Two Votes Short for Passage This Year; Cuomo Won’t Help
By Dan Murphy
In the final days of New York State’s legislative session, before senators and Assembly members go home for the summer, it appears that a bill to legalize, regulate and tax the sale of marijuana in the Empire State are two votes short of passage in the State Senate, with senators from Westchester holding the crucial swing votes.
Democrats in the State Senate, led by Westchester Sen. and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, hold a 38-member majority in the 63-member body. Currently, 30 Democratic state senators, including Stewart-Cousins; David Carlucci, who represents Ossining; and Alessandra Biaggi, who represents Pelham, support Sen. Liz Kruger’s bill to legalize marijuana and permit its sale in New York.
Carlucci echoed a sentiment shared by many who support legalization, that as neighboring states like Massachusetts have legalized pot, it can be purchased by New Yorkers simply by driving across the border, depriving New York of any tax benefits.
“I know it has been very controversial and it’s complicated,” he said. “So there’s a lot that goes into it. But I think it’s important that we regulate marijuana.”
That leaves Senate democrats two votes short, and with Senate republicans all voting against legal pot, it appears that the eight Senate democrats who oppose legalizing pot this year will have their way, and get a one-year delay on its passage.
Five of the eight democratic senators opposed to legal pot come from the suburbs; five from Long Island and two from Westchester – Senators Peter Harckham and Shelley Mayer, both freshman in the State Senate.
Harckham, in a recent interview on WVOX’s First Friday with Shari Gordon explained that police departments and school districts in his Senate district oppose legalization at this point, with police having to train officers in detecting marijuana-impaired drivers without the funding for officer training, and in school district because, “This is something we have been telling our kids is illegal and bad for them, and now we’re making it legal. We need public-service education money to let folks know about the impacts and effects of marijuana,” he said.
Mayer was quoted in the Democrat & Chronicle as stating that her significant reservations about recreational marijuana reflect “the sentiment of (her) district,” although she suggested she will wait to see what her conference decides. “I have been opposed to it,” she said. “I will wait to see how my conference comes to a consensus, but I have been opposed to it.”
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Kruger, said: “I’ve been consistent from the very beginning: This is a hard lift.” Kruger has publicly complained that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a supporter of legal pot and the state’s top democrat, has made no effort to woo over just two of the eight democrats to vote “yes” for her bill and legalize pot this year.
“If we don’t get the support of the governor, I will not be able to convince my colleagues – some of whom are on the fence – that this is a good vote for them because this is a controversial issue,” said Kruger. “But, if they believe this is something the governor will follow through on and commit to and back us up on, I believe we can bring it across the finish line.”
Last month, Cuomo griped about the fact that Senate Democrats didn’t have the votes to pass legal pot and were asking him to twist a few arms to get the final votes. Recently, he said the same thing, blaming Kruger, or the Senate democratic leadership for not getting the votes and refusing to work to get the final two votes.
“I am saying I don’t think as we sit here with 10 days left, the Senate has the votes,” said Cuomo last week on WNYC-FM. “The reason I say that is because they said they don’t have the votes, so I am just taking them at their word.”
Republican State Sen. John Flanagan, formerly the majority leader, recently told reporters, “Listening to our colleagues and speaking with our Democratic colleagues, I think they are extremely nervous to have the possibility of having to vote on recreational marijuana on a standalone basis.”
What Flanagan may be referencing is an effort by the anti-legal pot organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana New York, to post billboards in certain State Senate districts encouraging residents to contact their senators and urge them to reject Big Marijuana and its harmful products.
“The billboards, which focus on facts ignored by Big Marijuana’s lobbying and media charm offensive, aim to debunk any connection between more drugs on our streets and social justice,” wrote SAM-NY in a press release touting the billboards, adding that the campaign will run in Yonkers, targeting Stewart-Cousins in Yonkers, and in Putnam County, targeting Harckham. “Facts about drugged driving, opioid use and other dangers of today’s high-potency THC products are also used to urge residents to express their concerns to legislators.”
“Big Marijuana, Big Tobacco and the alcohol industry routinely gloss over the health and societal costs of their predatory industry,” said SAM New York President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former Obama Administration drug policy advisor. “They’ve tried to convince lawmakers that today’s commercialized weed will deliver social justice for minority communities.
“New Yorkers don’t want pot shops in their communities. More counties are opting out preemptively or expressing grave concern about the policy,” he continued. “Legislators and the governor need to stop believing the lies of the same interests that brought us cigarettes and the opioid crisis and instead focus on real reforms like marijuana decriminalization.”
The anti-legalization effort in New York by SAM-NY and others has done a brilliant job stopping the momentum, and the efforts of the governor. But that effort against legalization has to prevent two democratic state senators from supporting the bill, and then, very quickly, legal pot becomes the law of New York State.
We agree with Kruger that Cuomo, if it were his desire, could easily change the votes of two democratic state senators – specifically, Harckham, who worked for the governor before being elected to the State Senate last year. Cuomo could help pay for the overtime that Harckham is hearing about from local police departments and could also pay for education programs for school districts. Why Cuomo doesn’t take a more active role in getting Senate democrats over 32 votes is a mystery.
The other unanswered question is what will Westchester County, and the City of Yonkers, decide to do when and if marijuana is legalized. Both have the choice of opting out of legalizing the sale of pot in the county and in their city.
Both County Executive George Latimer and County Board of Legislators Chairman Ben Boykin said they have no opinion and are awaiting what the state decides to do. At least three county legislators are opposed to legalization; Republicans John Testa and Conservative Margaret Cunzio both attended a press conference outside the county office building with SAM-NY, and Democratic Legislator Nancy Barr was listed to attend the same conference but opted out at the last minute.
State legislators will be passing final legislation for the next week before recessing for the summer.
