District attorneys are fourth wheel in state budget throuple

The smokey backroom where the three state leaders hash out the budget must be getting crowded, as Gov. Kathy Hochul has apparently invited the state’s 62 district attorneys to the negotiating table. And legislative leaders indicate that they’re trying to work out a deal with prosecutors on the issue of discovery, rather than the governor herself.

For the third day in a row, a pair of district attorneys held a press availability in the state Capitol to discuss Hochul’s proposal to change the law governing how prosecutors turn over evidence to the defense. On Wednesday, that duo was Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace. The day before, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon visited the Capitol on Tuesday. And Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark came up on Monday.

The impromptu press conferences were all coordinated by representatives from Hochul’s office, though the governor herself has not taken questions from the Albany press corps since last week. “We're grateful that the governor and some of the legislators are working so hard, and the leaders are working so hard, in making sure that we get something that is fair and a lot more just,” Katz said.

But to hear the legislative leaders tell it, they’re working hard towards a compromise while the district attorneys refuse to come to the table. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said that he believes the Legislature has “tried as best we can” to address concerns raised by prosecutors, and it’s now on them now to meet them halfway. For reference, both chambers completely removed the governor’s discovery proposal from their one-house budgets. “(We) compromised on every single thing that they raised,” Heastie said. “I mean, just at some point, we need them to compromise as well.”

Katz didn’t deny Heastie’s claim that district attorneys won’t come to the table for a deal when asked about it. “We will not approve – nor will the Legislature approve – any language that doesn’t work, we think, for the best of the state,” she said, adding that she believes that “everybody’s still negotiating in good faith.” On Monday, Clark said that prosecutors had “compromised on some things already.” According to Katz, district attorneys and legislative leaders have “pass(ed) documents back and forth,” and “look(ed) at each other’s language.”

Seeing language is more than can be said for many members of the Legislature. Sources in both chambers have said that rank-and-file lawmakers have not yet seen or conferenced specific language related to discovery, even as leaders have sent their counterproposals to district attorneys to negotiate an agreement. The furthest that discussions among legislators seem to have gone is parts of language being read to members of the Assembly.

As it stands, and precluding staff-level negotiations, legislative leaders seem to be directly negotiating with the district attorneys rather than with the governor. Katz said that Hochul and her staff have remained very involved in the negotiation process. But Hochul’s budget director Blake Washington confirmed that the governor, Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins haven’t held a three-way leaders meeting since Saturday. No meeting took place on Wednesday, either, even as lawmakers prepare to pass a fourth budget extender and head back to their districts on Thursday. 

None of the six district attorneys who have trekked to the state Capitol – five of whom traveled from downstate – directly said they came at the behest of the governor, though all of them met with her while in Albany. (Hochul has made a point to post pictures of those meetings on social media.) Katz confirmed that Hochul has asked the prosecutors to act as her surrogates but could not say why Hochul was not speaking with reporters herself. “You’ll have to ask her,” Katz said. 

District attorneys have always been involved in discussions around discovery. That’s especially true when it comes to district attorneys from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan – all of whom answered questions from Albany reporters this week. They were a driving force behind attempts to roll back the 2019 reforms two years ago, an effort that ultimately did not pan out. An Albany insider noted that the prosecutors seem particularly hellbent this time to get exactly what the governor has proposed, which is “really squeezing” lawmakers. The insider said this indicates that Hochul is pushing for the discovery changes because it’s what prosecutors want, and she has therefore effectively left it up to the district attorneys to get it done.

Asked about prosecutors’ involvement in the discovery negotiations and their multiday presence in the state Capitol, a spokesperson for Hochul praised them for supporting the proposal. “District Attorneys are on the front lines fighting crime every day, and have first-hand experience with the inadequacies of the current discovery statute,” spokesperson Gabriel Formica said. “The Governor is grateful that (the District Attorney Association of the State of New York) has endorsed her budget proposal and has worked closely with District Attorneys to get this across the finish line.”

Formica didn’t say whether Hochul had asked the district attorneys to come to Albany, nor did he explain why the governor was not speaking to reporters herself. He instead defended her accessibility so far, noting that she was available to take off-topic questions twice in the past week. Only one was with the Albany press corps, roughly a week ago, while the other took place in Buffalo. Formica added that Hochul would “continue updating New Yorkers as necessary while the budget process continues.”