Politics on the Hudson

Republican senators and their two new Democratic allies waded through a crowd of protesters today to convene a session of the Senate – only to find the bills they planned to act on locked up in a desk.

They quickly adjourned until Monday.

The locked-desk ploy by Democrats – and the continued waffling of one of the two dissident Democrat on just which side he is on – left the Senate leadership picture still unclear and action on key bills blocked for a fourth straight day.

‘’Democracy has prevailed,’’ said Republican leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, after the new 32-member majority was seated in the Senate chamber – something Democrats had vowed to block.

But they couldn’t act on any bills because they were locked in a drawer, said Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, who presided over the session.

“There is no key available to us,’’ he told the senators.

Earlier, Republicans had clapped when Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, who voted Monday to oust the Democratic leadership, walked into the chamber, about 10 minutes after the scheduled start of the session.

He answered “present’’ when his name was called, giving the dissidents the 32 votes they needed to convene a session of the 62-member body.

But then he said he would not vote to pass any bills today.

“I excuse myself from the chamber,’’ he said before walking out, saying he wanted to continue talks aimed at getting more Democrats to join the revolt against the leadership of Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens.

Democrats and Republicans were battling in state Supreme Court this morning over whether a new Senate majority could take control of the chamber.

Republicans claimed that Democrats are creating chaos by not allowing the new majority to hold a session.

Democrats were seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the new majority from taking over, saying Republicans and two dissident Democrats illegally voted for a new majority on Monday.

“The people of the state of New York deserve an organized, unchaotic Senate,” said state Supreme Court Judge George Ceresia, who is expected to rule from the bench this morning on the injunction request.

Austin Shafran, spokesman for ousted Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, said outside the courtroom that Republicans are trying to circumvent the will of the public, which voted for a Democratic majority last November.

“There are rules that govern the Senate and they are not playing by the rules,” Shafran said.

But Republican spokesman Scott Reif said it is the Democrats who are breaking the rules by trying to block the new majority from meeting.

“We intend to hold a session today,’’ he said.

The new coalition that hopes to rule the state Senate didn’t win any friends with the media today.

As scores of reporters, photographers and other media types milled around outside the Republicans’ office waiting to be allowed into a press conference early this afternoon, they were told instead to gather outside the Senate chambers – about 50 yards from where they were standing.

After a pell-mell scramble to get good positions, journalists were kept waiting for about two hours and 15 minutes, tightly packed into the area, with some TV photographers having to keep their heavy equipment on their shoulders for much of the time. TV lights and the surplus of bodies soon made the space uncomfortably warm.

They were given several false alarms about the impending arrival of the stars of the show.  Some drifted away before the emergence of the leaders, but then came back to add to the crush.  Some reporters tried to organize a mass exodus, but, being harder to herd than cats, most stayed put. Reporters asked the Senate pr staff to call it off for the moment, and just tell them when to reconvene. But they were rebuffed.

The scene became more frenzied as the deadlines for TV evening newscasts approached, with camera operators arguing even during the remarks from the leaders when they finally showed up. Then there was general pushing and shoving as the journalists pursued the three politicians through the halls.

There were no reports of fatalities or serious injuries, however. And quotes were gotten,  still photographs shot and TV images captured.

Sen. Tom Libous, R-Binghamton, not only has Democrats to worry about as he helps to lead what he hopes will be a successful return of power to Republicans in the Senate, he also is suffering from a herniated disc.

“I’m in pain,’’ Libous said today. “I’m using a cane.’‘

He spent the morning at Albany Medical Center, where a doctor told him it will take 10 days for the condition to settle down.

Libous, 56, attributed his attack to a weekend of gardening and hauling around buckets of stones.

“I think those days are over,’’ he said.

Counties could be forced to raise property taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars if Democrats follow through on their plans to not allow the Senate to reconvene any time soon, county leaders said today.

That’s because bills needed to extend sales-tax laws in 47 counties beyond this November have yet to be approved by the Senate.

“This is going to cause a massive increase in property taxes – doubling of county taxes in some instances,’’ said Stephen Acquario, executive director of the state Association of Counties. “This could cause complete chaos.’‘

The future of the next Senate session is uncertain because control of the chamber apparently changed hands yesterday, with two Democrats defecting from their party to give the majority back to Republicans. The contentious battle for control could end up in court, possibly paralyzing the body for weeks or even months.

State law requires that the Legislature every other year to renew the authority of counties to levy sales taxes above 3 percent. Counties typically have a 4 percent rate – matching the 4 percent that the state charges, although some are slightly higher and a few are lower. The authority for most counties runs out in November.

Acquario said that even if the higher levies are approved later in the year, it will be hard to craft budgets for next year, on which work generally starts in August.

“The Legislature needs to approve these bills now,’’ he said.

The Assembly is considering a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, Westchester County, that would remove the need for renewal by the Legislature, but there is not as yet any matching proposal in the Senate.

