A01070 Summary:
BILL NO | A01070 |
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SAME AS | SAME AS S07118 |
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SPONSOR | Bichotte Hermelyn |
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COSPNSR | Levenberg, Epstein, Walker, Gibbs |
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MLTSPNSR | |
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Add Art 35 §847, Exec L | |
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Enacts the "Michael K. Williams law" to establish a grant program to incentivize counties and municipalities to reduce prison populations; makes an appropriation therefor. |
A01070 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)   BILL NUMBER: A1070 SPONSOR: Bichotte Hermelyn
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the "Michael K. Williams law" to establish a grant program to incentivize counties and municipalities to reduce prison populations; and making an appropri- ation therefor   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1: Establishes that the act shall be known as the "Michael K. Williams Law". Section 2: Amends the executive law to provide grants administered by the commissioner of the division of criminal justice under the attorney general, to county governments. These grants may be awarded to counties upon submission of an application denoting the ability to collect and analyze local criminal justice and incarceration data regarding racial and ethnic disparities and; provide for ways to decrease local jail and prison populations within the county while monitoring racial and ethnic disparities among the incarcerated populations and; establishes a path- way to terminate contracts with counties where crime rates rise at a rate of more than three(3) percent. Section 3: Appropriates a total allocation through the program of seven million dollars ($7,000,000). Section 4: Appropriates a sum of up to and including, three hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($350,000) per grant. Section 5: States that each county may submit no more than one applica- tion annually. Section 6: States that the act shall take effect immediately.   JUSTIFICATION: Michael K. Williams was an American actor, producer, and racial justice advocate who grew up in East Flatbush, going on to be successful in the film industry and lending his voice, as an Ambassador to the Innocence Project and ACLU. "Our criminal justice system has swallowed up too many people I love," Williams famously said. Over-sentencing in predominately Black and brown communities across the state has led to a dramatic inequality in the incarcerated population. Attempts to lower prison populations through sentence reduction and waivers have been carried out in such a way that minority groups contin- ue to be disproportionately represented in these systems, making up fifty-two (52) percent of the prison population as recently as 2020 1. In New York City, Black and Latinx people make up just 52 percent of the population, but comprise 90 percent of jail admissions2. These dispari- ties not only affect those within the prison community, but also those who were formerly imprisoned, with studies showing that of the $1.9 billion lost in earnings recorded in 2021, eighty (80) percent of those loses were borne by the Black and Latino communities. Studies done by the Brennan Center for Justice and the Center for Ameri- can Progress have also shown positive projections for governments that institute policies incentivizing reductions in mass incarceration with direct focuses on equality through specifically targeted grant quali- fications and crime reduction safeguards0). Criminal justice practices that have been successful in reducing crime both pre, and post, incarceration include: community policing through collaboration with local business and citizens; increased recreational opportunities for youth, increasing the availability and use of alterna- tive-to-incarceration programs such as restorative justice programs and substance abuse treatment; and employing community corrections approaches such as risk/needs assessments, intensive wraparound services, and comprehensive case managementluBy utilizing local and community based approaches, and encouraging data collection and analyza- tion, including data on racial and ethnic disparities, this bill serves to both reduce the prison population and keep our communities safe.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2021-22: A09506; Referred to codes   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
A01070 Text:
Go to top STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1070 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 13, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the "Michael K. Williams law" to establish a grant program to incentivize counties and municipalities to reduce prison populations; and making an appro- priation therefor The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Michael K. 2 Williams law". 3 § 2. Article 35 of the executive law is amended by adding a new 4 section 847 to read as follows: 5 § 847. Michael K. Williams grant program. 1. There is hereby created 6 within the division of criminal justice services a decarceration grant 7 program to be administered by the attorney general acting through the 8 commissioner to award grants to county governments for the implementa- 9 tion of evidence-based programs designed to reduce crime rates and 10 incarcerations. 11 2. A grant may be awarded upon the submission of an application to the 12 attorney general which: 13 (a) demonstrates the ability to collect and analyze local criminal 14 justice and incarceration data including data on racial and ethnic 15 disparities; 16 (b) establishes benchmarks to track decarceration, a clear methodology 17 to account for the number of people in custody and growth rate over the 18 past three calendar years; 19 (c) provides a means to develop a strategic, collaborative plan to 20 decrease local jail/prison populations which shall be public facing and 21 outline how funds, if awarded, shall be used to reduce the prison/jail 22 population in the county over time; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01180-01-3A. 1070 2 1 (d) sets goals for the reduction of racial and ethnic jail incarcera- 2 tion disparities; 3 (e) demonstrates that the crime rate within the municipality did not 4 increase by more than three percent. 5 3. If a grant is awarded upon the submission of an application, funds 6 cannot be used to construct new jails or correctional centers. 7 4. Financial savings created through decreased incarceration shall be 8 used to sustain programmatic and community-based efforts to reduce jail 9 incarceration. 10 5. Grantees shall consult with municipal, county and state law 11 enforcement agencies, courts, public defense practitioners and communi- 12 ty-based organizations to plan, implement and evaluate. 13 6. If a grantee fails to meet the incarceration rate and racial and 14 ethnic disparities reduction requirements under subdivision two of this 15 section in any two consecutive years of the award, the attorney general, 16 acting through the commissioner, shall terminate the award. 17 § 3. The sum of seven million dollars ($7,000,000), or so much thereof 18 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Michael K. Williams 19 grant program as established pursuant to section 847 of the executive 20 law from any moneys in the state treasury not otherwise appropriated and 21 made immediately available to the division of criminal justice services 22 for distribution to municipalities for the purposes of carrying out the 23 provisions of this act. Such moneys shall be payable on the audit and 24 warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the 25 commissioner of criminal justice services in the manner prescribed by 26 law. 27 § 4. Any financial assistance in the form of a grant may be provided 28 for any amount from funds appropriated specifically therefor up to and 29 including the amount of three hundred fifty thousand dollars. 30 § 5. Each county may submit no more than one application annually. 31 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.