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State senator briefs Manhattan board on budget fights: mental‑health commitment, discovery and school phone rules
Summary
State Senator Brad Hoylman‑Sigal told Community Board 2 members the Legislature and governor were negotiating the budget and outlined priorities including involuntary commitment reform, discovery rules, mask regulations and a proposal to restrict cellphones in schools. He also listed Senate 1 House spending priorities for health and housing.
State Senator Brad Hoylman‑Sigal addressed Manhattan Community Board 2 at the March meeting to summarize the ongoing state budget negotiations in Albany and highlight several proposals he described as the governor’s priorities and areas of legislative negotiation.
Hoylman‑Sigal said four large policy topics were in play: changes to involuntary commitment standards for people in crisis, reforms to criminal discovery rules, a renewed mask regulation targeting people who use masks to conceal identity during unlawful acts, and a proposal to limit student use of cellphones in schools.
“I’m literally back from Albany an hour ago, but I wanted to come by and say hello and just update you on a budget: right now we’re in Albany negotiating the budget,” Hoylman‑Sigal told the board. He said his own bill to expand the types of mental‑health professionals who can direct an individual into treatment was included in the governor’s budget proposal and that the involuntary‑commitment topic would be a long conversation because it implicates civil‑liberties concerns.
On discovery reform, Hoylman‑Sigal said the aim is to tighten prosecution procedures so that cases are not dismissed on technical mistakes, and he said District Attorney Alvin Bragg supports some reform proposals. About masks, he said the governor’s proposed renewal of a mask ban is targeted at people who “wear masks to disguise their identities while they engage in unlawful activity” but acknowledged First Amendment and legitimate health concerns.
Hoylman‑Sigal also described the governor’s proposal on student cellphone use as one the senator supports as a parent, noting the proposal would remove cellphones from classrooms but not from homes or outside school.
The senator summarized elements of the Senate 1 House budget numbers he said were on the table for health care and related needs: $1.5 billion in health investments statewide, $355 million for hospital funding, $250 million for nursing homes, $100 million for New York City Health + Hospitals, $50 million for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and a $35 million reproductive freedom and equity grant program. He said those allocations represent the Senate’s policy priorities but that negotiations with the governor remained ongoing.
Hoylman‑Sigal also noted a recent win: he said his office filed an inquiry with the New York State inspector general and that Yeshiva University had agreed to recognize an LGBTQ student club after a dispute; he called that a “little bit of light in an otherwise dark period.”
Board members asked follow‑up questions about proposed Medicaid work requirements and how New York would respond to possible federal reductions; the senator said the state faces difficult choices and that some proposals in the Senate 1 House budget would redirect other funds toward healthcare supports for vulnerable groups.
Hoylman‑Sigal said the budget process would continue through the negotiations with the governor and encouraged residents to follow the process and participate in events related to congestion pricing and other revenue sources under discussion.
