GREENS FOCUS ON NEW GOALS

Albany -- Education Reform, Repeal Of Drug Laws Figure Big In The Party's
Agenda

After winning recognition in November as an official political party,
New York state's Greens have a new goal for 1999: approval for a
legislative agenda that includes repeal of drug laws, education reform
and cleaning up toxic sites.

Led by gubernatorial candidate "Grandpa'' Al Lewis last month, the
Green Party won 52,533 votes in the 1998 election and, therefore, a
line on future state ballots. Now party leaders plan to push their
agenda to fruition -- starting with a round of lobbying next Wednesday
at the State of the State address, said Greens Chairman Mark Dunlea.

One of the top priorities is the repeal of the 25-year-old Rockefeller
drug laws, which mandate 15 years to life for possessing 4 ounces of a
drug or selling 2 ounces. The laws, said Greens lieutenant governor
candidate Alice Green, have a ripple effect of putting more money into
building prisons instead of investing it in drug treatment and prevention.

The laws "have also driven the system to such an extent that we are
now talking about a prison-industrial complex,'' said Green, who is
the executive director of the Center For Law and Justice in Albany.
"And there are so many people who have benefited from the
incarceration of people of color,'' she said, citing construction jobs
that have been created by building prisons.

Green, who has filed a federal lawsuit against the State Police
alleging her civil rights were violated at a Martin Luther King Day
rally last year, is also calling for a statewide five-year moratorium
on building any more prisons.

A spokesman for Gov. George Pataki bristled at the suggestion that the
need for more prisons was linked to economic benefits. "We're happy to
disagree with Alice Green when it comes to violent criminals,'' said
spokesman Patrick McCarthy, noting that many people convicted of
selling and possessing drugs also have violent crime in their
backgrounds. "Keeping violent felons behind bars where they belong has
led to historic crime reduction across the state.''

Also in the Greens' sights is education reform, which party members
hope could spell free tuition to SUNY and CUNY schools for state
taxpayers. The party also supports funneling more state income tax
funds into local public schools to finance repairs. Greens will also
come back to the state's Superfund program in 1999, which they believe
should levy new fees on the use of chemicals and chemical wastes.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry