Caffeine Jones Creates More State Senate Weirdness

The Albany soap opera continues: This morning, due to a judge's ruling that the State Senate Democrats and Republicans must meet (and, uh, do their jobs), both sides did just that. But then they adjourned soon after! The Daily Politics says the two sides were "fighting - albeit calmly - over who is supposed to be presiding over the chamber."

Hilariously, when the State Senate Democrats were holding another session later—with their 31 members, still short of a quorum—Senator Frank Padavan (R-Queens) passed through the chambers, prompting the Democrats to call a quorum. While a Republican spokesman tells PolitickerNY that Padavan "did walk through the chamber at a time when he did not believe it had convened," Padavan "believes using his presence toward a quorum would be a 'fraud.'" Still, Democrats are saying things like "He was in and he knows the rules" and "Frank Padavan has been in the Senate since 1972. Frank Padavan did it on purpose." Padavan has signed an affidavit saying he wasn't part of the quorum—he just wanted to get a cup of coffee, though he told reporters he wanted a Coke.

Even though the Senate Democrats passed some bills (though not mayoral control of schools), Paterson won't sign them because he believes Padavan—and points out that Padavan had to go through the chamber because there were too many reporters in front of the lounge