Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging the Legislature to address the issues of terror and chaos resulting from random violence by individuals with mental illness. The question remains, will she have the determination to see it through?
She plans to use the upcoming session to address two main issues: reforming New York’s rules for involuntary commitment, including inpatient treatment, and making it easier to petition for mental-health treatment under Kendra’s Law.
Hochul intends to introduce new legislation for both aspects in her executive budget, with the hope that they will be ambitious enough to bring about meaningful change.
In addition, she should consider making Kendra’s Law permanent, amending the no-bail law to include a “dangerousness” standard, and addressing related fixes to combat mental illness effectively.
Despite previous failed attempts, recent events like the latest subway incident may inspire lawmakers to finally take action.
Hochul has made progress in certain areas, such as implementing new regulations to ensure comprehensive outpatient-discharge plans and working on strategies to keep individuals in psychiatric care longer to prevent them from returning to the streets.
However, pushing lawmakers to act will require challenging the opposition from advocacy groups that oppose mandatory mental-health treatment.
To bring about sensible changes to mental-health laws, Hochul must push hard and rally support from like-minded Democrats in the Assembly and state Senate.
With the Legislature currently being influenced by a radical minority, achieving reform will be an uphill battle, but Hochul, as the Governor, has the authority to drive change.
If she is committed to making a difference, she must be prepared to take decisive action and rally support to address the mental health crisis in New York effectively.
