate point, and it’s I read once that seven that there were seven thousand people who paid most of the taxes totally, and you know, so that’s an issue that has to be considered. One of the issues that no one’s really talking about is that Hogel had a plan for bail reform last year and

1:54 the legislature didn’t do it, but they sort of rewarded at the end of the year because when Congressman Velden at one point had pulled even in some polls with Hochel in the race for governor, a lot of the progressives hit the streets and are given credit for helping to bail her out. So the politics is involving itself

2:18 in this particular practice. Hoko is standing far more firmly on the bail reform right now, but the Senate and the Assembly seem intransient up on this point. However, one thing that’s different this year than last year is some of the Democrats who are moderate, like a state Senator named Martinez who voted for bail reform in twenty nineteen

2:45 was beaten by a Republican in twenty twenty but retrieved her seats in twenty twenty two. Is saying that we’re going to have to listen to the voices of the constituents, the voices of the people, and the polls that are out now show that nearly seventy percent of the population would like to see an increase in the discretion of

3:11 judges to make those decisions at trial. I really did understand the thrust of the bail reform that the Democrats passed in twenty nineteen, because you had people sitting and rotting in jail, and they are the more time people sit in jail, innocent or guilty, the more recidiism there is. However, it’s also important to point out that the bail reform

3:37 would give judges a last chance and a lot of defendants who have already been arrested several times, and you should not just get bailed because there is and I think the legislature could read consider that point and wind up in a pretty good position because of the other issues they seem to be swing the negotiations in their favor.

4:05 Speaker 1 Governor. You know, we’ve said it at our five o’clock shows so many times who deserves to be safe? Twenty million New Yorkers that want to be able to walk around safe, or two thousands or three thousand violent repeat criminals.

4:22 And I tell you, I take the Kleenex out and I’m crying for New York because if we can’t make a difference right now, we are still gonna keep losing consumers. We’re gonna still keep losing citizens. We lost four undred eighty four thousand already, and we’re gonna start losing businesses if businesses are abused. I don’t know what to say anymore.

4:47 I mean, I think we’re at the crossroads of saving New York or losing New York.

4:54 Speaker 2 Well, I think that the polls that are out right now have influence on the legislature, and the polls show that people would like to expand the discretion of judges at the bail hearing. And I don’t really know why this has become that controversial an issue, because that used to be the standard in New York for years. John

5:23 And ironically, in nineteen seventy one, it was the Republicans who held the state legislature and also the governor’s seat, with Governor Rockefellers, they didn’t trust the judges, and they were actually the ones who restricted the judges’ capacity to have discretion at the bail hearing. So perhaps the Democrats, who are basically in control right now the Senate and

5:54 the Assembly should think about that, because the laws of the way they were years ago would work very well right now.

6:02 Speaker 1 Well, Governor Patterson, I pray for New York. I love New York. You love New York, and I pray for New York to survive because so many people have left, there’s nobody left to pay for the taxes.

6:17 Speaker 2 That’s been a problem in a lot of places. People think that the resources have never run out, but they do.

6:26 Speaker 1 They do, they do. Governor. I look forward to talk to you Monday or Tuesday to see if there’s any progress, and have a nice weekend, and we pray for New York.

6:35 Speaker 2 Thank you so much, Thank you, John