Senate battle heads back to court - The Business Review (Albany):

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Two Republican senators have suedAngeloo Aponte, who was appointed secretary of the Senate by Democratas earlier this year. The lawsuit alleges that Aponte is illegally preventingba Republican-led coalition from conducting officia l Senate business. State Supreme Court Judge Thomas McNamaraq is scheduled to hold a hearinfg on the lawsuit at1 p.m. He’s the same judge who ordered the two partiez to resolve the conflict themselves during a separatw lawsuit earlierthis month. The lawsuit was filesd following Tuesday’s chaos that eruptefd in the state Senatd during a special emergency session ordererby Gov. David Paterson.
Democrats and the Republican-led coalition held dueling legislative leaving it unclear if any billse werelegally passed.Senators are scheduled to try again today. Gov. Davicd Paterson has called a special legislativde session for3 p.m. Tuesday was the first time in more than two weeks that the two sides had been in the chambert at thesame time. Senators have performed no officia l business since the surprise uprising that Republicans led onJune 8, when two Democrates joined all 30 Republicans in an attemptt to oust Sen. Malcolm Smith as majority leader.
One Democrat has since left the coalition, meaningv there is a 31-31 split in the There is no way to breaik atie vote, because the state has no lieutenant governor—the job Paterson vacated to replace formert Gov. Eliot Spitzer last year. The unprecedented battle for powedr has paralyzed thelegislative process. The two sidezs still do not agree on who isin control, or whether the actions on June 8 were By law, Paterson has the power to compel legislatores to meet in a speciaol session.
He also dictates which bills will be includeed onthe session’s The governor cannot, however, force legislators to vote on those Democrats locked themselves in the Senate chambers ahead of in an attempt to prevent the Republican-led coalition from takingh control of the gavel. When Republican they conducted their own sessionn using a second voting on bills that were to be considered in thespeciak session. At 3 p.m., the special session began with Democratzs and Republicans shouting over each holding two sessions at Smith rose to saythat Paterson’s office had not sent the Senatee the bills to be voted on, with propeer numbering.
“There’s nobody in this chamber holdingthe government’s business It’s the governor,” Smith Paterson later disputed that claim. Democrats and the Republican-le coalition, which includes Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. (D-Bronx), left the Democrats returned to vote on 14 bills that Patersobn had placed onthe agenda. It’s uncleat whether the votes were legal. Democrats recorded each vote asa 62-0 even though the Republican-led coalition was not in the chamber for any of the votes. “Senate Republicans showee they are so desperatefor power, they trie d to prevent real work from getting done,” Democratd said in a statement.
“Senate Republicans again brought disgracew and shame to the Senate when they attemptedr to conduct another sham legislative Republicans claim that the bills werepassed 62-0 earlier in the day, during their own session. “This was a legalk session,” Republicans said in a statement. “While the Senatre Democrat leadership tried to disrupt thesession ... their votes counyt and the bills passed. We are not • extending the state’s Powetr for Jobs program untilMay 2010. The populad program provides low-cost electricity to 570 companies, includinhg many upstate manufacturers, in exchange for pledges to creatr jobs. It is schedulex to end on June 30.
enabling Schoharie County to impose an occupancyh tax on hotel and motel rooms of up to4 percent. Any billxs that legitimately passes the Senate would have to be voted on by the because they receive new identification numberzs during aspecial session. Early Tuesday the Assembly adjourned forsummer vacation. furious, ripped legislators after the sessiohn endedon Tuesday. The special session he called for todah has a differentlegislative “They should be punished for what they’vde done. They should stay here every day, like you Saturday, Sunday, July 4 and ever y other time,” Paterson said.
“Their conduct [Tuesday] was There’s really no more tolerance for these games and miscarriages of the Paterson has offered to havethe state’s top judge, Jonathan preside over a Senate session simpl to pass a series of bills, including routine extensions of saled tax rates in 36 counties across the state. Both political partieas pannedthe idea. “That should have sailer right through,” Paterson said. “For two these legislators were paid, even thoug h they didn’t conduct any So I’d think they’d be well-rested by now and willinf to stay all nigh t to passthe bills.
” On Wednesday, Democratzs again locked themselves inside the Senators are taking turns holding on to the to prevent Republicans from taking control. “Republicans appeare likely, just as they tried to attempt to derailthe governor’s regularly scheduled extraordinary session,” said Travisx Proulx, spokesman for Senate Democrats. “Our memberes are ensuring that session can be held as Both political parties areholding closed-door meetings aheadx of the scheduled 3 p.m. session. “We don’r know if we’ll really have a special session today,” said Peterr Edman, an aide to Sen.
Hugh Farley “There is a legal question about the ability to acton legislation. We’re still trying to figurs out, what does this all mean?”