Senate Republicans say they intend to start acting on bills tomorrow, but Democrats have said they won’t reconvene until the leadership issue is settled.

“We believe we’re on solid legal ground’’ in reconvening tomorrow, said Senate GOP spokesman Scott Reif.

But Democratic spokesman Travis Proulx said that “only the majority leader can call a session, and the majority leader is still Malcolm Smith.’’

The Senate today is going to pass a resolution determining how $85 million in discretionary money – known as member-item spending or pork barrel – is to be spent.

As in past years, members of the majority party are to get most of it – about $77 million, with the minority getting the crumbs, amounting to about $8 million.

The difference this year, though, is that the majority party is now the Democrats, and the minority is the Republicans. And the Democrats promised things would be different when they took over after last fall’s elections.

“Is this a giant leap forward? No,’’ said Austin Shafran, a spokesman for Senate Majrity Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, who pointed towards a new system to make it easier to track who’s getting the money as progress. He said the system will be fairer in future years.

“How do you defend the indefensible? You can’t,’’ said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog agency. “This is still the spoils system. To the victor go the spoils.’‘

Seeking to get attention off the state’s current economic woes and onto hopes for the future, Gov. David Paterson today announced plans to devote more taxpayer money to high-tech research targeted largely to energy and health care.

In what was billed as the first stop on a statewide tour touting economic-development initiatives, Paterson told a Manhattan audience this morning that the state will spend $100 million to match federal energy research grants and urged the state Public Service Commission to release as much as $100 million in utility ratepayer money to speed the development of alternative-energy projects.

“Now, it is time to take bold new steps to prepare New York to lead the new economy,’’ said Paterson, as the state’s existing economy, traditionally anchored in the financial sector in Manhattan and manufacturing upstate, is in its deepest swoon since the Great Depression.

“New York will recover from this period, and New York will become a leader in economic development very shortly,’’ Paterson said during a speech at the New York Academy of Sciences.

“We need to start by creating a fertile environment for entrepreneurship, and building a new infrastructure for innovation which means lowering the cost of doing business and building up our knowledge base,” he said.

Paterson didn’t identify where the $100 million match, designed to contribute an extra dime for every dollar of federal money awarded for energy projects in New York State, will come from. He said the state cash could attract as much as $1 billion in federal money, since the state program will appeal to federal grant-makers who want to make their resources go as far as possible.

Paterson is scheduled to make a similar announcement later today in Syracuse. Other stops on the tour weren’t announced immediately.

The move by President Obama to name North  Country Republican  Congressman John McHugh as secretary of the Army at first blush looks like a shrewd political move since it gives Democrats  a chance to capture his seat in a special election, giving them all but two of the state’s 29 House members.

But there was buzz at the Capitol today about a potential unintended consequence that could prove harmful to Democrats in the long run.

Here’s the scenario:

State Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Watertown, decides to make the race. (He said he is considering it).  He wins, vacating his Senate seat. A  Republican wins a special election to take his place, deadlocking the state Senate at 31 Republicans and 31 Democrats.  With no lieutenant governor to break the tie, it’s uncertain how the Senate would function.

Then in the 2010 elections, the Republicans regain control of the Senate. and therefore keep a hand in the reapportionment process that will redraw both House and legislative districts in the state. The consensus now is that if Democrats control both the Assembly and Senate after next year’s elections and get to draw all districts without Republican input, the GOP is dead in the Legislature and in the House in New York for the foreseeable future.

So the move might net the Dems one seat now, but cost them dearly later.

The Assembly today failed to take up a bill that would mandate overtime pay for farm workers – a proposal bitterly opposed by farmers who say it would add $200 million in costs to the struggling industry.  The bill was on a list of bills the Assembly had planned to take up.

Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairman William Magee, D-Nelson, Madison County,  who is leading the opposition, said bill sponsor Cathy Nolan, D-Queens, has agreed to discuss the bill with him before it is brought to the Assembly floor.

“I think that’s a good sign,’’ Magee said.

Advocates say there is no reason to treat farm workers different from other laborers, and that they deserve extra pay for long hours, at least one day off a week and other protections. Magee and other opponents say the uniquely seasonal nature of the business makes such rules impractical.

Hold on, Idaho, you haven’t passed New York yet.

The Empire State held onto its position as the nation’s third-largest producer of milk last year, according to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

New York cows produced 12.432 billion pounds of milk last year, just ahead of Idaho’s 12.315 billion and far behind California (41.2 billion) and Wisconsin (24.5 billion).

Idaho has been gaining rapidly because farmers have been fleeing  wage laws for farm workers in California, according to Julie Suarez of the New York Farm Bureau. Idaho passed Pennsylvania for fourth place last year.

The Legislature is expected to approve similar regulations in New York, including mandatory overtime pay, that farmers say will badly hurt the state’s already struggling agricultural sector. But advocates, like Sen. Liz Kreuger, D-Manhattan, said it’s a “human-rights issue’’ to treat all workers the same.