PATAKI VETO LEAVES INTACT RESTRICTIONS ON FIREWORKS

ALBANY -- Gov. George E. Pataki vetoed a bill today that would have
legalized many small fireworks, after a fierce lobbying campaign against
the bill by New York City, fire officials and consumer advocates.

Fireworks makers and distributors had pushed the Legislature to lift a
nearly century-old prohibition on pyrotechnics outside of displays by
licensed professionals. The bill would have allowed the sale and use of
sparklers, glow worms and party poppers, among other types of fireworks.

Opponents predicted that the bill would lead to thousands of fires and
injuries. They also protested that it did not include an age limit for
fireworks users, and did not give local governments the option of imposing
their own bans.

"Because of the dangers fireworks present, numerous New York State fire
professionals and other officials, as well as medical professionals,
strongly recommend disapproval" of the bill, Mr. Pataki wrote in his veto
message to the Legislature. He noted that it would have allowed sales "to
children, precisely those who are most vulnerable to the serious injuries
fireworks can cause."

State Senator Dale M. Volker, a Republican from western New York who was
the bill's sponsor, did not return calls today for comment. In the past, he
has said that fireworks were not, in fact, illegal in New York, despite a
segment of the Penal Law stating that they were. He said his bill merely
clarified the law and discouraged overzealous police and fire officials.

The bill's history exemplified the kind of procedural secrecy and quirks
that drive to distraction those who try to follow legislation here. Many of
those who ultimately opposed the bill were unaware that it existed until
long after the Legislature approved it.

It was introduced in mid-June, amid the annual rush to wrap up the
Legislature's business for the year. It is a time when more than 100 bills
can be approved in a single day, making it easy to slip legislation through
with little notice.

The bill reached the Senate floor three days after it was introduced,
without going through a committee or a public hearing. A brief discussion
was held only because one senator, Thomas K. Duane of Manhattan, objected
to the hurried process.

Mr. Volker's argument that the bill simply clarified the law satisfied most
of his colleagues, and only Mr. Duane voted against it.

A few days later, the Assembly unanimously approved the bill, without
discussion and, once again, without its going through committee or a public
hearing.

Many legislators in both houses admitted later that they had no idea what
they had voted on, and would have opposed it had they known.

Giuliani administration officials learned of the bill weeks later and began
lobbying the governor to kill it, an effort taken up by the Bloomberg
administration.

New York is one of 10 states that ban all fireworks for personal use,
according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Today was the last day for Mr. Pataki to decide the fate of 17 long-
delayed bills left over from last year. In some cases, the bills remained
in limbo for more than eight months, thanks to some little-used wrinkles in
state law and legislative rules.

One of those bills would have interfered with the policy of New York City
and Suffolk County of seizing the vehicles of drunken drivers and people
found with drugs, according to city officials.

Mr. Pataki killed the bill after New York City's police commissioner,
Raymond W. Kelly, called the governor's counsel, James McGuire, to argue
against it.

Banks that make car loans lobbied for the bill, which would have made it
easier and less expensive for them to recover seized cars on which there
were still outstanding loans.

But city officials said that in many cases, the banks would simply return
the car to the drivers and renew the loans, defeating the purpose of the
seizure program. They also argued that it would encourage drug couriers to
grant sham liens to their compatriots, so that those allies could then
reclaim their seized cars.

Mr. Pataki defeated the bill by taking no action on it, one of nine bills
he killed that way today. The governor took advantage of a rare
circumstance, created by the Legislature's long delay in sending him the
bills, that gave him such a pocket veto.