#Albany pols approve criminal justice and Cuomo impeachment fund bills

ALBANY — State lawmakers, keen on wrapping up the legislative session, called it quits late Thursday after spending hours at the negotiation table tweaking a controversial criminal justice proposal and MTA restructuring plan backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

“As our scheduled session concludes tonight, we are proud of the historic progress we made this year. If ongoing discussions on any outstanding issues require action, we stand ready to come back when and if necessary,” state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) said in a statement before making closing remarks on the chamber floor and adjourning just before 10 p.m. Thursday.

The Assembly is expected to continue voting on bills early into Friday morning.

Last minute negotiations between Democratic leadership broke down over the “Clean Slate” bill that would seal most conviction records following a waiting period and legislation that would split up the MTA’s Board Chair and CEO positions into two posts.

Clean slate proposed sealing records for individuals with misdemeanors after three years, and after seven years for those with felony records. It would have applied to individuals with any crime on their record, except registered sex offenders, individuals with pending criminal charges in the state, those probation or under parole supervision would be ineligible.

While bill sponsor Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz (D-Queens) argued the changes are necessary for individuals applying for jobs or new housing, opponents like Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Westchester) said the bill is flawed.

“The bill was not ready for prime time. Most of us agree with the concept, but it has too many flaws in it,” he told The Post in a phone interview late Thursday.

“It will prohibit a lot of people who now get background checks from getting them and that includes some schools, entities that deal with people with disabilities and a lot of people who are mandated by local governments to do background checks.”

“It has excludes sex crimes, but other than that it includes all crimes — such as violent crimes,” he explained.

Cuomo’s 11th hour proposal that would nominate Sarah Feinberg — the interim president of the New York City Transit Authority — as the MTA’s first MTA Chairwoman and name Janno Lieber — the MTA’s chief development officer — the authority’s CEO, remains open-ended.

The bill that would have cemented the change was reportedly dead Wednesday, but sources said the bill will be voted on in the state Assembly by Friday. The state Senate will return to Albany in late June to act on the bill as well and confirm the leadership roles, but its fate is unclear.

“We will continue to discuss legislation and will be back for hearings later this month but there is no agreement,” a state Senate Democratic source said.

They also passed the “Less is More” act that would remove technical parole violations such as being late for an appointment, missing a curfew or finding alcohol or drugs in urine samples, as a reason for reincarceration. It would also grant time off parole sentences for good behavior and provide an expedited path to a judicial hearing reviewing violations.

But Republicans argued the bid to help ex-convicts re-enter society is a bad move during a time when many New Yorkers are worried about the crime wave that has swept cities across the state.

“The governor himself said [the] biggest three issues facing New York City: crime, crime and crime. One hundred and thirty four people have been killed or wounded in the city of Buffalo as the result of violent crime,” seethed state Sen. Minority Leader Rob Ortt during a press conference in Albany Thursday.

“The issues that people really care about — their safety — that’s a backseat. In fact, we are pushing legislation that I believe continues to undermine that very safety. So the biggest challenge facing New York is crime…we’re doing nothing to turn that around. The policies we continue to push have exacerbated that issue.”

Meanwhile, a bill that would authorize the Legislature to use state funds to pay for the sprawling impeachment investigation into Cuomo including multiple allegations of sexual harassment, the withholding of COVID-19 nursing home death data and the alleged misuse of state resources to write his pandemic memoir ‘American Crisis,’ was on track to clear both houses.

“We voted in favor because you know what, now there’s no excuses for Senate and Assembly Democrats, you want to impeach him: You can, you have the funding, you certainly have all the evidence,” Ortt said.

He also slammed Democrats for “normalizing” Cuomo within recent months — including state Sen. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Westchester) — by appearing with the scandal-scarred governor, after previously calling for his resignation following scandals.

Democrats also approved legislation late Wednesday permitting nonprofits to dip into a $100 million fund to purchase financially distressed hotels and commercial space for affordable housing units.

It comes on the heels of a proposal advanced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January to convert empty office buildings and hotels decimated by the coronavirus pandemic’s hit on tourism and business leases into alternative space.

The wind-down of the legislative session seemed anti-climatic, following April’s passage of the $212 billion budget including far-reaching laws that increased taxes on businesses and the wealthy, legalized mobile sports betting and approved recreational marijuana.

Usually there’s a frenzy of activity, but the state Capitol has been closed to the public since last March due to the pandemic.

The sparsely attended hallways, normally teeming with lobbyists pining for a meeting with powerful lawmakers, advocates armed with colorful signs and chanting for their pet issue’s approval, were nonexistent.

One longtime lobbyist told The Post Thursday morning he spent the week stalking politicians at the Empire State Plaza’s entrance on the Capitol’s ground level.

Ortt argued the session will be remembered more for “what wasn’t done, than what was done.”

Legislation that would have made permanent the popular pandemic-era “cocktails-to-go” law failed to pass both chambers as well as a bill requiring the state Education Department to study public schools and how well they are teaching about the Holocaust.

The Adult Survivors Act, which would open a one-year window for sexual abuse victims to sue their abusers, failed to clear the Assembly following earlier passage in the Senate.