State Senate | The New York Observer

Skelos on Monserrate: 'The Vote Will Be Expulsion'

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:02:10 -0500

ALBANY—Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos said that he expects any vote in the chamber regarding Hiram Monserrate, the Queens Democrat who was convicted last year of recklessly injuring his girlfriend, to be for expulsion.

"I think if it came to the floor for a vote, the vote will be expulsion," Skelos told Fred Dicker on WGDJ. "They have not indicated when it will come for a vote, but the sooner the better."

Dicker asked...

Schneiderman Raises, With DiNapoli

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:54:40 -0500

ALBANY—State Senator Eric Schneiderman will kick off the start of the legislative session with a fund-raiser at the house of Meredith Kane, his law school classmate.

The event will take place on January 7, the day after David Paterson delivers his State of the State address. Democratic Senate Leader John Sampson is also launching a fund-raising blitz in January, but is asking far more--$5,000 a head at his Manhattan event--than Schneiderman's $250.

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Sampson Envisions New Look, Same Leaders

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:59:38 -0500

ALBANY—John Sampson thinks, not unreasonably, that the State Senate needs a new look.

"We need to come out of the box in January and start to really pass some progressive and positive legislation because people have one characterization of us," Sampson, the leader of the chamber's Democratic conference, told reporters during an informal chat in his Capitol office. "We need to change that. Basically, we need a makeover. Hopefully, the legislative action in the...

'Cocktails and Conversation' With John Sampson, For $5,000

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:28:23 -0500

ALBANY—The day after David Paterson gives his State of the State address, Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson will be in Manhattan for "cocktails and conversation" at a $5,000-a-head event.

That's a pretty high dollar figure; for context, David Paterson and Andrew Cuomo each asked for $1,000 a head at their December events and Eric Schneiderman, a prominent member of the Democratic conference, is asking $250 for an event in Washington Heights.. It's also interesting...

Lots of Electeds At Cuomo's Fund-Raiser

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:37:14 -0500

There were 1,000 people in attendance at Andrew Cuomo's birthday fund-raiser last night--even David Paterson, a prospective political adversary, dropped in--mingling with the attorney general and enjoying a dinner of cucumber salad, beef and vegetables.

Like David Paterson's holiday fund-raiser last week, the stalwarts of Albany's lobbying community showed up--Paul Tokasz, Brian Meara, Patricia Lynch, David Weinraub, Kenny Shapiro and Steve Weingarten--to name a few. But unlike Paterson's event, a cohort of the state's...

Skelos: Let's Not Rush Into Anything

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:40:05 -0500

ALBANY—Dean Skelos, the Republican leader in the State Senate, is putting the brakes on a Democratic proposal to give members of his conference committee chairmanships.

"Senator [John] Sampson's proposal to appoint new chairs should be considered along with these other recommendations, by the bipartisan committee, before any action is taken," Skelos said in a statement. "Our conference strongly believes that additional reforms must be made in a comprehensive way and not in a piecemeal...

Poll: People Don't Like the Legislature. Really.

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:30:57 -0500

ALBANY—Quinnipiac University just released a poll with blistering results for the state legislature: 72 percent of voters surveyed disapprove of the job its doing, 76 percent said their government is dysfunctional, 46 percent says their state senator should be voted out of office and 60 percent say the offenses for which former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno was convicted represent "business as usual."

"It's a polling cliché that voters don't like the legislature but...

Aubertine Okay With 'Inclusive' Moves

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:24:38 -0500

ALBANY—State Senator Darrel Aubertine seems okay with the idea of Republicans taking the chairmanships of several committees—even if it's one he currently controls.

"There have been some discussions internally about the possibility of expanding senators' roles in decision-making in the Senate; just being more inclusive and making sure everyone has a seat at the table," said Aubertine, who I found walking in a Capitol hallway toward his office. He said the discussions have not...

Robach: I Might Be Interested in a Chair

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:53:20 -0500

ALBANY—State Senator Joe Robach returned my call to say he would be "interested" in becoming a committee chairman, but denied anything substantive had been offered.

"I had a loose discussion with someone on the floor the other week," Robach, a Rochester Republican, told me by phone. "Nothing really formally has been discussed. It's out there in the media ahead of anything substantial."

Robach was named as possibly biting at a Democrat-led bid...

Skelos and Sampson Met to Discuss Republican Chairmanships

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:18:30 -0500

ALBANY—John Sampson and Dean Skelos, the leaders of their party's respective conferences in the State Senate, met this morning to discuss the prospect of Republicans taking over the chairmanship of several committees, a Democratic spokesman said.

"Because the discussions are still ongoing, I cannot confirm the members of the committees," said Austin Shafran, the spokesman, confirming what Liz wrote this morning in her column. "But this is about creating a bi-partisan and effective senate....

Paterson Will Delay $750 Million Starting on Tuesday, Says It's the Legislature's Fault

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:11:09 -0500

ALBANY—Today is the day of reckoning.

David Paterson just held a press conference to announce that, as he has threatened for two weeks, the state will delay a portion of payments to localities and school district because it doesn't have enough cash to make them.

In total, $750 million will be stalled: Paterson said he would withhold 10 percent of $1.5 billion due to schools and $400 million to municipalities on Tuesday. Another $3...

With Sampson's Support, Malcolm Smith Might Just Hang On

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:00:03 -0500

ALBANY—Malcolm Smith is supposed to leave the top post in the State Senate with the New Year. But nothing in the chamber is ever that easy.

Smith, a Queens Democrat who was selected in January 2008 as president and majority leader, lost the powers associated with the titles after an abortive coup in June. As reported, part of a deal that brought defectors Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada Jr. back into the Democratic fold,...

Sources: State Senate House Cleaning

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:56:29 -0500

ALBANY—The axe is falling in the State Senate, sources say.

As John Sampson consolidates his leadership over the chamber--he became the Democratic "conference leader" during an abortive coup this summer and now generally controls things in the chamber without a meaningful title--he is clearing out several Republican holdovers, as well as some people appointed by Senator Malcolm Smith (who's in California).

A Democratic Senate source said some terminations have already happened, and that more...

Paterson: I'm Stalling the Payments so We Don't Run Out of Cash

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:57:28 -0500

ALBANY—The economy is still bad, and New York is still running out of money, and David Paterson said he will tell budget officials to withhold payments to local governments and schools.

"We are in a very deep quagmire. New York is now at the breaking point. We are about to cross the financial Rubicon and pass into disaster," David Paterson just said in a speech on Wall Street. "You can't spend money you don't...

Kruger and the M.T.A., Again

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:50:06 -0500

ALBANY—Here we go again.

The M.T.A.'s top financial official told the authority's board that a payroll tax--passed in May to avoid fare hikes and service cuts--is not providing as much revenue as projected, by about $200 million. That comes on top of a $143 million sweep of M.T.A. funding in the just-enacted deficit reduction bill. In short, the authority needs money.

So State Senator Carl Kruger, the chairman of that chamber's Finance Committee, put...