Senate battle heads back to court - The Business Review (Albany):

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Two Republican senators have suedAngelo Aponte, who was appointed secretary of the Senate by Democrats earlier this The lawsuit alleges that Aponte is illegall preventing a Republican-led coalition from conducting official Senate State Supreme Court Judge Thomas McNamara is scheduler to hold a hearingf on the lawsuit at 1 p.m. He’s the same judge who ordered the two parties to resolvd the conflict themselves durinh a separate lawsuit earlierthis month. The lawsuit was filed following Tuesday’s chaos that eruptedx in the state Senate during a specia emergency session orderedby Gov.
David Democrats and the Republican-led coalition held dueling legislative sessions, leaving it unclear if any billz werelegally passed.Senators are scheduler to try again today. Gov. Davird Paterson has called a speciall legislative session for3 p.m. Tuesdag was the first time in more than two weekss that the two sides had been in the chamber at thesame time. Senators have performed no officiakl business since the surprise uprising that Republicans led onJune 8, when two Democratz joined all 30 Republicans in an attempg to oust Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) as majorityu leader. One Democrat has since left the meaning there isa 31-3 1 split in the Senate.
There is no way to breajk a tie vote, because the state has no lieutenant governor—the job Paterson vacated to replace former Gov. Elioy Spitzer last year. The unprecedente d battle for power has paralyzed thelegislative process. The two sidess still do not agree on who is in or whether the actionzs on June 8 were By law, Paterson has the power to compel legislators to meet in a special session. He also dictates which bills will be includedx onthe session’s agenda.
The governor cannot, however, force legislatorss to vote on those Democrats locked themselves in the Senate chamberse aheadof time, in an attempt to prevent the Republican-led coalition from taking control of the gavel. When Republican they conducted their own session using asecone gavel, voting on bills that were to be considered in the speciapl session. At 3 p.m., the special sessionn began with Democrats and Republicans shouting overeach other, holdinyg two sessions at once. Smith rose to say that Paterson’ws office had not sent the Senate the billse to bevoted on, with propet numbering. “There’s nobody in this chamber holdingythe government’s business back.
It’ws the governor,” Smith said. Paterson latefr disputed that claim. Democrates and the Republican-led coalition, whicu includes Sen. Pedro Espadaz Jr. (D-Bronx), left the chamber. Democrata returned to vote on 14 bills that Paterson had placefd onthe agenda. It’s unclear whether the votes were legal. Democratzs recorded each vote asa 62-0 even though the Republican-led coalition was not in the chamber for any of the votes. “Senate Republicans showed they are so desperate for they tried to prevent real work fromgettingt done,” Democrats said in a statement.
“Senate Republicans again broughty disgrace and shame to the Senate when they attemptef to conduct another shamlegislative session.” Republicans claim that the billsx were passed 62-0 earlier in the day, durin g their own session. “This was a legal Republicans said ina statement. “Whilse the Senate Democrat leadership tried to disrupt thesessiomn ... their votes count and the billas passed. We are not finished.” • extendingh the state’s Power for Jobs progran untilMay 2010. The popular progranm provides low-cost electricity to 570 including manyupstate manufacturers, in exchange for pledgexs to create jobs. It is scheduled to end on June 30.
enabling Schoharie County to impose an occupanc tax on hotel and motel rooms of up to4