Gov. Kathy Hochul has activated the National Guard to step in at the state's prisons as correction officers continue their illegal strike.

Hochul also authorized overtime pay for staff still working in prisons and named a mediator to help with negotiations, and also filed an injunction under Taylor Law to force the officers back to work.

Several of the demands that officers have made would require an agreement between the governor and the legislature, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed willingness to take action during this budget cycle, despite disagreements when it comes to the HALT Act.

“I think what they would like to see is some sort of dialogue from her, or some sort of signal from her that she’d be willing to repeal HALT,” Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt said Wednesday of the officers’ position.

Repealing the HALT Act, which limits the use of segregated confinement and eliminates it entirely for some groups, is top on the list of demands from striking correctional officers.

Republican state Senator Rob Rolison, ranking member on the Crime, Crime Victims and Corrections Committee, told Spectrum News 1 it should be up for discussion.

“We need to have a review at the very least as to what is going on related to HALT, related to the situation in these facilities,” he said.

The HALT Act has long been a focus of blame among correction officers for deteriorating conditions inside New York prisons. They insist it removed a key incentive for good behavior.

But Assemblymember Anna Kelles said Wednesday that is ignoring a critical piece of the puzzle.

“It is the stick incentive, but there is a carrot incentive that is not being used,” she said.

Kelles stressed now is the time to pass the Earned Time Act, which she carries in the Assembly. It would drastically expand New York’s narrow standards for earning time off of a sentence for good behavior and unlike HALT, she argues, would incentivize positive mental health outcomes for those re-entering society.

“You make it eligible to everyone, it will create a cultural shift because every single person will be fighting to earn time off their sentence because they will be motivated to not get any infractions,” she said.

Hochul made a vague reference to expanding time credits in her executive budget book.

Other demands revolve around pay, time off and retirement. Many must be dealt with internally as part of collective bargaining, but Kelles put her support behind finding ways to improve staffing ratios so people aren’t being forced to work “endless days” in a high-stress environment.

Items that Kelles said the legislature should prioritize this budget cycle are 20-year pension parity and extending Tier 3 retirement benefits to those in Tiers 5 and 6, which would benefit a broader group of state employees.

“People in Tier 1, 2, and now 3 are leaving the system, which leaves room financially for re-evaluation of the higher tiers,” she said. “When you have situations arising like this where the situation is becoming dire, that in and of itself says to us that it’s an issue that should come to the floor that we really should consider.”

Rolison agreed and emphasized that pension issues are fueling workforce shortages statewide as incentives that previously drew workers to challenging positions have dried up in tiers 5 and 6.

“How does this system work when you don’t have those people there? It doesn’t work well, and we’re seeing it firsthand,” he said.

As the budget process moves forward, both agree the state Legislature can’t act alone and the governor, who oversees the Department of Corrections, needs to step up with a plan for how any legislative changes that arise from negotiations can be worked into the budget.

“I would love to see her come to the table and have that conversation,” Kelles said.

“We need to hear from this governor on what she wants to see. These are her employees. She is the chief executive of this state,” Rolison added.

Hochul is not the first executive to face such a challenge. A statewide correctional officers’ strike in 1979 lasted 16 days, and then-Gov. Hugh Carey also faced criticism for calling in the National Guard.