Results tagged “legislature”

Gov. Paterson has called for the Legislature to return to Albany on Nov. 10 to deal with the state's woeful budget situation. And he means business, saying yesterday, "They'll come back and we'll stay there until we get it done." When the Daily News asked Paterson's spokeswoman if he'd resort to calling weekend and holiday sessions a la during the coup, she said: "The governor expects the Legislature to return to Albany for a special session to address the current year deficit." No word on whether or not he set the Nov. 10 date in case of a game 7.

With a controversial bill to legalize same-sex unions still waiting in the wings for a Senate vote, Republicans and Democrats in Albany are bickering like an old married couple. Earlier this week, openly-gay Democratic Senator Thomas Duane—the bill's prime sponsor—predicted he had enough votes to pass the measure, but a survey of all State Senators contradicted that assertion. And yesterday Bronx Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., who opposes the bill, blasted Duane's loose talk: "If Senator Tom Duane has the necessary Senate votes to pass the homosexual marriage bill in New York State, then he should release the names of those Senators who are supporting the bill. If not, he should shut up."

After allowing troubled insurer A.I.G. to borrow $20 billion from itself (and emphasizing that "No taxpayer dollars are involved"), Governor Paterson turned his attention to what the Wall Street woes might mean for the state as a whole. And he told NY1's Dominic Carter, "We don't know what the damage of the events that occurred this weekend is. I would not be surprised if the budget deficit we just cut down may skyrocket back up and I may have to call on the Legislature to come back and grapple with it again.” (Last month, Paterson convened an emergency session to discuss the state's budget problems since the deficit grew $1.4 billion in just a few months.) In a statement yesterday, Paterson pointed out that 20% of NY State's revenue comes from Wall Street.