New York assembly speaker says 'raising penalties' isn't a 'deterrent' for criminals, rejects governor's plan to curb retail theft

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) said Tuesday that "raising penalties" is not a "deterrent" for criminals, the New York Post reported.

Heastie rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul's (D) plan to curb shoplifting and assaults against retail workers by increasing sentences. Hochul called for stricter penalties for violent shoplifters as part of the state's budget proposal unveiled earlier this year.

"I can't predict a handshake deal," Heastie said Tuesday, referring to budget negotiations between state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Hochul.

"I guess I use the analogy that when the government does a budget and resolutions that we're in the same galaxy. I think where the budget negotiations are now, it feels like we're on the same planet. I don't think we're in the same country or in the same state yet, but we're at least on the same planet on what has to happen on all of the big items," Heastie explained.

According to the assembly speaker, the biggest issue regarding the budget concerns housing, the Daily Gazette reported. Additional topics up for negotiation include Medicaid spending and increased sentencing and penalties for assaults against retail workers.

"All the other times that we've raised penalties on different classes of people, that hasn't stopped assaults. We still need to get to the root issues of what's going on. We'd be open to talking about the organized crime rings that people have, but I just don't believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent on crime," Heastie argued. "You can stop anybody in the street and ask them what is the penalty for assaulting anybody and they probably won't be able to give you an answer."

He added that New York lawmakers are concerned about the uptick in assaults on retail workers.

"I don't want to make it sound like we're not concerned about stemming what's happened to retail workers," he continued. "We care very deeply about that. We just have other ideas of how to get there."

Heastie noted that this year's budget negotiations are moving along more quickly because "it's not loaded with policy" like last year's proposal.

"I've always told you that one of the reasons why budgets take a lot of time is when you get bogged down on policy. At the end, the numbers are the numbers, money is money. You can only spend what you have," Heastie told reporters.

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