Politics on the Hudson

   Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, returned “home” today (his words), he made up with Democrats, Democrats were able to re-establish their majority in the Senate because of him, and Republicans were disappointed but resigned to be relegated to the Senate minority again. (They staged a leadership coup June 8 with Espada and another Democrat to take control of the Senate away from Democrats.)

   Senate session began shortly after 9:30 p.m. tonight. Espada, fresh from his month-long sojourn with the Senate Republican conference, was welcomed back into the fold and elected majority leader by his 31 Democratic colleagues in the chamber.

   Senators passed a handfull of bills. They moved on to another list of supposedly non-controversial bills. Then things broke down. Republicans started calling for dozens of bills to be “laid aside,” meaning that they were removed from “non-controversial” status and placed on a debate calendar. Senate Majority Leader began to speak, and he barely got four words out before the broadcast of the session was cut off.

   Republicans contend that some of the deals promised to them by Democrats when they took control of the chamber back today were not being followed through on. According to the Daily News, Republicans said Democrats reneged on a plan to put forward a resolution tonight on reforming the rules of the Senate to provide greater sharing of resources and member items (pork). That didn’t happen, so Republicans fought back.

   Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, released this statement at 11 p.m.:
   “Once again, Senate Republicans have put themselves first and the people last. By blocking legislation vital to the economic well-being of local governments across the state, New York now faces the loss of billions in revenue and hundreds of thousands of jobs. By holding New Yorkers hostage for their own personal gain, Republicans have jeopardized legislation with a fiscal impact of over $7 billion, including federal stimulus dollars for healthcare and education and funding for affordable housing and mortgage assistance. They have also threatened the livelihood of over 300,000 New Yorkers who rely upon an extension of the Power for Jobs program to protect their jobs. Republicans proved tonight who they stand for: themselves, not the people.”

   At 11:44 p.m., the Senate returned to session and started passing bills.