Democrats Push Tough-on-Crime Bills at Statehouses Ahead of Reelections

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As reelections near and violent crime emerges as a top issue on voters’ minds, some Democratic governors and state lawmakers are resorting to tough-on-crime legislation, often against the will of the party’s progressive camp. Most want to take more violent offenders off the street, either by rolling back bail reform or with tougher sentencing guidelines. In New Mexico, an omnibus anti-crime bill was signed into law by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in early March.

In New Jersey, a Democrat-sponsored bill to roll back bail reform passed the statehouse on Mar. 24. New York’s Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul just signaled to cram a bail reform rollback into her upcoming budget proposal, resulting in a political pushback from Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Gov. Grisham placed the crime bill, House Bill 67, at the center of her legislative efforts this year, especially a bail provision that makes it easier to lock …