Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jun 2012
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2012 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Thomas Kaplan

MARIJUANA PLAN APPEARS DOOMED IN ALBANY

ALBANY - Facing resistance from the Republican-controlled Senate, a 
proposal by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to decriminalize the possession of 
small amounts of marijuana in public view appeared near defeat on 
Monday as lawmakers approached the end of this year's legislative session.

Aides to Mr. Cuomo and leaders of the State Legislature spent the 
weekend finishing up a series of agreements on other issues, 
including the creation of a state agency to police the abuse of 
developmentally disabled people, a temporary state takeover of the 
New York Racing Association and the closing of a loophole that 
hindered the prosecution of people who viewed child pornography on 
the Internet.

But with the current session scheduled to end on Thursday, and 
lawmakers eager to return to their districts to mount re-election 
campaigns, officials predicted that no other major deals would be 
reached before lawmakers left the capital.

"I'm feeling good," Mr. Cuomo said in an interview on Monday with his 
predecessor, Gov. David A. Paterson, on WOR-AM. "We've had a hectic 
few days, but a productive and an orderly few days, which as you 
know, Governor, is something different for the legislative sessions."

In addition to the marijuana bill, Mr. Cuomo and lawmakers had not 
been able to reach agreements on disclosure rules for teacher 
evaluations and on a requirement that college and high school coaches 
report possible acts of sexual abuse to law enforcement. Lawmakers 
were also unable to reach agreement on proposals to raise the state's 
minimum wage and to create a system of public financing for elections.

Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, had set a deadline of midnight on Monday for 
his office and legislative leaders to reach deals on any legislation 
that they wanted to pass before the end of the session. That would 
allow them to comply with a three-day waiting period, required by the 
State Constitution, to allow the public and lawmakers to review the 
language of legislation before it is voted upon.

But late Monday night, the governor introduced a bill to deal with 
the teacher-evaluation issue. There was no indication whether 
legislative leaders would go along with it. As midnight passed, no 
other actions were announced.

In the past, Mr. Cuomo has waived the three-day at waiting period, 
including in March when he brokered deals on redistricting and 
pension cuts and last year when he pressed for the legalization of 
same-sex marriage. But that tactic has drawn criticism from 
government watchdog groups and even a state judge, who last year 
accused the governor of "arm-twisting" in his dealings with the 
Legislature over the marriage law.

Mr. Cuomo, apparently chastened by the criticism, has said that he 
would not waive the waiting period this week. He told Mr. Paterson 
that he wanted to make a statement that communicated the 
"transparent, orderly functioning of this Legislature over this last 
week." Confident everything will proceed according to plan, his 
office has already invited lawmakers to a party at the Executive 
Mansion scheduled for Thursday.

Mr. Cuomo suggested that any issues unresolved this week could be 
taken up whenever lawmakers returned to Albany. The next legislative 
session is scheduled to begin in January, but it is also possible 
that he could call lawmakers back later this year for a special session.

"Nothing that we have left, frankly, is that urgent that it can't 
take more time, and, frankly, wouldn't be better with more time," he 
said in the interview.

Perhaps the highest-profile unresolved issue was the marijuana 
proposal, which Mr. Cuomo unveiled to fanfare this month as a means 
to reduce the high number of arrests resulting from police stops in 
New York City.

Mr. Cuomo's proposal drew the support of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, 
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and the city's prosecutors. But 
Republicans in the Senate objected, arguing that the measure would 
condone the possession of drugs.

Asked on Monday night about the chances that a compromise could be 
reached, the Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos of Long Island, 
responded, "We do not support decriminalization."

Senate Republicans were under particular pressure from conservatives, 
who were already upset with the Legislature for legalizing same-sex 
marriage last year and for approving a tax overhaul in December that 
created a new tax bracket for the state's highest-income earners.

"There's a limit to how much the conservative members up and down the 
state will accept," said Michael R. Long, the chairman of the State 
Conservative Party, which had urged the Senate to block the marijuana proposal.

Supporters of the marijuana proposal said Monday that they were still 
hoping a deal could be worked out at the last minute, but they were 
clearly frustrated by the Senate Republicans.

"I've been working in Albany for almost 10 years, and I can't recall 
a moment when law enforcement has said, 'We want to have this 
changed,' and the Republican Party leaders in the Senate and the 
Conservative Party are basically saying that they don't want to do 
it," said Gabriel Sayegh, the state director in New York for the Drug 
Policy Alliance, an advocacy group. "This is yet another example of 
how profoundly backward and dysfunctional this place is."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom