Top Democrats continue to hash out budget language to expand forced treatment for people suffering from severe mental health issues after two unprovoked, violent attacks in New York City this week injected new life into the debate.

Republican state Sen. Stephen Chan represents the part of Brooklyn where a schizophrenic man attacked four young children with a meat cleaver earlier this week.

The former cop of 27 years said Wednesday the incident shows why the upcoming budget needs Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to make it easier to commit a mentally ill person who poses a risk to themselves or others, or make it easier to recommit them into psychiatric care.

"Expanding the involuntary commitment — is that going to work? We don't know, but something needs to be done," Chan said. "We can't not do anything about it."

Republicans in the Senate and Assembly held a joint press conference Wednesday backing the governor's plan, and say it must be done to improve public safety.

"I applaud our governor for trying to include this involuntary commitment as part of our budget," Chan said.

And a 25-year-old woman remains in critical condition after a homeless man with a history of violent crimes and mental illness stabbed her in the neck with a broken bottle in Brooklyn on Monday.

"Events like that reinforce people's concerns, but we have to get the details right," said state Sen. Brian Kavanagh, a Manhattan Democrat. "And in particular, a policy like this is not going to work unless we have proper facilities."

Most of the Democratic-led Legislature has rejected Hochul's plan, arguing the state lacks sufficient beds and mental health system to help people forced into treatment.

Kavanagh told Spectrum News 1 the brutal attack in his district shows people with mental health issues cannot be left to live on the street, but also must be treated humanely and connected to services.

The state must adequately fund mental health resources, he added.

"This incident is obviously horrific, but it's not the first and it won't be the last," the senator said. "And I'm committed to doing what we need to do to promote public safety and also to protect people who might be a danger to themselves."

The attacks are spurring debate as legislative leaders work on a compromise.

State Budget Director Blake Washington said Wednesday negotiations are going in the right direction, and leaders are working to finalize language to improve discharge plans for patients and create a statewide body to help localities and police with pilot programs to better respond to emergency calls.

"On involuntary, nothing specific is holding it up, I think it's just there's a couple of key concepts, mostly language," Washington told reporters.

Some moderate Democrats are on board with the governor's plan.

"I think we have to deal with situations of mentally ill people who are a danger to themselves and others, and anything we can do to make it easier to get the help they need is a good thing," said Assemblyman David Weprin, a Queens Democrat. "Since we're already discussing it in the budget, I think we should do it and I hope the language will be worked out...These type of cases are sensational to the public, but people are dying and people's lives are endangered. And I think it's time that we do something."

Albany state Sen. Pat Fahy is one of a handful of Democrats pushing the conference to take action, and said while the budget must address mental health housing and wraparound services, that won't be enough.

"We can't just keep saying 'We need more resources,'" the senator said. "We do need more tools in the toolshed, especially given some of the outrageous incidents we've seen here in Albany, let alone in the city."

It can be difficult to find two medical clinicians to order someone be held in treatment longer than 72 hours — especially in poor or rural neighborhoods, Fahy said.

The senator recalled an incident where a person died by suicide who was unable to be held in psychiatric care because they could not find a second medical professional.

"It's no secret we have serious medical health care worker shortages, and it's at its most extreme among psychologists and psychiatrists," Fahy said. "We need to take action here... This is not about criminalizing poverty or criminalizing homelessness, this is about bringing someone who may be in the midst of a psychotic episode to a hospital for further evaluation."

But those members are in the minority of their conference, which continues to fight Hochul's proposal.

It's unclear how long the stalemate will hold up the budget, which is one of several issues pushing the budget over a week and a half late.

"We're having involuntary commitment conversations, we've been having it for weeks," Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said Wednesday. "We're ready to reach an agreement, we recognize the scope of the problem...but we, at this point in time, still live in a legislative process where there are three parties that have to agree. It's not just what one party wants and then everyone else goes along. Once that gets recognized by everyone, we can get some conclusion."

Senate Mental Health Committee chair Samra Brouk and Assembly Mental Health Committee chair Jo Anne Simon did not return multiple requests for comment on this week's attacks or how they're impacting negotiations.