EDITORIAL: A to-do list for Albany to make a budget deal

New York's bitter, prolonged struggle to enact a state budget promises to conclude this week, with the governor and lawmakers trading power plays - and deals - into the hours before Monday's deadline.

The 13-week drag-out has only made the job much harder. Congress last week rejected an extension of last year's extra Medicaid payments to states, through a formula called FMAP. If Congress doesn't reconsider, New York's $9.2-billion deficit could grow by as much as $2 billion, according to some projections; county and city governments will also be hit.

Under this enormous fiscal pressure, Gov. David A. Paterson wants 10 percent to 13 percent of deficit-closing to come in the form of new taxes. This is a reasonable benchmark; with few other choices, a temporary sales tax on clothing under $110 may be part of an acceptable, emergency solution. Lawmakers should also approve wine sales in grocery stores, a good idea that would also boost licensing revenue.

As the deal-making intensifies, the State Legislature mustn't lose sight of important unfinished business:

Long Island's Republican senators must relent and pass a law requiring semiautomatic guns to "micro-stamp" the shell casings of fired bullets. The cost is minimal, and it brings another tool for solving crimes.

In the Assembly, the Long Islanders should keep pressure on Speaker Sheldon Silver to agree to a low-cost electricity program for companies, to spur economic development.

Gov. David A. Paterson and State Senate Conference Leader John Sampson favor allowing SUNY to prosper by giving the university control over tuition rates and revenue, and by loosening regulation. They should hold firm until the Assembly also makes the grade.

A Senate-Assembly pact that would cut school aid by $1 billion - instead of the $1.4 billion Paterson proposed - is being advertised as property tax relief for suburban districts. The plan advises school districts with savings in the bank to pass along state aid to taxpayers, in the form of lower bills. Poorer districts could keep the money to avoid layoffs. But this plan is legally dubious and lacks the governor's support.

There's no way of knowing whether Congress will act this year on any of the different approaches to climate change. So New York should adopt legislation that ratifies Paterson's goal of a greenhouse gas emissions target 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Action by a state as powerful as ours would send a strong message to Washington.

The final bill will almost certainly not specify how to reach the target, but leave that to a climate action council of state agencies. For now, the target is vital - not only to reduce greenhouse gases, but to send a market signal that will bring jobs and investment to New York, as similar legislation did in California.

Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) is working closely with the Senate. His original bill is stronger, but the latest Senate version is acceptable. Now the two houses should get a final bill to Paterson.

DNA analysis should be used routinely to exonerate the innocent and convict the guilty. But under current law, only 46 percent of those with Penal Law convictions - all convicted of felonies, but just 30 percent of those guilty of misdemeanors - are required to submit a sample. Some of the 200 or so exempted misdemeanors are conspiracy or menacing as hate crimes, certain arsons and, in some instances, criminal possession of a weapon. Paterson wants to require everyone convicted of a crime - whether felony or misdemeanor - to submit a DNA sample. The bill would also require samples from registered sex offenders whose crimes at the time didn't require them. The legislature should pass this bill.

After years of resistance, the State Senate approved a no-fault divorce bill earlier this month. Backers assumed it would breeze through the more liberal Assembly, but Silver says the technical aspects of the bill "need some tweaking." He's right, but the necessary repair should be simple and quick.

The Senate's version establishes a formula for calculating a "post-marital income obligation" that could disadvantage the spouse with fewer resources. Replacing "maintenance awards" - New York's version of alimony - the new formula ignores how property divisions might affect need for support or ability to pay. Some women's rights advocates are alarmed. Attorneys' fees are not spelled out, and divorce lawyers may lose billable hours if breakups are simpler. Skeptics believe that lawyer-friendly Silver is dragging his feet on their behalf.

Surely, there exist templates elsewhere for resolving these issues. New York would be the very last state in the nation to add a no-fault provision for divorcing couples. Now couples here must work out a separation agreement, then wait a full year. Or they must prove adultery, abandonment, imprisonment or cruelty. Many couples lie to speed the process - an unnecessary and painful exercise. It would be cruel, indeed, to delay this needed law much longer.

New York should move forward to allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. But so far, Albany is going about it all wrong. The Senate has ludicrously included a medical marijuana law in its budget, arguing that if you can sell it, you can tax it - to the tune of $15 million next year. Tucking extraneous items into budget bills is a way to avoid full debate. Are New Yorkers really ready to let this one slide into law without a thorough hearing?

No, the right way is to vet this proposal before New York ends up like Los Angeles. Riddled with 700 pot shops since approving medical marijuana sales in 1996, L.A. is now trying to impose a 70-store cap and outlaw the shops near schools and playgrounds.

What's more, the Senate bill fails to adequately define who could prescribe the drug and for what purpose. There's no provision to screen sellers for criminal backgrounds, or to say where they could obtain the merchandise. What a potential boon for drug lords everywhere.

Besides the loose rules, the bill ignores medical developments. Britain just approved a new, liquid form of the drug that eases pain without the associated high. People with agonizing diseases - AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia - should have the relief cannabis offers. But first, Albany needs to get straight on this bill.

It's an end-of-June rite to pile new laws into these final days of the session. But the rush won't excuse bad judgment. Lawmakers should use these remaining hours to redeem themselves. hN