New York state lawmakers have reached a deal to seal many criminal records, a long-sought measure for criminal justice advocates for a proposal known as the Clean Slate Act, a state Senate source familiar with the discussions said on Tuesday morning. 

But later in the day, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office in a statement stopped short of announcing she was on board with the legislation. 

"Governor Hochul has been working with the Legislature to strengthen the Clean Slate Act, we are reviewing their most recent draft bill," her office said. 

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie in an interview said he was "cautiously optimistic" an agreement had been reached with the new version of the measure. 

Lawmakers introduced a revised version of the proposal on Monday night after weeks of negotiations between members of the Legislature and Hochul. State lawmakers are now in their final week of the legislative session and the new bill could be voted on prior to gaveling out for the year.

The bill would seal felony criminal records for misdemeanor convictions three years after sentencing or release from incarceration and 8 years for felonies post incarceration.

The pending agreement does not cover sex crime convictions or class A felonies like murder.

Sensitive employers would still have access to records as would law enforcement agencies, district attorneys and judges.

A state Senate source familiar with the discussions said the new bill represented a legislative agreement on the measure.

The new bill comes as criminal justice policy has been under scrutiny in Albany. Lawmakers and Hochul last month in the state budget agreed to narrow the scope of New York's law that limits cash bail for many criminal charges amid a debate over public safety.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie after the $229 billion budget was approved signaled the bill to seal criminal records would be considered by his chamber, where it had yet to pass in prior legislative sessions.

Lawmakers and Hochul had been hopeful they would be able to reach an agreement. Hochul had included a previous version of the measure in her budget last year. That largely meant all but the specifics woud have to be worked out before lawmakers left Albany for the remainder of the year.

Supporters have contended the measure is necessary to aid people who have not been convicted of crime after their sentencing and punishment was complete to find employment or housing. Opponents have raised safety concerns.

"If you have repaid your debt to society you should not have something hanging over you for a lifetime," Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said last month. "I think it's something everybody agrees on."

But law enforcement organizations and Republicans have not been in favor of previous iterations of the measure. In May, the organization that represents district attorneys in New York state opposed the initial version of the measure and urged lawmakers to reject it. 

The group pointed to the logistical challenges of automatically sealing records.

"Automatically sealing massive volumes of criminal records across many different technology systems requires a considerable investment of money for technology, staff and training," the group wrote. "Automated systems and the processes of automatically deleting or setting aside information inherently has risks that should be considered before such legislation is enacted. Inevitably mistakes will be made and records that should be sealed will not and records that should not be sealed will be sealed. Some human oversight is necessary."