February 27, 2026
Assemblyman Phil Palmesano says that the New York State Corrections Officers work stoppage in 2025, was significant. “We know that you were involved in discussions and negotiations,” Palmesano said to one of the top Corrections officials. “We also know that your office was involved in working to make changes to the HALT Act. We know that in order to have an impact, we have to pass it in statute. We asked the DOCCS Commissioner when he was here, why didn’t the governor include that in her budgget proposal? There are people I serve with who don’t want any changes to the HALT Act,” Palmesano explained.
The HALT Act, the Humane Alternatives To Long Term Solitary Confinement Act, went into effect in 2022. Democrats say it was a way of ending solitary confinement as a punishment to inmates. Republicans have consistently argued that there was no solitary confinement before it was passed and that the HALT Act makes it nearly impossible to discipline unruly prisoners.
