Federal officials would bypass states like New York, which have policies seen as soft on crime, and give law enforcement dollars directly to local governments under a new bill introduced by the Empire State’s GOP delegation.
The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY) and shared exclusively with The Post, would distribute some federal law enforcement dollars directly to local municipalities if states have laws on the books, such as New York’s Clean Slate Act and loose bail laws.
“Taxpayers should not be lured into supporting a regime in Albany that makes us less safe,” Molinaro wrote in a statement to The Post.
“This bill will take money out of Albany and reinvest it directly into the local police, courts and governments that actually do the work to restore public safety,” he continued.
The legislation is co-sponsored by all but one of New York’s Republican members of Congress.
The bill, which is scant in detail, would require the Justice Department to withhold funding specifically for states if they do not allow judges to base bail eligibility on a “dangerousness standard” or if they have “a have a general policy that provides for the sealing of criminal records of criminals.”
New York is the only state in the country that does not have a “danger standard,” something lawmakers abandoned in the 1970s. Last year, the Empire State signed the Clean Slate Act, which seals a person’s criminal history for purposes unrelated to law enforcement and some background checks.
Crime and public safety remain one of the most pressing issues on voters’ minds in November.
At a university in Siena poll conducted last monthAccording to 54% of likely New York voters, crime has gotten worse in the past year.
“If Albany politicians like John Mannion insist on supporting pro-criminal policies like cashless bail that are abandoning our families, then federal funding should go directly to the men and women in blue who risking their lives to keep us safe,” Central New York Rep. Brandon Williams wrote about his Democratic challenger, state Sen. John Mannion (D-Onondaga), in a statement to The Post.
It is a well-known playbook for the Republicans. Former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin campaigned against Gov. Kathy Hochul by reporting heavily on crime in 2022. Democrats have since tried to regain ground on the public safety narrative.
Josh Riley, the Democratic leader trying to defeat Molinaro for a second time, has previously said he supports the Clean Slate Act.
“There are many things we need to do in the criminal justice system, both to keep our community safe and to ensure we address many of the inequities we’ve seen in recent years,” Riley said in a statement 2022 interview with WSKG News.
“We need to fully fund law enforcement. I will continue to support efforts to achieve that goal,” Riley wrote in a statement to The Post Sunday.
The Republicans’ bill will almost certainly languish in the Democratic-controlled Senate even if it passes the House before the end of the years.
