N.Y. Senate Goes Republican, Aided by Two Democrats

N.Y. Senate Goes Republican, Aided by Two Democrats http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiq_YGCzi630

By Henry Goldman and Michael Quint

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republicans reclaimed control of the New York state Senate with help from two Democrats, who rebelled against a $131.8 billion budget they said was negotiated in secret.

Pedro Espada from the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate from Queens sided with 30 Republicans on key votes to change the Senate’s leadership. Democrats immediately challenged the claim and described the action as illegal. Governor David Paterson called it “despicable.”

The maneuver, just two weeks before the Legislature’s scheduled June 22 adjournment, leaves in doubt the outcome of bills to allow gay marriage, create a new money-saving pension category for future state and city workers and approve taxes to balance New York City’s budget.

“We would be in uncharted waters,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an impromptu news conference in Manhattan. “I expect to have an on-time budget, but we have to have reasonable assurances that revenue will be there. And if this were to get held up -- and I don’t know if that’s the case, this is hypothetical -- we would not be facing anything that we’ve seen before.”

Democrats say they will go to court arguing that they adjourned the Senate session before the Republicans named Dean Skelos as the new majority leader, ousting Malcolm Smith.

Democrats in November took the lead in the Senate for the first time in 43 years, with a 32-30 majority. They have controlled the Assembly and the offices of governor, attorney general and comptroller since 2006.

City’s Stakes

The transfer of power could affect Bloomberg’s effort to persuade the state Legislature to extend the law giving him control over city schools, said Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College in Manhattan. The law, enacted in 2002, is set to expire June 30.

The Senate switch “gives the mayor a lot of leverage because he’s been a very major campaign contributor to the Republican Party Senate campaign, and Republicans supported mayoral control” of the schools, Sherrill said in an interview. “On taxes, I’m not so sure, because the Republicans may want to use the tax issue against the Democrats in 2010.” Bloomberg has given New York State Republican Senate campaign committees more than $1.3 million since 2003, according to New York State Board of Election records. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Bloomberg also wants the Legislature to approve a 0.5 percentage point increase in the sales tax to balance the budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Pension Issue

The new pension category, which the state’s two largest public employee unions accepted June 5, would save state taxpayers more than $30 billion over 30 years, and has become a priority for the governor. A delay or a dysfunctional Legislature could derail it.

The pension bill is also crucial to Bloomberg’s agenda, should city unions agree to its less generous provisions, because the city would save $200 million next year and $7 billion over 20 years, Bloomberg has said.

“Given that the state will continue to face budgetary shortfalls, this will likely add to the paralysis in Albany,” Sherrill said in a written statement. “Negotiating with a divided Legislature over budget cuts and/or tax increases will be sheer hell for Governor Paterson, and for everyone else.”

Espada said he was moved to launch the revolt by the secrecy of the budget process, when the state closed a record $17.7 billion deficit with help from a rise in income tax rates for individuals earning more than $200,000 a year. Votes for that package were coerced, he said, by threats to deprive lawmakers of the funds known as “member items,” which they provide directly to groups in their districts.

Still Democrats

Monserrate still considers himself a Democrat and expects that in the new “bi-partisan coalition” he will continue to meet in conferences with others of his party. Espada said the same.

Espada said at least four or five other Democrats told him they will join him and Monserrate in a new Senate coalition.

Both senators have legal issues that could complicate their political futures. A New York grand jury indicted Monserrate in March on felony assault charges stemming from a Dec. 19, 2008, incident, when he was a city councilman, in which he allegedly slashed his girlfriend with a drinking glass.

Last month Smith scolded Espada for failing to file disclosure reports with the state Board of Elections, for which Espada was fined more than $13,000. The city Campaign Finance Board also fined him $61,750 for violations stemming from an unsuccessful 2001 campaign for Bronx Borough president.

Espada Catchup Plan

Espada said he will complete his overdue campaign finance filings by Friday, and pay his outstanding $60,000 debt to New York City’s campaign finance board by August.

Skelos said in a statement that Smith and the Democrats “broke their promises” to reform the chamber, resulting in “the most secretive and dysfunctional session in recent history and a complete and total failure to govern.” He promised “more accountability, transparency, efficiencies, balance and fairness” under his leadership.

The tactics for reversing Senate control “crystallized” at meetings over the weekend, said Senator George Winner, a Republican from Elmira. “I don’t know how long there have been talks with Espada and Monserrate,” he said.

Senator Betty Little, a Republican from Glens Falls, said, “The biggest surprise is that the plan wasn’t leaked ahead of time.”

Lawmakers may have to remain in Albany beyond the scheduled end of the session, Paterson said. “I don’t really know what the outcome will be” when the dispute goes to court, Paterson said.

Instead of arguing about leadership positions, Paterson said, lawmakers should be working on pending legislation such as a cap on state spending and curbing increases in property taxes or fixing an emerging budget deficit.

To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Goldman in New York City Hall at hgoldman@bloomberg.net; Michael Quint in Albany, New York, at mquint@bloomberg.net