Apr 29, 2009 7:48 pm US/Eastern
Majority Leader Backs Out Of Puerto Rico Junket
Malcolm Smith Isn't Going, But Not Because He's Worried About How It Will Look Considering MTA's Problems
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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New York Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith will not be going on a vacation with many other senators.
CBS
With no Metropolitan Transportation Authority bailout plan in sight, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith has had second thoughts about jetting off to Puerto Rico on Thursday.
It's not the political fallout that's keeping him home. He's got another excuse.
The beautiful beaches of Puerto Rico will have one less New York senator frolicking on them this weekend. Smith said it's not the fact that he can't come up with an MTA bailout plan that's keeping him home; it's the concern about the health of his daughter -- a student at St. Francis Prep, the school at the center of the swine flu outbreak.
Just last week, Smith told CBS 2 HD, "I'm having no second thoughts. I'm taking the trip with my Spanish colleagues."
Smith's daughter and wife had already suffered mild swine flu symptoms last week when he insisted he was still going to Puerto Rico. But then again, he also thought the MTA deal would be wrapped up by the time he was slated to hit the beach.
"Right now he's on standby; he's waiting to see the results of his daughter," Sen. Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx, said.
Diaz insisted Smith might still make it to Puerto Rico, but Smith's spokesman said no way. After all, a picture of the senate majority leader partying in Puerto Rico while the MTA is in crisis isn't really good politics.
"The Democrats have newly taken over the Senate and I don't think they're putting their best foot forward," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign.
Still going on the junket are Sens. Diaz, Martin Dilan, Hiram Monserrate and Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada, who really lives in Mamaroneck and has held up the MTA bailout.
"My advice to Sen. Espada is live in the district for real and if you're not then you should really think about another job," Russianoff said.
The junket to Puerto Rico will last four days. It begins Thursday night with a reception in Bayamon.
While in Puerto Rico the senators plan to meet with the governor and other leaders about the island's economic problems.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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