ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing forward with her plan to tackle crime in New York, and on Tuesday rallied with small business owners to promote her $45 million plan to curb retail theft.

In the Red Room of the state Capitol on Tuesday, Hochul stood with a few dozen bodega and small shop owners from New York City, as well as Albany-area elected leaders and said that she is pushing for multi-pronged action on organized retail theft rings.

Hochul’s plan, which she has been discussing since the start of the year, would dedicate millions of dollars to an anti-theft unit in the New York State Police, extra funding for local police and district attorneys to investigate and prosecute repeat thieves, and advance a $5 million grant program to help shop owners cover security costs like protective shutters and surveillance cameras.

That approach is similar to other crime pushes Hochul has led in recent years, as New Yorkers continue to rate her handling of crime poorly. She’s introduced state police task forces for gun crime, domestic violence and car theft, and on Tuesday she said that model has yielded positive results.

“We have a record of success launching specialized units, forming new partnerships, strengthening coordination between law enforcement agencies and elevating the role of state police,” she said.

Hochul is also calling for the state legislature to pass a bill that would increase penalties for assaulting a retail worker to the level set for assaults on transit staff or other public employees.

“Under this law, assaulting a retail worker would carry the same elevated penalties we have in place for assaulting a first responder,” Hochul said. “Retail theft has long been characterized as a petty crime, but calling it that makes it seem small and trivial.”

Hochul is calling for the passage of another bill that would hold online storefronts accountable for facilitating the sale of stolen goods. She said many organized retail theft rings have taken to selling their stolen goods online, and a loophole in current state law means that the online selling platforms can’t be held accountable for allowing the sale on their platform because they are never in possession of the stolen items.

Hochul said retail theft has become a visible issue in many areas of New York, and it’s disproportionately hurting small business owners.

“These incidents have become much more frequent, and as a result there’s been a pervasive unease just seeping through our communities,” Hochul said.

Retail workers rallied at the state Capitol last week to call for the Retail Workers Safety Act, a bill that doesn’t have the outright support of the governor right now, which requires store owners to develop workplace violence prevention programs if they employ more than 10 people, and install panic buttons if they employ more than 50 people at a specific location. For businesses that have suffered a high number of violent incidents, the bill would require the business owner to employ a dedicated security guard during operating hours.

While that proposal is still being debated by lawmakers in Albany, Hochul said she wants to see her proposal to tackle retail theft included in this year’s budget.

“I’m calling on the legislature to approve more than $40 million that law enforcement needs right now to crack down on retail theft,” she said. “Take up the legislation that we proposed to strengthen criminal penalties for those who commit and enable retail theft.”