LEGISLATORS EASE DRUG LAWS

New York State will go easier on drug criminals, and New York City
will get an expanded convention center under separate bills approved
by the state Legislature yesterday.

In a burst of lawmaking after months of gridlock, the Assembly and
Senate found a way to compromise on two of the major issues that had
stymied them all year.

One bill lessens New York's harsh penalties for narcotics felonies,
under which the possession of 4 ounces of cocaine can theoretically
lead to lifelong imprisonment.

The other authorizes a $1.2 billion expansion of the Javits Convention
Center, a key part of Mayor Bloomberg's plans for revitalizing the
West Side of Manhattan. Officials said the legislation neither
advances nor impedes the most controversial part of that plan, which
calls for building a government-subsidized football stadium next to
the Javits Center.

Governor Pataki last night said he intends to sign both measures into
law.

This is the first major reform of the Rockefeller drug laws, named for
the governor who pushed them through, since the late 1970s. The
legislation passed yesterday shortens the maximum prison terms and
puts in place "determinate sentencing," which eliminates the
opportunity for parole. It also expands drug -treatment programs
behind bars and gives about 400 inmates currently serving the longest
sentences an opportunity to appeal for early release.

The current law, for example, defines possession of 4 ounces of
cocaine as a class A-1 felony, with a minimum sentence of 15 years to
life and a maximum sentence of 25 years to life. Under the new law,
the threshold for an A-1 felony would rise to 8 ounces. For a first
offense, the sentencing judge would pick a fixed number of years
between eight and 20. The convict would be eligible for time off for
good behavior, but must serve at least 85% of the sentence.

The compromise bill does not give judges the discretion of diverting
drug offenders into treatment rather than prison, which Assembly
Democrats had sought. Nor does the bill create new, longer penalties
for drug "kingpins" or drug criminals who use guns, as Governor Pataki
and Senate Republicans had urged.

Both sides hailed the bill as a breakthrough after years of debate and
indecision, but promised to push for more in the future.

"Obviously we want full repeal, and it's not even close to that," a
spokesman for the Drug Policy Alliance, Tony Newman, said, referring
to a proposal that would return the penalties to their pre-1973
status. "But we feel it's a small step in the right direction."

The chairman of the Senate Codes Committee, Dale Volker of Erie
County, emphasized that the bill, by limiting the latitude of the
courts, would prevent a "jailbreak."

"If we allowed New York City judges the discretion to send people to
so-called diversion, without any encumbrance on them, they'd do what
they always do, which is let them go," Mr. Volker said.

Senator Thomas Duane, a Democrat of Manhattan, expressed
dissatisfaction before voting in favor.

"Is this it?" he said. "After all this time, this is what comes to the
floor? It would be an unbelievable stretch to call this Rockefeller
drug-law reform."

The Javits bill finances the expansion with $350 million to be raised
through refinancing the convention center's existing bonds, $350
million to be contributed by the city, and $500 million to be borrowed
against a new tax on New York City hotel bills of $1.50 a customer a
day.

A supporter of the bill, Senator Martin Golden of Brooklyn, said it
would create 15,000 construction jobs, 10,000 permanent jobs, and
bring millions of dollars of business and tax revenue to the city and
the state.

"We'll be able to pay our police, our firefighters, and our school
teachers what they deserve," Mr. Golden said.

The bill specifies that the convention center may not use its
resources to pay for any kind of sports facility or to build the
proposed platform for the stadium over the rail yards on the West
Side. However, Mr. Golden said the legislation does not prevent Mr.
Bloomberg from continuing to pursue the stadium project, which he
considers crucial to attracting the 2012 Olympic Games to New York
City.

"Hopefully we get to see the reality of the Jets stadium in the city
of New York and another 10,000 jobs," Mr. Golden said. "We want to
create a frenzy here

- - a building frenzy."

The two-day December session at the Capitol did not tie up all the
loose strings, however. One major issue left unresolved was the
Legislature's plan to end the 20-year streak of late budgets, which
Mr. Pataki had criticized as irresponsible and vetoed.

The Democrat-led Assembly was eager to override the governor, and the
Republican majority leader of the Senate, Joseph Bruno, had promised
to take up an override if he and the governor did not agree to an
alternative budget reform bill by this week.

Yesterday, however, Mr. Bruno backed away from what would have been
his second confrontation with the governor, a fellow Republican, in
two days. On Monday, his house had overridden the governor to approve
raising the state's minimum wage by $2 an hour over the next two years.

Mr. Bruno emphasized that the Senate intends to move forward with a
second part of a budget-reform package - a constitutional amendment -
and put it on the ballot in the next general election. That gives the
Legislature and the governor plenty of time to resolve their
differences on the implementing legislation, he said.

"That can be done anytime between now and next November," he
said.

As usual, legislative leaders and the governor hammered out details of
the agreements in secretive negotiations, then asked rank-and-file
members to ratify their handiwork with little opportunity to debate or
amend the bills. Mr. Pataki contributed to the haste by providing the
Legislature with "messages of necessity," declaring that the bills
were urgent, so that lawmakers could waive the usual three-day waiting
period before voting on fresh legislation.