Happy Coup-versary, Albany!

Photograph of Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada Jr. greeting each in June 2009 by Mike Groll/AP

A year ago today, State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. and then-Senate Hiram Monserrate ditched the Democrats and joined the Republican minority to give the Republicans the majority in a crazy coup that paralyzed the Legislature, thanks to drama, locked chambers and infighting—and a lack of a lieutenant governor! And you know what, Espada, who ended the coup when he was made Senate Majority Leader, says he doesn't mind shutting down the government again.

According to the Associated Press, Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., a Bronx Democrat, says "he won't give the Democratic majority the 32nd vote needed next week to pass a short-term spending bill that would keep government running in the absence of a completed budget. Instead, he says he'll force the Senate leadership -- which he says has been out-negotiated in the budget process -- to work through the weekend to seal a deal with the Assembly and governor." Uh, what took him so long?

Espada also claims that the coup brought reform. The Times Union notes some examples of that, "Some agreements to more equitably allocate funding between the majority Democrats and minority Republicans and share centralized resources like photographers and website developers already were under way, but were codified in mid-July as the Democrats regained control. Videos of committee hearings and floor sessions began to be posted on the Internet. New parliamentary rules were enacted that allow members to advance bills through a committee, or to allow a supermajority of members to force a floor vote on any bill." Senate Conference Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) also issued a video outlining the changes:

Espada's coup partner Monserrate rejoined the Democrats after less than a week since initially defecting. Of course, now he's not even in office anymore.

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By Jen Chung in News on June 8, 2010 2:27 PM

Comments [rss]

l3iodeez

Im with you SFGal. Sign me up.

I fully believe if you rounded up a crowd of people off a NYC bus and drafted them into the State Senate we would be better off. I mean, this is bad, but remember Joe Bruno? At least now that nothings getting done we know they are not out there actively screwing things up.

d

Thanks for the reminder that the state is being run by children who embrace every part of the political process except for governing.

Mordicai

If you don't make me the team captain then I'm switching sides! I don't actually care about issues, or getting things done, or ethics or laws, just about winning...& not even winning real stuff, just winning petty brinkmanship games.

MT

How exactly is Espada still in office? Hasn't anyone brought criminal charges against him yet?

sfgal82

Are we better off since then? NO! The state's got no budget and a bunch of useless children seem to be in control. Get the bums out! People should vote their senator or assemblyman out of office, no matter what party. Then, let's focus on a Constitutional Convention, and vote to make it happen. Only then can we citizens get reform.

Let's recall what Thomas Jefferson said in 1787- "What country can preserve its liberties, if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?"

We can act on Jefferson's warning and vote for a constitutional convention in 2017. Based on what's going on, we'll hate Albany even more by then.