Jun 21, 2009 2:37 am US/Eastern
Sharpton, NY Democrats Meet To Talk Senate Shift
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
The clock is ticking on the legislative session in Albany, and lawmakers are still butting heads, but the political stalemate may soon come to an end.
CBS
-
-
Sens. Dean Skelos (l) and Pedro Espada (r) are sworn in in the New York Senate chambers on June 8, 2009.
CBS
The clock is ticking on the legislative session in Albany, and lawmakers are still butting heads – but the political stalemate may soon come to an end.
Some senate Democrats and Republicans were hard at work this weekend trying to find a compromise.
Facing threats by Governor David Paterson to call a special session on Wednesday, ordering a divided senate back to work, prominent senate Democrats met in public – and behind closed doors – with the Reverend Al Sharpton to plan their next move.
The group eventually concluded that a special session is fine with them – with certain conditions.
"There needs to be a bipartisan governing session for us to get the people's business done," Sen. Malcolm Smith said.
The Democrats are again calling on Republican leadership to accept a bipartisan session, meaning there'd be one leader form each party running things. They would alternate being in charge, with a permanent leader to be decided on down the road.
"We have to put aside our attitudes and egos and get down to the work of the people," Sen. John Sampson said.
On Saturday, dissident Democrat Pedro Espada, who helped orchestrate the senate coup, says he plans to meet shortly with top Democrats and believes a deal will be reached in the next 48 hours.
It's been almost two weeks since the political coup in Albany left control of the chamber in dispute.
Since then, the senate has been deadlocked, 31 to 31.
Dozens of unpassed revenue bills crucial to New York City, Nassau, and other localities are gathering dust.
"I think the real leadership will be shown now by people saying yes, we want to be in control, but we are willing to put that on hold and share control to pass the agenda," Rev. Sharpton said.
Reaction from senate Republicans regarding a special session, however, was not encouraging.
Majority leader Dean Skelos said in a statement: "…if the Governor is looking to side with the Senate Democrats in a political effort to maintain the status quo and provide them with cover to go home for the summer, he can call a special session that resolves nothing and adds to the chaos Democrats have caused."
In the meantime, the clock is ticking: the legislative session in Albany is supposed to end next week.
The biggest stumbling block seems to be the insistence of Democratic Senator Pedro Espada on being the president of the Senate. Weeks ago, both he and Democratic Senator Hiram Monserrate caused an uproar when they took sides with the Republican Party.
"Since we can't agree on that, let's move that to the side. We have the whole summer to deal with it. Let's deal with the specific bills," said Sen. Adams.
But what really galls voters is that while they didn't pass any bills, they still found a way to make sure they get paid, $79,500 a year for the part time jobs.
"I think that's awful. That's terrible. I mean, they should figure out how to get everybody else paid first," said Tony Aramburu, Park Slope resident.
"I just think that the whole thing is ridiculous, that they're not working," said Diane Traiger, East Side resident.
"I think it's a total disgrace. What's going on in Albany? I think they're putting their personal egos and little quarrels ahead of the people of the state," said Phillip Falk, Murray Hill resident.
"They should not be getting paid right now until their back to normal," said Sharon Scott, Bed-Stuy resident.
CBS 2's Scott Rapoport and Deborah Garcia contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments