Politics on the Hudson

Gov. David Paterson beat back criticism today that the state’s new drug laws would allow criminal records of drug offenders to be sealed from employers, saying the goal is to allow former abusers to re-enter the workforce.

Republicans and district attorneys have been knocking the new provision that goes into effect Monday, fearing that a drug offender could be hired to a sensitive position, such as a day-care worker, without an employer’s knowledge of a person’s prior convictions.

“My concern is that I believe schools, day-care centers, nursing homes have the right to know the background of a person that they’re hiring,” Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said during a leaders’ meeting with Paterson at the Capitol.

“I think it’s truly a public safety issue.”

Senate Democrats said they would consider revisiting the policy, and Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, said last week that he would like the provision delayed.

But Paterson indicated that the law should stand. He said the wide-reaching reforms approved in the state budget in April are aimed at giving judges discretion to enroll non-violent drug offenders into treatment programs instead of prison.

He said if they can complete the program, they should not be penalized when they seek work.

“We feel it helps society to try to place them in homes and in jobs without putting the scar of their addiction on them,” he said, responding to Skelos’ concerns.

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