Politics on the Hudson

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said Democrats spoke to soon to suggest that the whole chamber would support an override of Gov. David Paterson’s planned veto of ethics legislation passed last night.

In fact, Skelos said in a statement this morning that it “is the height of arrogance” to suggest that Senate Republicans would automatically go along with an override of Paterson’s veto.

“That may be what Senators Sampson, Smith and Espada prefer, but it is not the course that Senate Republicans will automatically follow,” Skelos said.

The Senate passed the ethics package 59-1 after several hours of debate and three GOP amendments rejected by Democrats. The only no vote was Sen. Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx.

Here’s Skelos’ full statement:

“Senate Republicans will conference any decision by the Governor to veto ethics legislation approved by the Senate yesterday. We share the Governor’s concerns that the legislation has problems and needs to be improved, which is why we offered three amendments to the bill that were rejected by every Senate Democrat.

“To suggest, as the Senate Democrats’ spokesman has, that the Senate will automatically override any Governor’s veto is the height of arrogance. That may be what Senators Sampson, Smith and Espada prefer, but it is not the course that Senate Republicans will automatically follow. We believe that Governor Paterson should be part of any discussion on ethics reform so that we can put the issue behind us and move forward on important matters such as relieving the tax burden on New Yorkers and creating jobs for out-of-work New Yorkers.”