New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed laws requiring more cameras in state prisons and mandating that developers of new AI models adhere to safety protocols as she cleared her desk of more than 100 bills before the new year.<\/p>\n
Hochul, a Democrat, spent the last few weeks negotiating agreements with state lawmakers over changes \u2013 called \u201cchapter amendments\u201d \u2013 that would win her signature on pending legislation. Last week, she announced an agreement to sign the Medical Aid in Dying Act,<\/a> which will legalize physician-assisted death.<\/p>\n As the week ended, Hochul signed 73 bills \u2013 including changes to who pays<\/a> for new natural gas hookups \u2013 and vetoed 49 others, including a measure that would have required mental health leave<\/a> for State Troopers who engage in critical incidents.<\/p>\n Many of the vetoed bills had cost implications that Hochul said she wanted to address in the upcoming budget. She also listened to business groups who pushed for vetoes or amendments to other bills, including a change to the state\u2019s wrongful death statute that she vetoed for the fourth time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve had a lot of tough bills to consider, but we got to the right place,\u201d the governor said Monday.<\/p>\n The additional prison cameras are included in an omnibus bill passed in the wake of the beating deaths of two incarcerated people: Robert Brooks<\/a> and Messiah Nantwi.<\/a> The governor negotiated with prisoner rights advocates<\/a> and State Sen. Julia Salazar, a Democrat from Brooklyn, to change some components.<\/p>\n Salazar\u2019s original bill<\/a> would have expanded the State Commission on Correction to six members from three and required that one member be a previously incarcerated person. With Hochul\u2019s amendments, the body will instead add two part-time members, one of whom is a former prisoner.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m disappointed that we are not making more robust changes,\u201d Salazar, who chairs the chamber\u2019s corrections committee, said. Even with Hochul\u2019s changes, she said the new law is \u201ca really serious step to make our state prisons less violent and safer for incarcerated individuals and for staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocacy groups offered different assessments. The Legal Aid Society said the bill was \u201cwatered-down\u201d and concluded that \u201cAlbany failed to meet the moment.\u201d The Correctional Association of New York, which has a formal outside watchdog role, said the new law<\/a> will give it more access to Corrections Department data and enhanced rights to inspect prisons.<\/p>\n Hochul said Monday that her administration had already made changes over the course of the year,<\/a> including the installation of cameras. Prison guards staged an illegal three-week wildcat strike last winter. Thousands of National Guard troops remain in state prisons to bolster staffing.<\/p>\n \u201cI was proud to work with the advocates, proud to work with the sponsors, and get to a place that allowed us to do more,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n She also agreed to sign the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act, or RAISE Act<\/a>, which requires developers to disclose safety information and steps they\u2019ve taken to prevent severe risks \u2013 like an AI model that is used to develop nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n