February 21, 2025
Yesterday the Executive released 30-day amendments to the initial executive budget released by the Governor last month.
Ordinarily, the amendments are technical – a misspelled word, etc. In this case there is some policy in the amendments worth noting.
Below I am using information provided this morning in Capitol Confidential. These are in no particular order and don’t include every change found in Hochul’s new budget legislation.
- Prison closures
Hochul would be able to close up to five prisons over the next fiscal year under a new part added to the Public Protection and General Government bill.
The state’s fiscal year begins April 1 and will end on March 31, 2026. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision also would be required to collect and report data on relocation efforts within 60 days of a closure.
- The state Commission on Correction
The state Commission on Correction is a little-known entity that’s supposed to provide some level of oversight of jails and prisons in New York. Jails are at the county level; prisons are at the state level.
Some members of the Legislature have been critical of the commission since the death of Robert L. Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility, arguing that it could have been prevented if there was stronger oversight of the facility.
There’s also a Citizen’s Police and Complaint Review Council within the state Commission on Correction. It has nine members, all appointed by the governor.
Hochul is proposing a few changes to those entities. This first section relates more to administrative duties.
The chair of the commission would be allowed to serve as the chair of the council or the Correctional Medical Review Board when there’s a vacancy.
That council would be required to publish an annual report with recommendations on how the commission can enhance its performance and efforts to improve conditions at correctional facilities.
That board would have to produce an annual report for the commission.
And this second section is focused on oversight powers.
The commission would be required to visit and inspect at least once a year all jails, state prisons, specialized secure juvenile detention facilities for older youth and secure facilities operated by the Office of Children and Family Services. The commission would have to create a section of its website where complaints can be submitted by the public and people in prison.
A mailing address also would have to be on the website, and prisons would have to provide incarcerated people with the commission’s website and mailing address. The commission also would be allowed to conduct private interviews at correctional facilities of employees, who could have an attorney present, and any incarcerated person.
- Body cameras in prisons
Body cameras are used within state prisons based on policy from the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. This would set new rules for body cameras.
Body cameras would have to be worn by correction officers, security supervisors, and civilian staff who directly supervise anyone incarcerated. The cameras would be required to remain on but not recording.
This legislation would spell out several instances in which the wearer would have to begin manually recording with the camera. Here are two lists.
That would be required during any interaction with an inmate or visitor, when someone is observed breaking the rules, during all escorts and vehicle transports of inmates, when there is any use of force, if there’s an imminent threat, when a gun is unholstered, and during “general movement” of inmates.
It would also be required in congregate shower areas and during a strip search but officers would be required to announce that they are recording. It would also be required during disciplinary hearings and as directed by agency staff.
Recordings from body cameras would have to be kept for at least 90 days under the proposal.
The proposed changes come after body cameras unintentionally caught the severe beating of Brooks in December. If these rules had been in place then, cameras would have been required to be on and recording.
- Physician, PA and special assistant oversight transfer
The state Department of Education currently manages the licensing and oversight of doctors, PAs and assistants to specialists in New York.
This would move that responsibility from the Education Department to the state Department of Health. That would include the creation of a new Board of Medicine.
It would also allow for more independence of physician assistants to practice without the direct supervision of a physician. That would be allowed if the PA has more than 8,000 hours of experience, is practicing primary care medicine or if their hospital employer gives them privileges.
This is a 116-page amendment that has a lot of new language related to medical professionals and their oversight.
- A statue of Harriet Tubman at the U.S. Capitol
Within the U.S. Capitol is the National Statuary Hall Collection. New York is currently represented there with statues of Robert R. Livingston and George Clinton.
This would form a commission to replace the statue of Livingston with one of Tubman. The commission would be responsible for selecting the design of the statue and submitting an official written request to the architect of the U.S. Capitol.
- Gold Star Family License Plates
A Gold Star family is one who’s lost an immediate relative who was on active duty. This would create a special, distinctive license plate that those families could obtain from the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Families would still be charged the regular registration fee but the service charge would be waived.
- Retirement for New York City public employees
I don’t know enough about this to give you all the details but this would change state law surrounding the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System, the Board of Education Retirement System of the City of New York.
It’s going to make a lot more sense if you send this to your union and ask them to analyze it.
- Odds and Ends
There are a few other small or technical amendments:
Adams: Hochul announced a set of new guardrails Thursday for New York City Mayor Eric Adams as an alternative to his removal. One of them — more funding for the state Deputy Comptroller for New York City — is included in her amendments.
Cellphones in schools: Principals at schools would also be able to allow students to use an internet-enabled device for educational purposes.
Emergency medical services: Language has been added to require the development of a “statewide comprehensive emergency medical system plan and county EMS plans” and declare EMS an essential service. But language would be removed from state law that requires every county, town or village to provide EMS services.
Internet access: $50 million has been added to Hochul’s budget for the County Partnership Grants Program, which provides funding to expand access to broadband.
Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities
When Congress passed its year-end funding bill in late 2024, it gave Medicare’s telehealth flexibilities a temporary lifeline, extending key policies through March 31. For now, patients can still access telehealth from home without being restricted to rural areas. Audio-only visits remain covered, ensuring that patients without reliable internet can stay connected to their providers. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) can continue offering telehealth services at sustainable reimbursement rates however it is clear that the future of Medicare telehealth is increasingly dependent on what’s happening with the federal budget and whether the temporary extension (through 3/31/25) will be extended either as part of a Continuing Budget Resolution that is necessary to avoid a government shutdown on 3/14) or passage of a new budget.