WASHINGTON — California senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris is known as an effective prosecutor. Now she’s unveiling legislation to help public defenders in an attempt to counter criticism she’s received as being overly aggressive in her previous job.

The legislation would aim to incentivize public defenders, who are usually paid less, are less resourced and overworked, compared to prosecutors.

“As a career prosecutor, I know that when public defenders lack sufficient resources, they are unable to provide an adequate defense and the system doesn’t work,” Harris said in a statement. “Our Constitution gives every defendant the right to an attorney, but it’s not enough just to have a lawyer. Defendants in criminal cases need lawyers who have enough time, money, and resources to challenge the prosecution and provide a strong defense.”

Jon Rapping, the founder of The Gideon’s Project, an organization that provides training and resources for public defenders, calls the proposed bill “a good start.”

“I am encouraged,” Rapping said. “I think it is a recognition that public defenders must be part of the conversation” of criminal justice reform.

Harris, who worked as a district attorney in San Francisco and then as California’s attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2017, and has highlighted her experience as a prosecutor and used it to her advantage. Her background has been beneficial especially when grilling Trump administration officials, including Attorney General William Barr, testifying before the Senate.

She has also come under fire from some progressives and public defenders in California for some of her policies and practices as a prosecutor.

Lara Bazelon, the former director of the Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent in Los Angeles, wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times saying that she’s not a progressive prosecutor.

“Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms,” Bazelon wrote, “Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent.”

Bazelon pointed to her support of punishing parents of overly truant students, withholding evidence that could have unravelled convictions, supported the death penalty and opposed a bill that would mandate her office investigate shootings by police officers.

The legislation would create a $250 million grant program to fund public defense, including ensuring pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors and implementing work load limits. It would expand the student loan repayment program to $75 million from $25 million. It would also provide money to train public defenders and require data about the use of public defenders and if those who need the service are receiving it.