Jun 17, 2009 11:23 am US/Eastern
NY Senate Gridlock Could Lead To Legislative Limbo
State Judge, Gov. Paterson Tell Lawmakers To Break Albany Gridlock Themselves
Delay Could Impact Action On Important Issues
ALBANY (CBS) ―
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It was a wild scene both inside and outside the New York Senate chambers on June 11 as lawmakers were pushed, spit on and accosted by angry protesters.
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Billionaire Tom Golisano announced on Oct. 20 he will spend whatever is necessary to thwart Mayor Bloomberg's quest to get the City Council to give him the right to run again.
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Sens. Dean Skelos (l) and Pedro Espada (r) are sworn in in the New York Senate chambers on June 8, 2009.
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The leadership crisis paralyzing New York's state Senate has thrown some laws into limbo and left others struggling to survive.
The law that gave Mayor Michael Bloomberg sweeping control over New York City schools is expiring in a few days.
A bill to legalize gay marriage in the state is awaiting a vote.
And the city is hoping for approval of a sales tax hike to plug a budget hole.
The power play has eaten up a week of the session. Government watchdogs say it remains to be seen whether all the legislative work can be finished.
On Tuesday, both Democrats and Republicans said they're ready to move forward.
Yet no business was done in Albany again, as both sides argued about the meaning of a judge's decision ordering them to decide amongst themselves how to share power, a decision that so far they've been unable to make themselves.
"Judge McNamara was clear and unequivocal. He chose today to uphold the legal decisions that were made by a 32-30 vote on June 8 here that created a bipartisan government," said Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx.
Two interpretations of Judge Thomas McNamara's ruling about last week's coup lead to only one conclusion. Right now no business will be conducted in the upper house.
The Republican coalition insisted that the judge sided with them.
"We extend our hand to other members of the Democratic conference to join us. To join us so that we can now move forward," said Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Long Island.
And they challenged Democrats to come to session and get back to work. The Democrats said they would not appeal the judge's decision, but they would not come back to work until there's a power-sharing agreement.
"With all due respect to Sen. Skelos and his colleagues, they're dealing in last week's news," Sen. Jeffrey Klein, D-Bronx, said. "Right now the Senate is 31-31. There's a tie, so when there's a tie, it's incumbent on all of us Democrats and Republicans to move towards a temporary coalition government."
Added Sen. John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, who was recently named head of the Democratic conference: "I want to make sure today we declare victory for all New Yorkers. The court basically reaffirmed that Sen. [Malcolm] Smith on Jan. 7, 2009, was duly elected temporary president and majority leader."
Governor David Paterson asked both sides to come up with a stipulated list of bills that they can agree to pass according to localities -- like a half percent sales increase that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs to close his budget gap.
"What I asked both parties is if they would stipulate to an agreement where we would come into the Senate and have no leadership, but we would put these bills on the calendar. We would find someone that's perceived to be impartial to be the presiding officer and then we would pass, what is basically non-controversial legislation," Paterson said.
To which Sen. Espada responded: "What he should be doing is asking Democratic party senators, God bless them all, to come and do their job."
Paterson instead implored all involved to quickly end the logjam and get the business of state government moving again.
"Right now, their duty as senators are more important than their duty as politicians. We respect that they have a dispute. We recognize that it is difficult to resolve and yet it is not in the matter of priority as doing the people's business," Paterson said.
CBS 2's Marcia Kramer contributed to this report.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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