According to the Associated Press (AP), on Monday, May 19th, Governor Kathy Hochul said that the proposal is set to be included in a sweeping state budget bill that would be taken up by lawmakers in the coming days. Her office said that the measure would make it a misdemeanor for a person to “use a mask to conceal their identity when committing a Class A misdemeanor or higher crime or fleeing the scene immediately after committing such a crime.”
The proposal comes nearly a year after Hochul floated the idea to ban masks in the New York City subway system because of what she described as concern about people hiding their faces while commuting anti-semitic acts. At the time, the idea drew swift pushback and criticism from those who argued a mask ban could stifle protests if people participating wanted to hide their identities to avoid professional or personal repercussions.
Hochul then admitted that a mask ban would be difficult to craft and noted that it would have to include exemption for health, cultural or religious reasons. No legislation immediately emerged on the subject.
A few months later, state Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat, introduced a bill that would have made it a crime for people to wear face masks to harass or threaten someone. Hochul appeared to be open to the idea, but critics then argued that the proposal could lead to subjective enforcement and the proposal did not make it far in the legislative process.
The idea reemerged during recent negotiations over the state budget. At a press conference on Monday, Hochul said the term mask ban “was probably an overstatement,” but still claimed victory on the issue. She said, “What people are looking for is to not have someone be able to get away with wearing a mask when they’re harming another person or committing a crime or harassing, or threatening. We got to that, that’s exactly what this does.”
Skoufils said the current proposal responds to concerns about mask wearing while “reducing the subjectivity that could be involved with law enforcement.” Skoufis said the Trump administration’s recent actions influenced negotiations on the policy. Referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said in a statement, “Where we landed provides no, and I mean no, additional opportunity or tool or mechanism to ICE or federal law enforcement that does not already exist for them here in New York state.”
Fox News reported that Hochul said the additional charge would only be applied if a suspect is charged with a Class A misdemeanor or more serious charges. Lawmakers agreed to reduce the mask penalty to a Class B misdemeanor when prosecutors charge separate crimes. The extra charge also applies to people fleeing from the scene of a crime.
The annual budget, which will not take effect until lawmakers resolve several pending decisions, would also allow hospitals to involuntarily commit mentally ill New Yorkers if patients cannot meet their basic needs, which lowers the previous standard that only allowed a person to be involuntarily committed when they posed a physical threat to themselves or others.
The governor’s spending plan is set to be the highest in state history and $100 billion more than the state budget a decade ago. An uptick in prison costs as well as additional health care, child care, and education spending ballooned the size of the budget to $2 billion more than what she proposed in January.
