Marijuana deal seen as ‘matter of when, not if ’
State legislators are nearing a deal to legalize recreational marijuana use for adult New Yorkers, but there’s currently an “impasse” on how to to deal with impaired driving and traffic stops by police, said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewartcousins.
“It is a matter of when, not if. We are extremely close; we have continued to have negotiations and really have ironed out a lot of what we think would be important in terms of making sure that we do this right,” Stewart-cousins said Tuesday during a news conference. “We have reached a
little bit of an impasse right now, and it has to do with impaired driving there.”
Other legislative leaders have also indicated that a deal is close for legalization. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo included marijuana legalization in his budget proposal this year as a way to raise revenues, but the state Assembly and Senate have instead worked to forge a bill outside of the budget process.
It is the third consecutive year that Cuomo has supported legalizing recreational marijuana; it has been blocked in the past by disagreements over how the revenue would be distributed to make up for past racial disparities in marijuana arrests. Other legislative leaders have also indicated that a deal is very close on legalizing marijuana.
The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York said Tuesday morning that driving under the influence of marijuana should remain a misdemeanor crime rather than a traffic infraction.
“The classification of driving under the influence of cannabis as a traffic infraction would send the message to the driving public that driving while impaired is no big deal and will be treated the same as a speeding ticket,” said Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley, who is president of DAASNY. “There will be less consequences for someone driving high on marijuana than driving while intoxicated by alcohol, yet they are both equally dangerous on our roadways.”
According to a report from the Manhattan district attorney’s office testing for marijuana on-scene during a traffic stop and determining whether someone is high in the moment, rather than having used the drug recently, remains a challenge. States where marijuana is legal handle enforcement differently, although some states are offering special training for police to recognize drug use. The data is unclear on how widespread a problem marijuana-impaired driving is.
Doorley and the association sent a letter to Cuomo expressing their concerns. The letter asks Cuomo to limit the number of homegrown plants allowed, to launch a public education campaign and to consider the risks of impaired driving.
“Part of this is a criminal justice aspect, part of it is also making sure that these communities have the opportunities to really benefit from the economies and the the industry, that will be created, and that communities that have been negatively impacted, are able to get resources put back into those communities,” Stewart-cousins said. “We’re working hard on trying to get to an agreement. Like I said, we’re down to about one impasse and I call it an impasse, but I don’t think it is. I do think we’ll be able to resolve it.”
Both President Joe Biden and his Republican critics have an interest in pronouncing the massive stimulus package to be an ideological revolution. Biden has a history of inviting comparisons between himself and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D -N.Y., hailed the American Rescue Plan as “the biggest package of relief since the New Deal.” According to House Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy, R-calif.: “They called this the most progressive piece of legislation in history. For those who are watching, progressive means socialism.”
And there is no doubt that the $1.9 trillion stimulus package is enormous. But having taken the time to scroll through the legislation, my cumulative impression was different than I expected. There is, of course, funding for vaccine distribution, testing and contact tracing, state and local health departments, global pandemic response, community health centers, mental health services, VA hospitals, the Indian Health Service and Obamacare subsidies. There is funding for farm loans, food stamps, libraries and school lunches. There is funding for child-care block grants, small businesses, nonprofits, rental assistance, public transportation, restaurants, aging and disability services, airlines, the earned-income tax credit and sick leave.
In the legislation, you will find a line item for a long list of social needs. What you will not find is a new or transformational role for government. A great deal of money is devoted to shoring up existing programs and institutions, as you’d expect during a national emergency. Some of the largest elements of the stimulus — the $1,400 checks, the $300 weekly unemployment insurance subsidy, the refundable child credit — go directly to individuals to use as they please. The transfer of $350 billion to states and localities is federalism exemplified.
This is not to deny that the stimulus will have dramatic effects. The funding given to state, local and tribal governments is more than quadruple the budget holes they need to fill until next summer. The Urban Institute estimates child poverty may be (temporarily) cut in half by measures in the package. And at least some elements of the legislation — particularly the expanded child credit — may be popular enough to become permanent.
But comparisons between this emergency measure and the New Deal or Great Society are strained to the point of silliness. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. John
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son established new federal roles in retirement security and health care, which were fulfilled by vast new federal bureaucracies. Biden is mainly adding more money to existing programs and mediating institutions. This does nothing to change the fundamental relationship between the citizen and the state.
For me, this is not a criticism. Providing resources to families, businesses, community institutions and states is certainly the fastest way to encourage economic recovery. This approach increases the positive influence of government while maximizing the authority and choice of individuals. It encourages social justice without massively expanding the size and role of federal bureaucracies.
The American Rescue Plan reduces economic inequality — but not in such a way that it punishes the wealthy. According to the Tax Policy Center, the legislation will boost after-tax income in the lowest quintile by about 20%. Those in the top quintile will see their after-tax income rise by 0.7%. This is a pretty anemic socialist revolution.
The level of liabilities the federal government is incurring will eventually impose a burden of debt servicing that crowds out a lot of discretionary spending. But there seems to be a cheerful, bipartisan agreement to ignore this problem. And it probably should be ignored during an economic crisis anyway.
I don’t deny that Biden could build on this emergency measure — with, say, his $2 trillion climate plan, or the creation of a public option for health care — in ways that could be transformational. But what he has done so far does not indicate the triumph of socialism, or even the return of the New Deal. It shows a distinctly American talent for achieving liberal goals by market-oriented methods.