ALBANY – In a move one state lawmaker called “the worst form of political chicanery,” Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith announced yesterday he would pack a measure for Rockefeller drug-law reform into the state budget – where lawmakers would be compelled to vote for it.
The effort was widely seen as a concession by the new Senate leader that he lacked the votes to pass the bill to ease drug-related prison sentences, which was overwhelmingly approved by the Assembly Wednesday.
“It became clear in our discussions that this is as much a budgetary and economic issue as it is a sentencing issue,” Smith (D-Queens) said in a statement.
“For this reason, the Senate intends to include the key provisions of Rockefeller drug-law reform in our upcoming budget resolution.”
Smith, whose party took the Senate for the first time in decades in January, controls a one-vote majority in the 62-seat chamber.
He has struggled to get agreement on everything from the MTA bailout to top Democratic issues, like legalizing gay marriage and preserving rent regulation.
Republicans blasted Smith’s budget move as a way “to jam it through.”
“I think we ought to be very careful when we start talking about putting 2,000 drug pushers on the street,” Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens) said. “That’s outrageous to put in budget. It’s the worst form of political chicanery.”
At least one suburban Democrat, Sen. Craig Johnson (D-LI), has already expressed “major reservations” with the Assembly’s Rockefeller bill.
It would end mandatory minimums for most nonviolent drug offenders and allow judges to divert them from prison to treatment, even if a prosecutor objects.
The measure would also allow some 2,000 mid-level drug offenders imprisoned under existing drug laws to apply for lighter sentences.
Gov. Paterson, a longtime critic of the Rockefeller laws who is also running for election next year, wants to scale back elements of the Assembly plan.
Senate Democrats decided to pack any drug-law reform into the budget after discussing both proposals in a closed-door conference.
Smith defends the move since the changes could cut prison costs and require some $30 million in new funding for treatment. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) estimates that reforms enacted in 2004 have saved the state $100 million.
Sen. Eric Schneiderman, who is sponsoring a Rockefeller-law reform bill, blamed the 30-member Republican minority for stonewalling.
“We’re trying to get as much done as we can,” Schneiderman (D-Manhattan) said.
“And it’s challenging when the minority takes the position that they’re going to block tough decisions.”