Last call for lame ducks in Trenton

Monday, January 04, 2010

Claire Heininger

STAR-LEDGER STAFF

State lawmakers return to Trenton today to close out a lame-duck session with debate on bills to legalize medical marijuana, relax prison sentences for some drug offenders in school zones and allow towns to stave off property tax hikes by postponing pension payments.

Although chances are dwindling for Democrats to enact laws before Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie takes office Jan. 19, lawmakers said most of their grand plans -- with the exception of medical marijuana -- have fizzled, many with gut-checks over the state's fiscal crisis. In addition, the transition from Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine to Christie has focused more on Corzine's nominations of allies to state entities than last-minute legislative moves.
Lame duck's becoming so anticlimactic," said Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who will become Senate president when the new session begins Jan. 12. "There are very important pieces of legislation that are going to move through, but the energy level in past lame ducks seems different." Many bills faded because they would have required new spending without the state revenue to support them, Sweeney said.

Other bills have generated controversy at the expense of votes. Same-sex marriage legislation seems unlikely to pass at this time, and another politically charged issue -- changing the way New Jersey fills vacant U.S. Senate seats -- was dropped after Democrats failed to agree on a way to ensure Christie would appoint a Democrat if either of the state's current senators resigns. Christie dismissed the notion as "garbage" and Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) ultimately killed the move.

But lawmakers are clearing a path for seriously ill residents to legally use marijuana to ease their pain. The qualifying illnesses are cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, seizure disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and "any other medical condition" approved by the state Health Department, according to the latest version of the bill (S119).

Although legislators still need to reconcile the Senate and Assembly versions -- which differ over restrictions such as whether patients may grow their own marijuana -- top Democrats predict New Jersey will become the 14th state to legalize the drug for medical use, with safeguards in place.

"We won't have what's going on in California," Codey said last week.

ENCOURAGING NEWS

Nancy Fedder, a 62-year-old Hillsborough resident who has testified in favor of medical marijuana, said she and other patients are encouraged the drug is on the verge of becoming legal. She uses the drug to help her cope with severe leg and back pain caused by multiple sclerosis and said she consumes a modest amount through an inhaler.

"It's proven. It works. I don't get high. I don't have to get high," she said. "We've got to get this done."