Governor Kathy Hochul delivers 2023 State of the State (January 10, 2023)

Kathy Hochul delivered her first State of the State Tuesday as an elected Governor of New York.

She pledged to expand the number of available beds in psychiatric treatment facilities, address public safety concerns, and tie the minimum wage to the rate of inflation.

Hochul proposes a $1 billion investment in mental health that will include increasing the number of inpatient psychiatric treatment beds by 1,000, creating 3,500 units of housing for those with mental illness, increasing insurance coverage for mental health services, expanding outpatient services, and creating systemic accountability for hospital admissions and discharges to better address the needs of individuals suffering with mental illness.

Under public safety, Hochul plans to double funding for the Gun Involved Violence Elimination, or GIVE, program to $36 million. This will expand the use of evidence-based strategies – hot-spot policing, focused deterrence, crime prevention through environmental design, and street outreach – and result in the hiring of more than 150 police officers and prosecutors solely dedicated to combating gun violence within their communities.

She also said she will work with the State Legislature to clarify the State’s bail laws.

Hochul’s proposal for increasing the State’s minimum wage would be based on the growth in the year-over-year Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners (CPI-W) for the Northeast Region. To ensure that no single-year increase would threaten employment, annual increases would be capped. In addition, the proposal would also allow for an “off-ramp” in the event of certain economic or budget conditions.

Seventeen other states either currently tie their minimum wage to inflation or some other economic formula or are slated to do so, including three states which have minimum wages at or above $15 in 2023.

Hochul also introduced the New York Housing Compact’s plan to deal with housing shortages that will require all cities, towns, and villages to achieve new home creation targets on a three-year cycle. She said the proposals, if adopted by lawmakers, could spur the creation of 800,000 new homes over the next decade.

View Governor Hochul’s complete State of the State address here:

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) addressed the Las Vegas mass shooting when he held his weekly conference call with regional media on Tuesday.

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The Sunday night rampage by Stephen Craig Paddock killed at least 59 people and injured 527, some from gunfire and some from a chaotic escape.

Reed, who represents Chautauqua County in Washington, said any legislation that comes forward as a result of the incident should focus on mental health and preventing terrorism, not restricting Second Amendment rights.

“If this gentleman had a mental health illness or was on the radar because of extremism because of domestic or foreign terrorism, we have to look at that situation because I think there are areas that we can agree upon to address that,” Reed said. “But to fundamentally attack our individual Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the second amendment is something that I have not been supportive of in the past, nor do I believe targeting law abiding citizens is something that we should do as a result of a situation even as horrific as this.”

Congressman Reed also said that when incidents like this take place, the media should focus on the issue of mental health, rather than just gun control.

“Get into the issue of mental health and how we treat it in America. Get into the stigma and where it comes from, when we live in a state of denial to a large degree on the issue of mental health. Get into the reforms that are necessary to deliver medical care to those that are suffering from mental illness,” Reed said. “These are all short comings in the system that, if the media would help us highlight, and then highlight solutions and applaud efforts like Dr. Murphy’s effort to enact mental health legislation at the federal level that has now made this a higher priority than it has ever been in our history, I think that would do a lot into moving this issue into a realm of solutions, rather than to have the more political issues that we have seen.”

Reed is referring to Congressman Tim Murphy’s (R-Pennsylvania) legislation entitled “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act”- which was passed in 2016 and designed to provide additional funding and resources to assist those with mental health issues across the country.

However, critics of the bill have said it limits privacy for people with mental health problems, while also shifting the focus in the gun violence debate to mental health, although research indicates that people with psychiatric diagnoses are responsible for only 3-5 percent of gun violence.

Critics of Congressman Murphy’s bill as a solution to reducing gun violence and mass shootings say lawmakers in Washington should instead focus on stronger predictors of gun violence – which include access to guns, substance use, poverty, and a history of violence.

However, when it comes to addressing the issue of access to guns, including limiting the number an individual may own at any given time, he feels that is a violation of a constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

“So when you talk about taking away or freedom, I am very sensitive to that attack. What I want to talk about is protecting our freedom, but at the same time, where can we move the needle in a bigger and better way to try and prevent these types of incidents from happening,” Reed said.

Congressman Reed has received a total of $11,950 in campaign funding since taking office. He’s also received a “A” perfect rating from the organization. Despite this, Congressman Reed said he is not beholden to the group.

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A conference call with Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) and regional media representatives. Held Tuesday morning, October 3, 2017.

In this week’s conference call Rep. Reed fields questions related to the mass shooting incident in Las Vegas that took place Sunday Oct. 1, tax reform, and the Standard Data Act.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

Senator Catherine Young (R-Olean)

ALBANY – bill sponsored by Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean) designed to improve mental health treatment and increase public protection has been signed into law by the governor.

The new law was put into place on Wednesday and will ensure that mentally ill inmates are no longer released from a state prison without a proper mental health evaluation and treatment plan being established.

Beginning this year, corrections officials and community supervisors will be required to develop and, when necessary, implement a post-release mental health plan and provide medications for inmates who have received mental health treatment within three years prior to their release from a state correctional facility.

The bill also authorizes parole officers to initiate an involuntary mental health commitment proceeding if a newly-released parolee fails to abide by the treatment requirements set in their post-release plan, or is otherwise recognized to be a threat. In some cases, a parole officer may be the only professional in direct contact with a parolee after their release, yet they previously were not authorized to begin involuntary commitment proceedings.

Young says the new law follows extensive evidence that has been accumulated from Kendra’s Law, that demonstrates keeping persons with a mental illness who are released from incarceration in treatment keeps the patients, public, and police safer, while saving money for taxpayers.

Kendra’s Law, which Senator Young has previously worked to strengthened, has cut arrest and incarceration of mentally ill enrolled in it by over 80 percent.