George Borrello

State Senator George Borrello was disappointed in the lack of emphasis on public safety in Governor Hochul‘s State of the State address.

Borrello said he thought it was good and important that Hochul addressed crime in her speech, “I have my doubts that she’s going to be able to convince the progressives, who really run the State Legislature, that there need to be more changes to bail reform but I’m glad to hear her acknowledge that.”

He also was glad to hear of mention of the out-migration problem the state has as well as the proposed investment in mental health, “New York State has really done a lot of damage in the last couple of decades, closing down institutions that help people who have severe mental illness, closing so many, hundreds and hundreds of mental health observation beds, tying the hands of our mental health professionals, all in the name of, ‘We don’t want to stigmatize mental health.’ It’s turned the streets of our communities into mental institutions.”

Borrello said he took issue with Hochul’s proposed Housing Compact, saying that housing affordability is an issue across New York and that a lot of it is due to bad state policy, “So, if you want to encourage new development, you need to do so by removing so many of the restrictions we have on developers, addressing the high taxes and over-regulation that we have; and trying to force communities to increase their housing stock, particularly by saying, ‘We’re going to override your local zoning,’ which is a lot of what this Housing Compact will do, it will say, ‘You must accept multi-family dwellings. You must accept low-income housing.’ That’s not the way to approach this.”

Borrello added he is planning to reintroduce a bill which is a stronger version of Kendra’s Law. The legislation would strengthen Kendra’s Law by allowing longer hospital stays for people who fail to follow their court-mandated, assisted outpatient treatment. Current law allows for an involuntary 72-hour hospitalization. Borrello and now-retired Democratic State Senator Diane Savino co-sponsored the bill last year, but it did not pass. Borrello said he’s hoping to find new, bipartisan support for it this session.

George Borrello

Proposed legislation in the State Senate would expand the scope of Kendra’s Law and broaden the standard for involuntary hospitalization of the most severely mentally ill.

State Senator George Borrello is co-sponsoring the legislation with Democratic Senator Diane Savino.
The legislation would strengthen Kendra’s Law by allowing longer hospital stays for people who fail to follow their court-mandated, assisted outpatient treatment. Current law allows for an involuntary 72-hour hospitalization. Borrello said in a release that this time frame is often inadequate to stabilize a patient. In these instances, the bill would allow mental health professionals to request longer hospital stays.

Kendra’s Law is named in honor of Kendra Webdale of Fredonia who was tragically killed by a man with a long history of schizophrenia in a subway-shoving incident in New York City in 1999. She was a friend and schoolmate of Senator Borrello’s during their years at Fredonia High School.

Another major component of the legislation would broaden the standard for involuntary hospitalization if an individual’s mental illness renders them unable to meet their own basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing or health care. This is the standard recognized by most other states.

Kendra’s Law was scheduled to sunset this summer, but Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed extending the law for another five years. She also is on board with making it easier to recommit someone who had fallen under the law’s jurisdiction in the past.

Borrello said, “The broader standard for inpatient hospitalization would bring New York into alignment with other states and recognize the common-sense truth that if your illness leaves you unable to meet the basic needs for survival, that constitutes as much of a ‘danger to yourself’ as being suicidal. Expanding this definition would allow us to help the seriously ill among our homeless population, giving these people a chance at a safer, more stable life.”

According to an article in the Albany Times-Union, officials in the state capitol say if marijuana was legal in New york, it would cost about $4500 a pound. That’s compared to the average cost of $3500 a pound that is currently charged in Colorado.

The reason for the $1000 difference is due to taxes, housing and some of the nation’s highest energy costs.

According to the report, power is a major expense for medical marijuana producers who raise their crops in “grow houses,” explained Megan Sanders, CEO of Gaia Plant Based Medicine, a Colorado firm that produces medical varieties of pot.

Sander testified Wednesday during a state Senate hearing on the medical marijuana industry. The hearing was conducted by Sen. Diane Savino, who’s been a leading voice on legislation to allow the use of medical marijuana.

Savino’s measure, co-sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, is included in the Democratic-led Assembly’s budget resolution, which passed Wednesday afternoon.