Politics on the Hudson

Assemblyman George Latimer, D-Rye, is advancing a proposal on the position of lieutenant governor that germinated long before Gov. David Paterson appointed Richard Ravitch, a former head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to the vacant position last month. Latimer said he first got the idea in 2007, when the Legislature appointed then-Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli to replace state Comptroller Alan Hevesi. The attorney general and comptroller are appointed by the Legislature when there are vacancies, but there is no specific clause on the lieutenant governor.

   Latimer said his idea for the governor to appoint and the Legislature to confirm the person hadn’t gotten much traction before the governor appointed Ravitch July 8. The lieutenant governor’s office has been vacant since March 2008, when Eliot Spitzer resigned as governor and Paterson, who had been lieutenant governor, became governor.

   Latimer’s bill would authorize the governor to name someone, and the 62-member Senate and 150-member Assembly would have to vote separately to confirm. The bill would eliminate the requirement that governors transfer power to their second-in-command every time they leave the state, although the governor could still transfer power when needed. That provision is “anachronistic” because planes, cell phones and other technology make it easy to communicate and get back and forth to Albany, he said.

   There are several other bills out there that would tackle the issue, including ones that call for a special election to fill the vacancy, for the governor to appoint a lieutenant governor without needing approval from the Legislature, and for the Legislature to appoint someone without needing approval from the governor.

   A special election could create a potential internal conflict in the administration because the two people in the positions work as a team and espouse the same philosophy, he said. As for the other bills, “You need the check and balance of a confirmation,” Latimer said.

   Latimer said one bill is similar to his but would not remove the clause that requires governors to hand over their power every time they leave the state, and it would place timelines on the governor appointing a lieutenant governor and for confirmation.

   Paterson hadn’t proposed filling the position until the height of a Senate leadership battle that began with the GOP taking power in a June 8 coup and ended when Democrats took back control July 9. Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, and Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, challenged the governor’s authority to appoint Ravitch and the case is still in court, with an appearance scheduled for Tuesday. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has said Paterson cannot appoint a lieutenant governor.

   An amendment to the state constitution has two be approved by Legislatures in two separate two-year terms before it can be put on the ballot. The earliest that could happen would be 2011.

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