Political momentum to abolish or limit the use of monetary bail has been building across the country in recent years, as critics have pointed out it discriminates against people who cannot pay. In New Jersey, a law went into effect last year that has nearly eliminated cash bail by mandating that state judges release most defendants unless they are a proven flight risk or threat to public safety.

The governor’s proposals are likely to meet opposition from police unions, the bail bond industry, district attorneys and Republican lawmakers who control the Senate. The fate of the bills is far from clear in the legislative session and may depend on what incentives Mr. Cuomo can offer to the Republican opponents.

Taken together, the proposed bills address several aspects of the criminal justice system critics have long decried as unfair to the poor, chief among them the state’s cash bail system and its restrictive discovery law, which allows prosecutors to withhold important evidence against a defendant until the eve of trial.

These laws give a tremendous advantage to the police and prosecutors and, in effect, discriminate against defendants with few resources, who disproportionately are black or Hispanic, defense lawyers say. Impoverished people are often unable to pay the bail set by judges in their cases and spend months or years in jail, unable to help with their defenses, and without knowing the strength of the case against them, defense lawyers say. Many accept plea bargains just to end the ordeal.

The measure that Governor Cuomo is proposing would eliminate cash bail for people facing misdemeanor and nonviolent felonies. Instead defendants would be released, either on their own promise to return to court, or with some other conditions imposed by the judge.