The Future of Skelos and Bloomberg

When Dean Skelos takes over for Joe Bruno, one of the forces he'll have to come to terms with is Michael Bloomberg, who relied on State Senate Republicans to help pass New York City-related legislation in Albany, and who, in turn, gave them lots of money to get members re-elected.

The Skelos-Bloomberg relationship, whatever else there is to it, may already be strained.

According to the biography on Skelos' legislative web site, "Senator Skelos also wrote the law eliminating the unfair New York City "Commuter Tax." That's money New York City lawmakers have been trying unsuccessfully to get back ever since.

UPDATE: More than one reader emailed me to note that the commuter tax would never have been repealed if it weren't for the sudden support the plan got from Sheldon Silver. So, if any city lawmakers have hard feelings about the bill's passage, it shouldn't be limited just to Skelos.

Also, Bloomberg and Skelos already seem to have a friendly relationship. Skelos was among the lawmakers accompanying Bloomberg on a trip to Greece in 2003. More recently, Bloomberg attended a Skelos fund-raiser, and was warmly received.