Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed two bills Friday, widely supported by criminal defense attorneys in New York that would have expanded the operations of charitable bail organizations and given public defenders easier access to their clients' rap sheets.

In separate messages with each veto, Cuomo wrote that the bills are unnecessary given a sweeping set of changes approved this year to the state's criminal justice laws. Those laws will eliminate cash bail for most nonviolent and low-level charges, and take effect next month.

Those changes, set to take effect at the start of next year, will represent a major overhaul of the state's laws on cash bail, criminal discovery and the right to a speedy trial. Democrats in the Legislature had seen the pair of now-vetoed bills as a supplement to those changes.

The more controversial of the two bills would have allowed charitable bail organizations to post up to $10,000 in bail for a defendant, an increase from the $2,000 they're allowed to offer now. The bill was largely opposed by Republicans.

It also would have allowed charitable bail organizations to operate in more areas outside New York City. The current law only allows them to operate in one county outside New York City.

The bill would have also reduced the fee for charitable bail organizations to register with the state from $1,000 to $500.

The bill vetoed Friday would have allowed charitable bail organizations to post bail for defendants in cases where the charges against them would still be bail-eligible under the new laws.

Cuomo wrote in his veto message that lawmakers should wait to see how the upcoming changes to cash bail develop before sending him a bill expanding the operations of charitable bail organizations.

"Any amendments involving charitable bail organizations that might be needed should be considered after this year's bail reforms have had an opportunity to be fully implemented and the specific needs are identified," Cuomo wrote.

The measure was sponsored by state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, D-Bronx, who rebuked Cuomo's veto in a statement Friday afternoon. He said Cuomo's office had agreed to sign the bill when a final version was negotiated earlier this year.

"I am appalled that the governor did not deem this common sense measure appropriate to become law," Rivera said. "Especially since, during budget negotiations, there was an agreement between the Senate, Assembly and the governor to pass this bill and have it signed into law."

"Governor Cuomo's veto is an affront to the justice reforms that make our state a leader and to the dozens of legislators who supported the bill this past session," Rivera continued.

The second bill Cuomo rejected was approved by the state Legislature in June in a nearly unanimous vote.

That bill would have allowed public defenders and administrators of assigned counsel plans to more easily gain access to their clients' rap sheets, or criminal history reports. Those attorneys currently don't have direct access to those files, which are housed by the state.

Those attorneys, under the bill, would be added to the list of so-called "qualified agencies," meaning they would be allowed to enter into agreements with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to access criminal history information.

Current law doesn't allow that kind of access for public defenders. Instead, they have to rely on prosecutors, police departments and judges to get their clients' rap sheets.

In a letter sent to Cuomo this week, a coalition of public defenders and statewide attorney trade groups had urged the bill's signature, calling it "long-overdue."

"This bill would support the state's goal of improving the quality of public defense for all New Yorkers who cannot afford an attorney by providing public defenders with an important tool to enhance justice and improve efficiency," the letter said.

Cuomo, in his veto message Friday, wrote that the new changes to the state's laws on criminal discovery will make the bill unnecessary. Under the new law, prosecutors will have to provide defense attorneys with a defendant's criminal history, he wrote.

"I enacted sweeping discovery reform that becomes effective January 1, 2020 which requires prosecutors to provide defense attorneys with a record of the judgment of convictions and any pending criminal actions of witnesses at the advent of a criminal case," Cuomo wrote.

"Therefore, this bill is superfluous and duplicative of existing and prospective statutory requirements," he continued.

Cuomo also wrote that the bill would place an "unfunded fiscal burden" on DCJS that he opposed. The state is currently facing a $6.1 billion budget gap.

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