(DINAINFO)  Irene Plagianos | April 5, 2017 — Legislators have come to an agreement over a law that prevents all 16- and 17- year olds from automatically being charged as adults in New York, no matter the crime, according to reports. Negotiating the specific details in the Raise the Age bill was a main reason the state’s budget, originally due April 1, has been delayed. New York is one of only two states (North Carolina is the other) that prosecutes all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.

Lawmakers were expected to vote on the legislation Wednesday.

“We are fighting to ensure it gets done right,” Lower Manhattan Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, a Democrat, said in an email. “In discussions we have been talking about strategies and realities.  We all recognize that with the current State Senate, we won’t get everything we want, but that has not stopped the Assembly Majority from trying to align New York with the rest of the nation when it comes to the treatment of our minors.”

Source: ‘Raise the Age’ Legislation Set to Pass in Budget Deal, Reports Say – Civic Center – DNAinfo New York