DRUG LAW REFORM AND ALL THAT JIVE

Pataki, Bruno And Silver Cut A Demo Disc For Def Jam.

All you need to know about the recently concluded state legislative session
is that, in the closing days, when intense negotiations were going on over
several important issues, Gov. George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joe
Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver were holed up behind closed doors
debating reform of the Rockefeller drug laws with hip-hop impresario Russell
Simmons. It was a jive session.

Even Simmons' special appearance, at Pataki's request, was jive because the
three wise men of Albany had already informed the press that, although they
had never been "so close" to an agreement on reforming the harsh drug laws,
there wasn't enough time in this session to get it done.

More Jive.

Pataki, Bruno and Silver would have us forget that reform of the Rockefeller
drug laws has been an opening-of-session priority item for several years.
Each year starts with all three men telling taxpayers why they want to
change the laws so that they are harsher on drug pushers and more lenient on
users. Well, we've got that part figured by now, guys. Most New Yorkers got
that message years ago when the prisons got clogged with people serving 15
years for simple drug possession.

Not enough time? If the three men started work on the reform in January and
if they included legislative and community leaders who know something about
the subject, instead of showboating Simmons and his "valuable
life-experience," they wouldn't have to be hashing it out in private two
days before the session ends and trying to tell taxpayers that, gosh darn,
time had just run out.

Jive.

Simmons, founder of Def Jam records, is a true advocate of reform. But he
was there just to make Pataki look better. Hey, the governor's getting the
word from the street, so he must really be trying to fix these laws. Give
him a break.

No, give us a break and some credit for common sense.

You want to fix the laws? Give pushers and violent drug criminals hard time.
Give people charged with possession a variety of options including rehab and
probation, but not including lengthy mandatory sentences. Give judges, not
prosecutors, the power and discretion to decide who gets what. That's it. Do
it. Later this year or early next year. With or without Simmons' rap. Just
do it and don't insult us with any more jive.

Along with the Rockefeller drug laws, the legislature did nothing to reform
the state Medicaid system, which means counties will continue to be drained
of scarce funds and be forced to raise taxes. This was perhaps the key
financial issue for local government, but apparently Pataki didn't feel
Simmons' experience as chief executive of a successful major record label
would be useful in this debate.

The biggest jive of all, of course, was the budget "process," which this
year saw legislators finally ignoring the uninvolved Pataki and passing
their own budget over his vetoes. Late, of course.

No budget reform got passed. No serious effort was made by the governor to
iron out budget differences with legislators early in the session. But heck,
no one in Albany said much about the looming multibillion-dollar budget
deficits until after Election Day last year.

Yup, this has been one, long jive session.