Yesterday's "special" session for the State Senate resulted in nothing—a 15 minute session without a vote—as expected. And don't worry, there's more of that to come, because Governor Paterson says he'll pursue a court order to force lawmakers to Albany to finally pass a budget (which was due on April 1). Capital Confidential reports that Paterson said on the radio this morning, "I would suggest that this duck is quacking, and this duck is swimming."
As for yesterday's session, the Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos (Long Island) said, "We are now almost in August and the Senate Democrats refuse to complete the budget process. A total failure of leadership. At some point, vote yes, vote no and let's get this done.” The Daily Politics lists the nine absent senators, five Democrats and four Republicans: "The Democrats were Malcolm Smith, George Onerato, Joseph Addabbo, Thomas Duane, and Bill Perkins. Perkins arrived after the session. He said he had been running late. The Republicans who didn’t attend were George Winner, Bill Larkin, Vincent Leibell and George Maziarz." The Democrats, with 32 seats, could pass measures...if all members show up.
