Both sides expect to break impasse in Senate
ALBANY — Democrats and Republicans are poised in the coming days to break the month-old gridlock that has stalled action on hundreds of bills.
Or maybe not.
Tuesday saw yet another strange series of twists in this ongoing State Senate melodrama, with some on-again, off-again dissident Democrats fueling chatter that they are ready to bolt to the GOP-led faction if power-sharing deals are not made by Thursday.
Meanwhile, a group of Democratic senators, moving ahead of some of their party leaders, began heavily promoting a long-term deal with Republicans that would see the head of the Senate rotate on a daily basis between the factions when the Senate is in session, along with a number of other power-sharing arrangements.
“By this week, everything will be done,” Sen. Ruben Diaz, a Bronx Democrat, said following a breakfast session with the three other Democratic lawmakers at an Albany hotel.
The significant movement of the day came when Republicans released a letter to all senators detailing their ideas for how the 31-31 stalemate can be resolved by dividing everything from money for staff and pork barrel projects to making it easier for rank-and-file lawmakers to get a bill to the floor.
Within an hour, a group of Democrats, including Sen. William Stachowski of Lake View, released their own long-term deal to make some sort of partisan peace through the 2010 elections; Democrats had been resisting a long-term deal, and not all Democrats signed on to the new offer, showing, again, a deepening rift within that conference.
Stirring the waters the most was Sen. Pedro Espada, a Bronx Democrat who helped make the GOP-led June 8 coup possible. He began his day with a breakfast at an Albany hotel with Diaz and two other Democrats who earlier this year — as the “four amigos” — helped delay the Democrats’ transition to power following their takeover of the Senate until certain deals were made, including plum committee jobs.
Following the breakfast, which reporters were invited to attend by Diaz, Espada suggested his bagel-eating colleagues might be ready to make a dramatic move to break the impasse. He did not elaborate.
“I think the issue is to decide the matter by Thursday,” Espada said. Asked or what?, he said, “Or folks will step forward and make the decision for others.”
Later in the day, Espada suggested 20 Democrats — out of 31 in that conference — could be ready to support the GOPdrafted power-sharing deal by Thursday if the logjam is not broken.
Espada has made a practice of expressing confidence about impending deals. But he said the Thursday deadline is different from others in that it has been “self-imposed” by some senators.
But even the most vocal Espada critics were joining in the cheery assessment. “I think we have the outline right here and we could be passing bills by the end of the week,” said Sen. Jeff Klein, a Bronx Democrat and author of the new long-term offer by some Democrats.
Stachowski said the Klein proposal for power-sharing was adopted mostly from ideas used in other states to break logjams. The key difference between it and the Espada-backed plan is Democrats want to rotate the Senate president’s job — daily during sessions and weekly when not in town — while Espada is pushing to remain as president with two majority leaders.
Emerging from a meeting with the warring senators and Gov. David A. Paterson, Sen. John Sampson, the Democratic conference leader, said the next couple of days will be key. “I think we’re in a good zone,” he said of the talks. But, he added, “I wouldn’t say Thursday is the final deadline.”
Still, Espada and his GOP allies are insisting, at least publicly, that Espada remain Senate president and Sen. Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican, remain majority leader … the titles they won in the coup.
The sides went into another Paterson-ordered special session, but quickly adjourned without passing any bills. Democratic leaders then tried to move to a regular session to begin passing bills, a move called a publicity stunt by Republicans, who won't agree to pass bills until the leadership issue is resolved.
The longer the dispute rages, the more it is costing taxpayers. Besides the $160 per diem lawmakers get for lodging and meals while in Albany, they also get reimbursed for travel. So, too, does their non-Albany staff while at the Capitol. Those bills won’t be known for weeks.
Lawyers are raking in the biggest bucks for their work in the six lawsuits now under way. Senate Democrats have hired two Manhattan lawyers — Richard Emery, who is getting $750 per hour, and Andrew Celli, who is making $525 per hour. An Albany lawyer, Richard Conboy, is getting $250 per hour, and a spokesman for Senate Democrats said the hourly rate is uncertain for Martin Connor, a former Democratic state senator from Brooklyn. Officials said they have not yet determined who will pay the legal bills.
Senate Republicans and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli say they are using in-house lawyers for their legal work.
Paterson has hired an Albany firm, Gleason Dunn Walsh & O’Shea. A contract between the firm and the governor’s office— listed on the state comptroller’s Web site — shows a deal was signed July 1 for $49,500.
As Democrats bashed Republicans for walking out of the room, the seats of five Democrats were also empty, including those who attended the Espada breakfast.
Espada said his Democratic friends are boycotting Democratic meetings because they believe the time for talk is over. "Clearly, Thursday is a key day for the so-called amigos," Espada said.
Espada, who has oozed with self-confidence during the affair, brushed aside talk of his taking a lesser role as part of any deal. "I'm gaining support. Would you ask anybody who has enough electoral college votes for president to serve as vice president?" he said.
And he said the push for a final deal this week is coming from both sides. "The impetus is not just for us to get out of town. The impetus is really the tremendous embarrassment that we all feel. We've become caricatures of ineptitude, and folks don't want that," he said.
Stachowski put no credence in Espada's claims of Democratic support for a move on Thursday if no deals are made by then. He noted Espada previously has made other claims of various numbers of Democrats ready to join his coup. "He seems to have some trouble with numbers," he said.
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