AP source: NY governor will force Senate session
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. David Paterson will order the state Senate to meet in a special session Wednesday if battling senators fail to resolve a two-week power struggle, a state official said Friday.
Paterson would compel senators to convene if they don’t settle the leadership question by the end of Monday, the regular session’s last day. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the governor hasn’t yet announced his plan.
The Democratic conference and the coalition of 30 Republicans and a Democrat locked in 31-31 gridlock say they will attend, but will operate only under their conflicting rules of how to run the Senate.
Senators would have to attend, but Paterson can’t make them vote.
The state official said Paterson is preparing a list of essential legislation requiring action, most of which will extend laws about to expire. Some measures would let New York City and other local governments arrange taxing or borrowing.
The coalition claims control of the chamber following a June 8 vote that shocked the Democratic conference, which has controlled the Senate since January.
Paterson has said in the last two weeks that he could set the agenda and remove one of the biggest obstacles to the leadership dispute by removing the power of choosing bills for votes.
Paterson has been trying to push the Senate into a truce to pass 20 to 40 bills. The bills aren’t expected to be controversial or require lengthy floor fights.
The most critical of the bills include one to continue mayoral control of New York City schools and a bill to allow Nassau County to borrow for expenses and avoid a big spike in property taxes.
The Democratic conference has offered power-sharing agreements in which the top two leaders of the Senate would be split and the holders of the post would rotate each day.
The coalition said it will attend and try to act on bills, but only under its elected officers — Senate President Pedro Espada and Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
“All it takes is for the Democrats to show up,” said coalition spokesman John McArdle.
Democratic conference leader John Sampson of Brooklyn, who has boycotted the coalition’s daily sessions, said he and his senators want to put aside politics and get to “the duties of office.”
But the Democrats won’t operate under Espada and Skelos. Instead, the Democratic conference offers a power-sharing plan with rotating officers of each party — a concept already rejected by the coalition.
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