Thread: state senate now 31-31

all about the boat of failure

ALBANY — A rogue Queens Democrat who last week flipped sides to help Republicans take control of the State Senate has now flipped back back to the Democrats — creating an historic, gridlock-producing 31-31 tie in the 62-member house.

Because there is no lieutenant governor — David A. Paterson was elevated last year following disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's departure — no one is quite certain how, or even if, dozens of must-do bills will get passed in the coming weeks.

The situation has created a constitutional crisis in which the Legislature is effectively shut down from approving new bills just a week before the scheduled end of the 2009 session.

Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat, said today he has returned to the Democratic conference he bolted from last week.

"We've got to take back the Senate," said Monserrate as he stood next to his fellow Democrats this afternoon. Only a week ago, he stood in the back of the Senate chamber and voted for the GOP takeover.

"This conference today is more unified than ever," Monserrate said.

Depending on the outcome of a pending court case over whether the leaders backed by the Republicans or Democrats are in control, the Democrats agreed to keep Sen. Malcolm Smith as the president and majority leader of the Senate. That's because, with a 31-31 tie, he cannot be replaced since it takes 32 votes of the Senate to elect a Senate president.

In effect, if the Democrats win their court case, Smith will be leader in name only. In his place serving as leader of the Democratic conference in a chief executive officer-type position is Sen. John Sampson, a Brooklyn Democrat.

Originally Posted by Uncle Jesse

New York State is a joke, and it's like it's being led by the blind.

Yeah, they'd notice....they'd notice the improvement.

"You're out of order. Don't you call me out of order," Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, a Democrat, snapped at Sen. George Winner, who the Republicans tapped to lead the floor fight as presiding officer. He did so from below the chamber's podium, which the Democrats had seized earlier in the afternoon. "I don't understand what their point was other than trying to establish that they were in charge," Winner, still clutching his small gavel, said as he worked his way down a packed hallway after the session.


The move came 10 minutes after a pile of pizzas had been carried into a nearby room where Senate Republicans were meeting behind closed doors to plot out their strategy for a 2 p.m. session. Republicans were planning to take the podium -- and have one of their own serve as presiding officer -- at the earlier session so they could be in charge during the special session.


Schneiderman said Democrats had asked Republicans to table the dispute over who is in charge so the sides could go into the special session. "We don't want this to be a circus," he said.

some highlights, this shit is hilarious and very sad/pathetic. this state is FUBAR

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/712184.html

nyc burbs and east can gfy the rest of the state carries on as real new york