THE GOVERNOR'S TURN

The Governor's Turn New York's Legislature has been putting the finishing
touches on this year's session, proudly declaring that the lawmakers have
created a legislative banquet when really they have only chopped a few carrots.

Very little has been done so far in Albany beyond the required budget, and
it's time for Gov. George Pataki to demonstrate his leadership skills.

The governor should make certain that legislators from both houses stay in
session while he directs, nudges, coaxes and convinces them that it is time
to finish the many tasks left unattended.

The list of undone matters in Albany should shame any veteran New York
politician, from the governor to the newest member of the State Assembly.
It should be especially embarrassing to those trying to get re-elected this
year by boasting about their experience and effectiveness. There is no
minimum wage agreement, no extension of unemployment insurance benefits for
those who lost their jobs as a result of Sept. 11. Despite Mr. Pataki's
promises, there is no reform of the cruel Rockefeller drug laws. There is
no Superfund cleanup agreement, no compromise on finding a use for the
urban brownfields containing low-level toxicity.

There is no relief from sky-high interest rates on home loans that trap the
elderly with promises of paying off bills with home equity.

There is no statewide antismoking law, despite a new study that
demonstrates how secondhand smoke is even more deadly than we thought.

These are only the bills that have risen closer to the surface in Albany
than other important initiatives, like campaign finance reform or election
reform, that languish in the state's legislative swamps.

As is usually the case for New York's lawmakers, each side is devoting most
of its energy to find ways to blame the other for their mutual inaction.

The Assembly Democrats accuse the Senate Republicans and the Republican
governor of intransigence. The governor and the Senate leadership point
their finger at Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Round and round it goes,
spinning out legislation that every year grows smaller and more provincial.
The Legislature successfully found a way to husband the state's dwindling
population of monkfish and to regulate tattoo parlors.

But such necessities as the barest increase in minimum wage languish on
conference tables while the governor and officials determine whether they
can get re-elected this year without them. For the legislators, it might
not matter.

Their seats are almost all safe, and their reputation is too dismal to be
easily refurbished. For Governor Pataki, however, it's not too late.