Gov. Cuomo and Senate Republicans are on a collision course that could soon return state government to the “chaos of past years,” sources close to both sides have told The Post.
Republicans are threatening to hold up key elements of Cuomo’s 2012 agenda — including pension and budget reforms and possibly legalized casino gambling — if he follows through on his threat to veto the Legislature’s heavily gerrymandered lines for new Senate districts, the sources said.
“The idea is for the Senate GOP to pressure Cuomo into accepting its Senate district lines by threatening disruptions that would end the governor’s ability to claim that he’s changed the climate of Albany by making government function well,’’ said a Senate GOP source.
Cuomo, who has sought to make smooth-running government a signature of his administration, has told associates he won’t be bullied by the Senate GOP — even if that means a return to dysfunctional state government.
“The Senate Republicans are threatening a return to the chaos of past years, and the governor is, in effect, threatening chaos as well,’’ said a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation.
“But who gets hurt the most in chaos? Well, the governor may have a bad few months if there is a disruption, but it is the Republicans who are running for re-election in November and must answer to the voters, not the governor.’’
Senate Republicans — desperate to hold on to their slim majority in a state where Democrats outnumber them by more than 2 million voters — have indicated they would approve a constitutional amendment outlawing gerrymandering when the next round of redistricting occurs in 2022, on the condition that Cuomo accepts the district lines proposed for this year.
But while Cuomo has publicly said he would consider such a deal, he and several “good government’’ groups are privately questioning the Senate GOP’s credibility.
That’s because virtually all Senate Republicans have reneged on a pledge made in 2010 to a reform group headed by former Mayor Ed Koch to appoint an independent redistricting committee if they regained the majority they had lost two years earlier.
“The view is the Republicans lied once, so why should they be trusted when they say they’ll pass a constitutional amendment outlawing gerrymandering in 10 years?” asked a Cuomo administration source.
“The governor could OK their lines, sign them into law, only to have the Senate Republicans refuse to deliver on their promise for a constitutional amendment.’’
Two separately elected Legislatures are needed to approve an amendment, which then must be submitted to the public for a vote. That process couldn’t be completed until November 2013, at the earliest.
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The big question asked in the Siena College poll slated to be released today is: Will opposition to the governor’s proposed $4 billion convention center at the Aqueduct Racetrack turn favorable because the question was reworded?
Siena’s previous poll found 57 percent of voters opposed the proposed convention center, but the question failed to disclose that the center would be privately funded.
Cuomo and his aides said they believed that a majority of voters would back the plan if they were told the funding would come from private sources, and Siena agreed to ask the question again, making that point clear.