Albany wraps. The session summarized.

0:00 Speaker 1 With us today is Zach Williams, and he is the Star Albany reporter for New York Post. Zach, anything going on in Aubany, I mean, is it quite at summertime?

0:13 Speaker 2 Well, today was something out of the ordinary for this late in the month of June. John the Assembly reconvened this week to finish its business for the year. You might recall some prior interviews me mentioning how the legislative session was supposed to end June eighth. The State Senate managed to more or less meet that timeline by finishing

0:33 up the next day, but the Assembly Democrats had to come back one more time, pass a whole bunch of bills, some of them controversial, most notably one that called the Challenging Longful Convictions Act that would make it much easier to challenge your criminal conviction with new evidence. You know, current state law right now, because of this important court

0:54 decision a few years back, basically leave it to DNA evidence only if you want to challenge your conviction. But as Politico New York observed earlier this week, you know what’s so interesting about the session as a whole was not so much the new bills that got passed, but in many ways the bills that had to be changed.

1:13 You know, bail reform, huge thing in twenty nineteen, campaign finance system. We talked about that, I think earlier this month, and a whole bunch of other things where they were essentially tweaking all these progressive reforms that you know, basically to fix problems if you will, that have emergency passed them in recent years. So the Assembly kind of ended

1:36 the session with a whimper more than a bang. You know, the proposed legislation expand health there for legal immigrants didn’t pass, but it looks like they’re wrapped up for the year at least at this point. They can always come back later in the year.

1:51 Speaker 1 So this is yet everything is wrapped up now. So what what should people know? I mean, it’s a Sunday morning. What what? What are you going to tell them? What? What? What really happened?

2:05 Speaker 2 Well, something that’s important to always remember is that the legislature can reconvene whenever this Speaker, Carl ac Or sees that the Majority leader Andrea Stewart cousins want them to. But it’s been a very tumultuous year. You know, you have Governor Kathy Hochel, the relative moderate against these progressive supermajorities in each chamber, And there was a lot of

2:26 disagreement over a whole host of issues throughout the year. And I think we will be very interesting this summer as to watch how the governor kind of reasserts her political position after a bruising in a few months.

2:39 Speaker 1 Well, understood, I mean, anything new on bail reform, because people are moving, they don’t feel safe, they’re not going to go to the office.

2:48 Speaker 2 Well, I think as far as bail reform goes, you know, there will be pressure to change it once more next year. It’s an election year after all. But I think over the summer into the fall, in the winter, you know, both sides are going to be keeping score. You know, what are examples that show bail reform is working and

3:03 what are examples of people that were let go ahead of their trials only to commit additional crimes?

3:10 Speaker 1 Understood? Well, I mean, if that’s what we have to say, that’s what we have to say. I mean, I just worry about our city and our state.

3:22 Speaker 2 Well, there’s always stuff going on in Albany, and when it seems quiet, that’s definitely the time to listen a little bit more carefully, and it’s going to that sort of dynamic is definitely going to be playing out the next at least the next few weeks until something unexpected at just like last summer with all the Supreme Court cases.

3:40 Speaker 1 I understand, Zach Williams. Anytime there’s a breaking news, please call us and well, you know you’re gonna have breaking news in New York posting you’ll have breaking news on WABC. Thank you.

3:52 Speaker 2 Sounds like a plan. Thanks Sean, thank you,