One reason the state budget was late was Gov. Kathy Hochul’s insistence on changes to the state’s involuntary commitment laws.

While Hochul secured some of the changes she wanted, including some changes that could be beneficial in helping deal with some members of the city’s homeless population, it’s ironic that the governor was able to secure a policy change in the budget while the dollars and cents needed to provide space for involuntary commitment to actually happen didn’t make it into the state budget this year.

Rather than declare victory, Hochul would be better off saying that, when it comes to involuntary commitment, the state is better off than it was – because we agree with state Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, when she says the state budget didn’t go far enough on involuntary commitment. It’s great that hospitals can commit those who can’t take care of themselves or who are a risk to themselves. But there is no requirement to have a place to send them when the hospital has helped the person become stable, nor is there a requirement for a treatment plan or a placement in a facility once the hospital is ready to discharge the patient.

“That’s not going to happen, because we didn’t put that requirement in the law,” Krueger said before voting in favor of the mental health component of the state budget. “The requirement should be if somebody’s brought into your facility by the police or social workers and determined to be unable to control themselves, the hospital can’t discharge you until there’s a plan.”

Of course, that plan will require state investment in treatment facilities that, as we know, often aren’t available in small cities like Jamestown. It took several years for Democrats to come over to the position argued for years by state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, that involuntary commitment laws needed to be strengthened. We shudder to think how long it will take to put the state’s money behind the intent of this year’s changes to involuntary commitment laws. Because until there is a place for hospitals to send those who need further mental health treatment and providers to execute a treatment plan, the win that Hochul has been claiming is more like a tie.