Republican members of the New York state Assembly on Monday introduced legislation to put in place recommended changes to the state’s the law that limited the use of solitary confinement in state prisons.

Key provisions to the conference’s recommendecd changes to the HALT Act, which went into effect in 2022, include:

Expanding the list of criminal behavior eligible for segregated confinement to include conduct consistent with violent felony offenses
Removing language that currently prevents individuals involved in riots, escapes or attempted escapes from being placed in segregated confinement
Allowing short-term disciplinary confinement in a Special Housing Unit or Residential Rehabilitation Unit for individuals who repeatedly engage in misconduct not eligible for disciplinary confinement, after other interventions have failed
Allowing short-term protective custody in segregated confinement when no safe housing alternative is available
Providing DOCCS with greater flexibility in administering out-of-cell programming and managing repeat offender

“After years of policies that have driven correction officers out of the workforce and made our prisons more dangerous for both staff and inmates, it’s no surprise our correctional system is in crisis,” Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra said in a statement. “Instead of addressing one of the root causes — the HALT Act — the state has relied on temporary fixes like lowering hiring standards and spending more than $1 billion dollars to deploy the National Guard. The HALT Committee offered recommendations developed and endorsed by the administration’s own agencies. Everyone deserves to go to work knowing their safety is a priority — not an afterthought.”

NYSCOPBA President Chris Summers is joining Assembly Republicans to introduce legislation which would implement the recommendations of the HALT committee— formed as part of the deal to end the prison strike just over a year ago pic.twitter.com/L8PlEhgs10

— Jack Arpey (@jack_arpey) March 16, 2026

Changes to the HALT Act was the primary demand from correction officers who implemented an illegal 22-day strike across New York’s prisons last year.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) released their own recommendations to changes to the HALT Act last year.

Republican lawmakers argue that not enough has changed since then.

“So our question is today, where are the reforms?” Ra said.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office for a response.