Carpe Diem? Seizing the Last Day (or so) of Session

For weeks Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made a point of downplaying the second half of the legislative session in Albany, noting that top goals like his tax cut package and an expansion of universal pre-kindergarten already were achieved as part of the state budget. 

Now, with only a day (or so) left in the session, Cuomo has nonetheless identified two pending bills that are still high priorities for him—the legalization of medical marijuana and tweaks to state teacher evaluations—while announcing a landmark deal on a third major issue, the battle against the growing use of heroin.

Here’s a quick update on those key issues—as well as a few more left unmentioned by the governor—that are expected to dominate the closing hours of the 2014 legislative session.

1. Medical marijuana

The up-and-down negotiations over medical marijuana seem to be on their way up, but it’s still unclear whether a deal will be done by the close of session. At a Red Room press conference announcing an agreement on legislation to combat heroin abuse, Cuomo volunteered that a compromise on medical marijuana was still in the works. “We don’t have an agreement yet, but there is more time on the clock,” Cuomo said. “And we’re going to work up until the bell tolls.” Yet the governor reiterated that he would not accept a bill that could have harmful consequences while calling marijuana “a gateway drug.” State Sen. Diane Savino, the sponsor of the Compassionate Care Act, told the Daily News on Wednesday that she was expecting bill language from the governor’s office, a positive sign for medical marijuana supporters. 

2. Teacher evaluations

Along with medical marijuana, teacher evaluations are one of top two issues Cuomo said he is still negotiating with lawmakers. The state budget included reforms to limit the impact on students of exams based on new Common Core standards, which critics said were rushed, and the governor promised to address the role the exams play in teacher evaluations. On Wednesday, the governor declined to say whether he agreed with a proposal from the state Education Commissioner John King to keep using the exams as a factor in teacher evaluations but to ease or delay their consequences, and he instead blamed King and the Board of Regents for the poor implementation. The governor also said that he would be willing to use a message of necessity to pass either medical marijuana or teacher evaluation legislation if deals are reached, which would bypass the required three-day aging period for any new legislation. 

3. Cleaning up the budget

Cuomo said he was not optimistic about potential legislation in the works to “clean up” the state budget, which was passed on time earlier this year. “There are a number of corrections, primarily, from the budget document that was prepared and done,” Cuomo said. “You know, doing the budget is a feat of logistics and operations, and some items inadvertently dropped out of the budget on a technical level, and that’s what primarily what the bill is about.” There could also be “some stray cats and dogs” in such a bill, which Cuomo said had yet to be written, although he reiterated that it would be primarily “technical” in nature. He declined to get into specifics of what is under discussion.

4. The environment

A bipartisan group of lawmakers and environmental groups is pushing Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos to bring to the floor the Child Safe Products Act, which seeks to remove harmful chemicals from various products in a more comprehensive way and has enough Senate co-sponsors to pass if it comes up for a vote. State Sen. Tony Avella, a champion of the measure, told The Capitol Pressroom’s Susan Arbetter Wednesday that the bill “has to get done” in spite opposition from the American Chemistry Council. Other lawmakers are focused on the state’s expiring Brownfields program, which could be extended for a little over two years under a stopgap measure introduced in both houses on Monday despite a desire for an overhaul and a longer-term extension. A more satisfactory compromise was reached on a climate adaptation measure sponsored by Savino and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, which could pass this week.

5. The long shots

The Women’s Equality Act, first proposed by Cuomo in 2013, has continued to divide the two parties. Democrats generally want the full 10-point package to become law, including the codification of the Roe v. Wade ruling in state law, while Republicans are calling for approval of the other elements as individual bills. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, a Democrat, is pushing to pass measures combating human trafficking and pregnancy discrimination apart from the full package, although Skelos (nine individual bills) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (all 10) are sticking to their guns, at least publicly. Cuomo, who backed away from his insistence on passing the full 10-point package last year, said he didn’t expect any progress this year.

Some lawmakers are also holding out hope for passage of various other bills, including the Education Investment Tax Credit, a ban on gay conversion therapy and a higher minimum wage with an option to raise it at the local level, although they all seem like long shots to get to the floor and cross the finish line this year. Supporters of the Dream Act have acknowledged that it is off the table this year. And Cuomo, when asked if he was still discussing any new campaign finance legislation, said curtly, “We have not.”