New Rules for NY Prisons, Artificial Intelligence as Gov. Hochul Signs Stack of Bills Into Law

Story by By Jimmy Vielkind/Gothamist/New York Public News Network

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.

Hochul, a Democrat, spent the last few weeks negotiating agreements with state lawmakers over changes – called “chapter amendments” – that would win her signature on pending legislation. Last week, she announced an agreement to sign the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which will legalize physician-assisted death.

As the week ended, Hochul signed 73 bills – including changes to who pays for new natural gas hookups – and vetoed 49 others, including a measure that would have required mental health leave for State Troopers who engage in critical incidents.

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’s wrongful death statute that she vetoed for the fourth time.

“We’ve had a lot of tough bills to consider, but we got to the right place,” the governor said Monday.

The additional prison cameras are included in an omnibus bill passed in the wake of the beating deaths of two incarcerated people: Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi. The governor negotiated with prisoner rights advocates and State Sen. Julia Salazar, a Democrat from Brooklyn, to change some components.

Full story at Gothamist

Image Credit: Darren McGee- Office of the Governor