It’s been a lively week so far in Albany, with amendments designed to save our kids failing thanks to the Assembly Majority, and the all-important topic of bail reform being addressed by its most ardent defenders. Today, I wanted to break down these topics and share my thoughts.
On Monday, I introduced an amendment on the Assembly floor which would have provided that any mask mandate for children 18 years old or younger was illegal in New York state. This was designed in part as a response to the governor’s unwillingness to bring an end to the mask mandate in New York wholesale. The fact that I, an assemblyman, can enter the Assembly chamber without a mask, and the indoor mask mandate has been ended statewide but our children are still forced to wear them during their seven-hour school day, is an incredibly poor move on the part of the executive branch of this state. It’s made even more unthinkable because our state neighbors in New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware have all ended mask mandates in schools, while New York is dragging its feet. It’s frustrating that rank and file Democrats are unwilling to stand up to the governor and do the right thing for our children.
The issue is the same with bail reform, as some of the Majority members have held conferences this week actually cheering it on and pleading for it to continue. The stats don’t lie, with 43% of offenders set free due to bail reform re-offending once more. New York has dipped into dangerous territory with this policy, and to see some legislators champion it because they think it improves their image is disheartening. Ending bail reform will not return us to a pre-Civil Rights era as some supporters suggest, far from it – it enhances the power of the judicial system to set appropriate bail for appropriate crimes, thereby instilling a stronger sense of security in the community. If they can’t understand that, I don’t know what will help them learn.
The challenges of this year’s session aren’t going away anytime soon, and the issue of mask mandates and bail reform are still as hot-button as ever. But these are issues we know the people are passionate about, and our Republican Conference is as committed as ever to combating them.
